The Bishop Murder Case — S.S. Van Dine

In this classic 1920s mystery, a debonair aristocrat turned amateur sleuth searches New York City for a killer drawing inspiration from nursery rhymes.

Renaissance dandy Philo Vance has an insatiable hunger for complicated puzzles to solve. He frequently serves as an informal advisor to the police on demanding cases. And once again, New York District Attorney John Markham has quite a case for Vance.

The body of Joseph Cochrane Robin was found pierced with an arrow and accompanied by a note signed “The Bishop.” Many of the crime scene's details remind Vance of the children's nursery rhyme “Who Killed Cock Robin?” Then more grisly deaths occur, and each seems to reference other characters from Mother Goose.
In a case that doesn't follow rhyme or reason, Vance must quickly determine who has Manhattan society whipped into a frenzy before another victim falls like Humpty Dumpty.