Detective Fiction
London, Ward Lock, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original beige cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An attractive 'thirties title, involving cheque-book fraud.
Detective Fiction
London, Boardman, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original burgundy cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Redhead reporter Rufus Reed and editor Asaph Clume at their finest, plus excellent jacket artwork.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1928.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
A splendid example of the first UK edition, seemingly considerably scarcer than its US counterpart. A murder mystery novel and early predecessor to Silence of the Lambs, with a cold-hearted doctor helping a man bent on finding his brother's murderer.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1940.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 4/-.
Excellent jacket artwork, especially for dog lovers.
Detective Fiction
London, Herbert Jenkins, n.d..
'Popular Edition'. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/-.
A lovely early reissue of this classic, "the story of a mother's vengeance".
Detective Fiction
Graeme (Bruce, pseud. Graham Montague Jeffries) Gigins Court
London, Hutchinson, n.d..
10th thousand. 8vo. Original pale cloth. Dust-jacket, with 3/6 price sticker to spine.
Early printing of this hard-to-find title by a prolific author.
London, Harrap, 1935.
Reprint. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
Attractive jacket artwork on this early printing by prolific author Graeme, originally published in 1926.
Detective Fiction
London, Alvin Redman, 1950.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original pale blue boards. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
When health-and-exercise guru Merlin Broadstone is murdered on his private island in the Florida Keys, detective John Hugo is assigned to the case and promptly falls for one of Broadstone's nieces.
Detective Fiction
London, Methuen, 1952.
First edition. 8vo. Original burgundy cloth. Dust-jacket, neatly price-clipped.
An attractively jacketed first edition of this crime thriller featuring Gregg's recurring detective, Inspector Cuthbert Higgins.
Detective Fiction
Gunn (Victor, pseud. Edwy Searles Brooks) Ironsides Sees Red
London, Collins, 1943.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
One of several 'Ironsides' titles written by Brooks under the pseudonym Victor Gunn. He also famously wrote under the pen name of Berkeley Gray.
Detective Fiction
New York, Knopf, 1945.
7th Pocket Books edition. 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers. Pictorial dust-jacket.
An attractive paperback edition of this classic of this hard-boiled detective novel.
Detective Fiction
Holt (Gavin, pseud. Percival Charles Rodda) Drums Beat at Night
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 3/6.
"Drums beat at night…and Professor Bastion hears the echo on Hampstead Heath" (jacket blurb)
Detective Fiction
London, Chatto & Windus, 1938.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped and with price-sticker 7/6.
Twelve stories showcasing Household's literary flair above and beyond the spy/thriller genre he is normally associated with. Attractive dust-jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Cassell, 1906.
First edition. 8vo. Patterned endpapers, publisher's catalogue at end. Original green pictorial cloth.
A very good first edition of this mystery novel by the author of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab.
Detective Fiction
Innes (Michael, pseud. John Innes Mackintosh Stewart) Stop Press
London, Gollancz, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in red to spine. Dust-jacket.
The fourth in Innes' series featuring John Appleby, Detective Inspector of Scotland Yard. A Golden Age of Detective Fiction classic.
Detective Fiction
London, Newnes, [1937].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth.
The first edition in book form (preceded by appearance in The Thriller magazine the same year) of this more grown-up tale by the creator of Biggles, featuring former First World War pilot turned crime-fighter Deeley Montfort Delaroy (aka "Steeley").
Detective Fiction
London, Collins Crime Club, n.d. [1931].
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue boards. Second issue jacket, priced 3/6.
One of the popular thriller series by Philip MacDonald featuring his amateur detective character Anthony Ruthven Gethryn. This was the first title to be published in the 'Collins Crime Club' series of detective and thriller fiction (the first impression can fetch in excess of £2,000), making this scarce early issue jacket an attractive alternative to collectors of crime classics.
Detective Fiction
London, Michael Joseph, 1955.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d.
One of a series of crime thrillers by journalist, author and war correspondent Macdonald Hastings.
Detective Fiction
London, Wright & Brown, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth lettered in black to spine.
The rare first edition recounting the first case of Mann's series character Gregory George Gordon Green.
Detective Fiction
Second Series
London, Bliss, Sands and Foster, 1896.
First edition. 8vo. Publisher's advertisements. Original green pictorial cloth.
The first of prolific writer Meade's literary collaborations, an early example of a medical mystery.
