Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
An excellent first edition of this Horler title, rare in such condition.
Detective Fiction
First edition.
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1935.
A collection of four criminous short stories listed in Hubin, the eponymous first of which concerns the battle between Sir Harker Bellamy, the famous secret service chief known as ‘The Mole’ and The Priest’ a daring and resourceful foreign spy and plotter.
Rare in such a well preserved jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Hutchinson, [c.1934].
First edition, "6th thousand". 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Three tales by this master of excitement, uncommon in the dust-jacket with cool photographic artwork.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
An attractive Hodder & Stoughton first edition, in classic Hastain jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Soughton, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
A macabre flautist graces the jacket of this uncommon Horler title.
Detective Fiction
London, Philip Allan, 1936.
'Popular Edition'. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
An attractive edition of this tale by the creator of Raffles.
Detective Fiction
London, Chatto & Windus, 1902.
First edition. 8vo. Title printed in red & black with device; publisher's catalogue at end dated March 1902. Original gilt pictorial blue cloth.
Attractive first edition from the creator of Raffles the gentleman thief, in which a woman is accused of her husband's murder - one of Hornung's works which is considered to provide a favourably modern portrayal of a female protagonist.
Detective Fiction
Hull (Richard, pseud. Richard Henry Sampson) Left-Handed Death
London, Collins Crime Club, 1946.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7s6d.
An uncommon first edition in the jacket; a government official's investigations into an engineering company's failing business leads to murder...
Detective Fiction
Hull (Richard, pseud. Richard Henry Sampson) The Murderers of Monty
London, Faber & Faber, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A hoax "death by committee" goes fatally wrong, inevitably perhaps... A rare Faber publication, in rather nice period jacket, here price-clipped but priced accordingly.
Detective Fiction
...a startling and realistic story of Melbourne social life
London, The Hansom Cab Publishing Company, n.d. [c.1888].
First UK edition, early issue, stating 'two hundredth thousand'. 8vo. Advertisements. Original pictorial wrappers.
The famous Melbourne-based crime thriller by prolific author Fergus Hume, distinctly uncommon in this condition. A publishing phenomenon, sadly not something the author himself managed to cash in on as he had sold the publishing rights for a desultory amount to businessman Frederick Trischler, who went on to found the Hansom Cab Publishing Company in London.
Detective Fiction
Iles (Frances, pseud. Anthony Berkeley Cox) Malice Aforethought.
The story of a commonplace crime
London, Mundanus / Gollancz, 1931.
First edition (preceding the hardback). 8vo. Original printed wrappers. Housed in morocco-backed cloth slip-case and chemise.
An uncommon work by Anthony Berkeley Cox, aka Anthony Berkeley. The work is significant in the genre of crime fiction as one of the earliest and finest examples of the inverted detective story, a technique which would go on to inspire numerous other authors, as well as film-makers - notably Hitchcock and his 1941 film Suspicion (actually based on another, similar Iles title).
London, Gollancz, 1940.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The first edition of the fifth novel to feature John Appleby, a young Detective Inspector in the Metropolitan Police, straddling detective and spy fiction admirably.
Detective Fiction
Philadelphia & New York, Lippincott, [1942].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $2.00.
An enigmatic woman, a hat like a pumpkin, and a murdered wife - things aren't looking good for Scott Henderson in this gripping mystery thriller by Woolrich writing as William Irish.
Detective Fiction
Irish (William, pseud. Cornell Woolrich) Somebody on the Phone
Philadelphia & New York, Lippincott, 1950.
First edition. 8vo. Original teal cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $2.50.
A collection of six stories by Woolrich under his well-known pseudonym 'William Irish'. The title story was the basis for the 1952 film Don't Ever Open That Door.
Detective Fiction
London, Hutchinson, 1951.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 9/6.
A further collection of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe Award of the Mystery Writers of America winner William Irish, a.k.a. Cornell Woolrich. Scarce.
Detective Fiction
Jacobs (T.C.H., pseud. Jacques Pendower) Appointment with the Hangman
London, Stanley Paul, 1936.
First edition, early reissue stating '3rd thousand' on title-page. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, with overlaid price-sticker '4/-' to spine.
Early printing of this hard-to-find crime thriller, especially tricky in equally coeval jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Faber & Faber, 1962.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 18s.
A great first edition of James's debut novel, an ingeniously plotted mystery that introduced readers to Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard, immediately ranked the author amongst the best crime writers.
Detective Fiction
Janson (Hank, pseud. Stephen Daniel Frances) Baby, Don’t Dare Squeal
London, Gaywood Press for S.D. Francis, [1951].
