Detective Fiction
London, The Literary Press, [c.1930].
First edition thus. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 2/-.
An early edition of this well-known Hollywood murder mystery, made into a 1929 film with Chester Conklin.
Detective Fiction
First edition.
London. Ward Lock, 1936
To a quiet West Country village comes Claude Weir, mystery man after which peace is transformed into horror. A very attractive example from the Golden Age era.
Detective Fiction
Erskine (Firth, pseud. Gladys Erskine & Ivan Firth) Naked Murder
London, Thornton Butterworth, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The criminologist Cyrus K. Mantel investigates a serial decapitator.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
'In "Bulldog Drummond Attacks" the old enemies live again, recreated by Gerard Fairlie, who has himself the original of Sapper's Bulldog Drummond.' (jacket)
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1934.
First edition. 8vo. Original pale blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
An attractive edition of this thriller title by Fairlie, on whom 'Sapper' supposedly based the character of Bulldog Drummond. After Sapper's death in 1937, Fairlie continued the Bulldog Drummond book series.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1938.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A hard book to find in the jacket, written by purportedly by the man who inspired the character 'Bulldog Drummond'.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1933.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
An attractive edition of this thriller title by Fairlie, on whom 'Sapper' supposedly based the character of Bulldog Drummond. After Sapper's death in 1937, Fairlie continued the Bulldog Drummond book series.
Detective Fiction
London, The Bodley Head, 1947
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original red cloth, Dust-jacket.
The first British edition of the American author's most famous novel, originally appearing in abridged form in The American Magazine (October 1946). The work was adapted into film three times, and in 2006 was reprinted 'New York Review Books Classics' series.
Detective Fiction
London, Michael Joseph, 1944. First edition. 8vo. Original dark grey cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 9/6. A posthumous biographical bequest proves problematic to the appointed biographer, who finds herself at loggerheads with the family of the deceased, leading to suspicions of murder... uncommon.
Detective Fiction
London, Hutchinson, [1933].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, with ?publisher's price-sticker 2/6 overlaid on original price.
A good+ copy of this title, uncommon in US or UK edition - the author is well-known for his sport-related crime novels, including 70,000 Witnesses.
Detective Fiction
The Case of the Murdered Band Leader
London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1939.
First UK edition. 8vo. 2pp. advertisements. Original teal cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7s6d.
Set in the glittering background of an ultra-modern night club in San Francisco, peopled by famous stars, Sudden Silence has an interest rivalled only by the strangeness of its incidents. (jacket).
Detective Fiction
London, Ward Lock, 1919.
First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original green cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket, priced 6/-.
An excellent copy of this uncommon first edition, especially rare signed and in the original dust-jacket. British-born journalist and novelist Fletcher us considered to be one of the foremost detective fiction writers of his day.
Detective Fiction
London, John Long, [1934].
First edition. 8vo. Original coth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7s 6d on front flap.
A Hubin-listed title featuring author's serial investigator, Anthony Bathurst this time called to the city of Antwerp to solve the strange puzzle set by the sinister "League of Matthias'' - a problem which is brought to the peak by the murder of Inspector Rawlinson.
Very elusive in a jacket.
Detective Fiction
First edition. London. Collins, 1927 ‘[a] swift-moving thriller...gives a vivid picture of life in New York’s underworld.’ (jacket blurb) A very good, unsophisticated example of this title by prolific Canadian author [William] Hulbert Footner, listed in Hubin but wrongly dated as 1929 (the date of the first US edition) therein. We could find no copies of this the true first edition on WorldCat’s database for institutional holdings. Exceedingly scarce in the original dust-jacket. From the collection of Adrian Homer Goldstone, 1897-1977 (bookplate). Goldstone was a renowned Californian book-collector, particularly well know for his bibliographies of Arthur Machen and John Steinbeck, both of which were published through the University of Texas.
Detective Fiction
More Madame Storey Mysteries.
London, Collins Crime Club, 1933
First edition, second impression (i.e. first Cheap Edition, published the same month as the first). 8vo. 4pp. advertisements. Original orange cloth lettered in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 3'6 (1st Cheap Edition).
A very good copy of this compilation of short stories by the prolific author Hulbert Footner, featuring his well-known protagonist Madame Rosika Storey. Scarce in the dust-jacket. Preceding the US edition by four years.
Detective Fiction
Further Crime Investigations of Madame Storey.
London, Collins Crime Club, 1930.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth (red issue). Dust-jacket, second state, correctly priced 3/6.
The ongoing exploits of Footner's serial character, the brilliant lady detective, Madame Storey, set in Paris. The second issue jacket is to a wholly different design than the first, and as a result considered highly collectable.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1930
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket correctly priced at 7/6.