Detective Fiction
Miller (Wade, pseud. Robert Allison Wade & H. Bill Miller) Fatal Step
London, Sampson Low, 1949.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
Dave Lee was shot dead as he rode the Joyland ferris wheel. As hard-boiled private investigator Max Thursday stalked Dave's killer, he encountered … a high-powered sob sister, the sadistic king of a gambling syndicate, and a delicate, sphinx-like girl who packed a.38 revolver.
Detective Fiction
Miller (Wade, pseud. Robert Allison Wade & H. Bill Miller) Uneasy Street
London, Sampson Low, 1949.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
When a phony count, a weird artist, and a dazzling blond beauty relentlessly dog his footsteps, hard-hitting private investigator Max Thursday knows his charming personality isn't the attraction.
Detective Fiction
London, Methuen, 1922.
First edition. 8vo. Publisher's advertisements at rear. Original green cloth lettered and decorated in gilt to spine.
Rare detective fiction first edition by 'Christopher Robin' creator A.A. Milne, one of three such crime titles he wrote (others being The Fourth Wall (1928) and the play The Perfect Alibi (1928)). A Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone.
"And an excellent story it is! Anthony Gillingham light-heartedly unravels the mystery, standing at the head of a long, and soon extending queue of humorous sleuths who gave a new and refreshing slant to the business of fictional crime. 'What fun! Here's a body!' sums up the style; yet this fantasy, with its brilliant dialogue, finely-drawn scenes from the night-life of the 'twenties and credible characters, hold the reader until the final page is turned." (Quayle, The Collector's Book of Detective Fiction, pp.107-108).
Detective Fiction
London, Ward, Lock, [c.1901].
Early edition. 8vo. Original cloth-backed pictorial boards.
An attractive illustrated edition of this account of the ongoing adventures of investigator Martin Hewitt, first introduced to readers in 1894. Morrison is best known today for his novel A Child of the Jago (1896).
Detective Fiction
Neville (C.J., pseud. Cynthia Franklin) Salifu the Detective
London, Macmillan, 1950.
First edition. 8vo. Original yellow cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
The exciting story of an adventurous young African boy whose main ambition is to join the Gold Coast Police Force, encountering smugglers and other wrongdoers in the process.
Detective Fiction
London, Heath Cranton, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A novel about an ex-army man who becomes a gentleman thief in the Raffles mode.
![E. Phillips Oppenheim, The Million Pound Deposit, first edition, [1930]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/85978-300x268.jpg)
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, [1930].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The formula for a revolutionary new synthetic silk is stolen from the company producing it and a ransom demand of a million pounds is sent. Great jacket artwork by Bip Pares.
Detective Fiction
London, Hutchinson, [1930].
First edition. 8vo. Advertisements dated 1931 at end. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The story of an amateur detective; uncommon in the jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, The Bodley Head, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original sage cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A distinctive first edition by Australian author Rees.
Detective Fiction
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1946.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
A pleasing first edition of the 42nd in Rhode's long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective.
Detective Fiction
London, Jarrold, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in green to spine. Supplied dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
Superb jacket married to a somewhat pre-loved example of the first edition of this Hubin-listed crime thriller.
Detective Fiction
An Edwardian Mystery
London, Macmillan, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in gilt to spine. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7s6d.
A nice jacketed example of this "piquant and persuasive study in the macabre" (Sunday Times). Royde-Smith was the first woman literary editor of the Westminster Gazette and in that capacity published the early work of such writers as Rupert Brooke, Graham Greene, Elizabeth Bowen, and Rose Macaulay. Rare.
Detective Fiction
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1953.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 9/6.
A very good first edition of this crime thriller by an author who remains somewhat enigmatic.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Great jacket artwork by Hastain on this 'Jim Maitland' novel.
Detective Fiction
London, Gollancz, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in orange to spine.
Sayers' sixth work featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, published in the US as Suspicious Characters. Murder among a community of artists in Galloway, Scotland.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1934.
First edition. Autograph letter from the author (as Shearing) tipped in at front endpapers. 8vo. Original pink cloth.
A murder mystery, based on the unsolved murder of Harriet Buswell in 1872. The autograph letter from Bowen to the Scottish lawyer and keen amateur criminologist William Roughead is dated December 1939, and mentions a book of his published that same year, Neck or Nothing.