Thomson (H.Douglas) Masters of Mystery.

£280

A Study of the Detective Story
London, Wm Collins Sons & Co Ltd, 1931.

First edition. Large 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in red with red top-stain to text block. Dust-jacket with wraparound photographic artwork, correctly priced at 7/6.

First edition, described by Ellery Queen as “the most ambitious treatise on the detective story written in the, language” before Haycraft (In the Queen’s Parlor, p.131).

“Despite the universal appeal of detective fiction, only recently has serious attention been paid to its technique. It is surely high time that criticism ‘placed’ detective fiction and officially recognised the conscientious craftsmanship that beguiles our leisure hours” (Foreword).

In stock