Hubin-listed tale involving the escapades of a couple of multi-millionaires' sons who come up against a band of rum-runners.
No copies in commerce at time of listing.
Detective Fiction
London, Hutchinson, [1936].
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth lettered in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
One of only two murder-mysteries we could trace by this author, and published under Hutchinson's First Novel Library series (#46).
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1933.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The continuing adventures of arch deductionist Dr Thorndyke. A tricky first edition in the jacket.
Detective Fiction
New York, Dodd Mead, 1958.
First US edition. 8vo. Original green cloth stamped in black. Dust-jacket, priced $2.
Great jacket artwork on this US compilation of eight Dr Thorndyke stories.
Detective Fiction
related by Christopher Jervis, M.D.
London, Chatto & Windus, 1916.
First edition, reissue with tipped-in title 1916. 8vo. Original first edition cloth.
A nice first edition of a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone, relating stories of medical detection. The book uses the first editions sheets and binding, but has an updated title-page.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1934.
First edition, second impression. 8vo. Original blind-tooled red cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 2/6.
An attractive early impression of this 'Yellow Jacket' Dr Thorndyke tale, bringing the good doctor's famous forensic mind to bear once more.
Detective Fiction
A Story of Crime by...Ex-Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard Author of "The Crime Club" [London], Collins Detective Story Club, n.d. [c.1930]. First edition thus. Small 8vo. Original near-black leather over limp boards, blocked in gilt. Originally published in 1913, and the source for the 1917 film of the same name. Froëst was apparently incredibly strong, and could tear a pack of cards in half and snap a sixpence "like a biscuit"...nice.
Detective Fiction
Frome (David, pseud. Zenith Brown) Mr. Pinkerton and the Old Angel
London, Longmans, Green, 1939.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, with price-sticker 3/6.
A very nice first UK edition of one of the later Pinkerton titles, distinctly uncommon in the jacket.
Detective Fiction
Frome (David, pseud. Zenith Jones Brown) The Body in Bedford Square
London, Longmans, 1945.
Third edition. 8vo. Original grey/green cloth. Dust-jacket, with 5/- price-sticker to inside front flap.
An attractive reissue of this classic London-based murder mystery.
Detective Fiction
London, Cassell, 1948.
First UK edition. Small 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
A nice example of this Perry Mason title; to aid her sick boyfriend, Sally Madison tries to swindle wealthy Harrington Faulkner with a cure for his sickly exotic fish. However, things take a dark turn when the fish disappear and Faulkner is found dead.
Detective Fiction
London, Cassell, 1949.
First UK edition. First UK edition. Small 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
Attractive first UK edition of this Perry Mason title.
Detective Fiction
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1952.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, priced 9/-.
A dramatic story of crime and detection featuring series character Inspector Gilbert Larose.
Detective Fiction
First edition.
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1935.
Featuring serial character Gilbert Larose The Poisoned Goblet tells of the efforts by a gang to kidnap the child of Lady Ardane.
Fabulous dustwrapper art. A desirable title.
Detective Fiction
First edition.
London, John Long, 1937.
A Hubin-listed murder mystery. The only one written by the author whose real name was Richard Henry Horsfield.
It is set in the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada and features an Eskimo detective called Nootka. A wealthy mining prospector enlists the help of nine other claim-stalkers, four of whom are subsequently murdered by methods as novel as they are gruesome. Two of them take place in ‘impossible’ circumstances.
Very rare in jacket.
Detective Fiction
Gilbert (Anthony, pseud. Lucy Beatrice Malleson) He Came by Night
London, Collins Crime Club, 1944.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
An uncommon '40s title, in better condition than normally found.
Detective Fiction
London, Collins Crime Club, 1970.
Uncorrected proof copy. 8vo. Original wrappers. Dust-jacket, ?price-clipped.
Collins proofs are distinctly uncommon.
Detective Fiction
Mills and Boon, London, 1937
First edition
Detective Fiction
London, Mills & Boon, 1929.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
The first UK edition of this crime thriller; Mills & Boon today have a reputation for "romantic fiction", but they were early champions of several subsequently famous authors, including Jack London and P.G. Wodehouse.
Detective Fiction
Goodchild (George) and C.E. Bechhofer Roberts. The Jury Disagree
London, Jarrolds, 1936.
'First cheap edition' (i.e. second edition). 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
A compelling 'true crime' collaboration between prolific crime fiction author George Goodchild and the biographer and critic Bechhofer Roberts, a.k.a. 'Ephesian'. First published in 1934.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1930.
First edition. 8vo. Original light orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
A very good copy of this uncommon Goodchild title, the second in his Inspector McLean series.