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Originally Posted by naikou
Don't forget that amongst Van Dine's 20 commandments are gems like:
"16. A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no "atmospheric" preoccupations."
Granted, Van Dine's commandments are somewhat tongue-in-cheek. But yeah, don't expect the guy to go out of his way to make his novels an entertaining read. He's only interested in presenting a problem for people to solve.
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Note that Van Dine was pretty good at making good narratives that were completely devoid of any filler though.
It's hit-or-miss sometimes, but a few of his stories are really, really good. But as far as characterization and all? You are probably off avoiding him, really. I love his stories because to me a good mystery is about a larger than life detective godstomping a mystery. But if you want something else...
It's a matter of opinion, I suppose.