First edition. 8vo. Original luridly-pictorial stapled wrappers.
One of the splendidly salacious 'Hank Janson' titles, uncommon in the original wrappers and in such good condition. Frances enjoyed great success with his hardboiled US-style thrillers written under this pseudonym, opening the way for a variety of copycat British authors writing in a similar vein, but they did also court controversy when a murder supposedly inspired by one of the Hank Janson titles led to the publishers being taken to court and successfully prosecuted for obscenity (the author managed to avoid a similar fate on it seems a technicality).
Detective Fiction
Janson (Hank, pseud. Stephen Daniel Frances) Don’t Dare Me, Sugar
London, Gaywood Press for S.D. Francis, [1950].
First edition. 8vo. Original luridly-pictorial stapled wrappers.
One of the splendidly salacious 'Hank Janson' titles. Frances enjoyed great success with his hardboiled US-style thrillers written under this pseudonym, opening the way for a variety of copycat British authors writing in a similar vein, but they did also court controversy when a murder supposedly inspired by one of the Hank Janson titles led to the publishers being taken to court and successfully prosecuted for obscenity (the author managed to avoid a similar fate on it seems a technicality).
Detective Fiction
Janson (Hank, pseud. Stephen Daniel Frances) Kill Her If You Can
London, Gaywood Press for New Fiction Press, [1952].
First edition. 8vo. Original luridly-pictorial stapled wrappers.
One of the splendidly salacious 'Hank Janson' titles. Frances enjoyed great success with his hardboiled US-style thrillers written under this pseudonym, opening the way for a variety of copycat British authors writing in a similar vein, but they did also court controversy when a murder supposedly inspired by one of the Hank Janson titles led to the publishers being taken to court and successfully prosecuted for obscenity (the author managed to avoid a similar fate on it seems a technicality).
Detective Fiction
London, Gaywood Press for New Fiction Press, [1952].
First edition. 8vo. Original luridly-pictorial stapled wrappers.
One of the splendidly salacious 'Hank Janson' titles. Frances enjoyed great success with his hardboiled US-style thrillers written under this pseudonym, opening the way for a variety of copycat British authors writing in a similar vein, but they did also court controversy when a murder supposedly inspired by one of the Hank Janson titles led to the publishers being taken to court and successfully prosecuted for obscenity (the author managed to avoid a similar fate on it seems a technicality).
Detective Fiction
Janson (Hank, pseud. Stephen Daniel Frances) Some Look Better Dead
London, Gaywood Press for S.D. Francis, [1950].
First edition. 8vo. Original luridly-pictorial stapled wrappers.
A 'Hank Janson' title, uncommon in the original disturbingly salacious wrappers and in such good condition. Frances enjoyed great success with his hardboiled US-style thrillers written under this pseudonym, opening the way for a variety of copycat British authors writing in a similar vein, but they did also court controversy when a murder supposedly inspired by one of the Hank Janson titles led to the publishers being taken to court and successfully prosecuted for obscenity (the author managed to avoid a similar fate on it seems a technicality).
Detective Fiction
Jerome (Owen Fox, pseud. Oscar Jerome Friend) The Red Kite Clue
London, Skeffington, [1929].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, with publisher's 3/6 price-sticker to spine.
An attractive first edition and an uncommon book in the jacket. Detective Philip MacCray is on the case to solve the murder of an archaeologist recently returned from the Orient.
Detective Fiction
Johns (Foster, pseud. Gilbert Vivian Selders) The Victory Murders
London, Harrap, 1927.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
'Armistice Night Murders in Paris, London, and New York' (jacket). An uncommon title in the jacket, from the pen of a prolific American author and cultural critic.
Detective Fiction
London, Longmans, Green and Co., 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A scarce detective fiction title, one of only three titles by this author recorded in Hubin.
Detective Fiction
London, John Hamilton, 1929.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
A pleasing example of this first edition, seemingly one of only two titles by this author. A conspiracy to murder a leading art expert unravels... Scarce.
Detective Fiction
London, T.V. Boardman, 1958.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original orange boards. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d.
Three more capers for Peter Chambers, Kane's most prolific character. Kane also wrote the movie adaptations for Ed McBain's 87th Precinct's Cop Hater and The Mugger.
Detective Fiction
London, Ward, Lock, 1938. First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. 2pp. advertisements. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6. A very good first UK edition by a prolific, somewhat bonkers crime writer, a foray into the "locked room" subgenre, revolving around a mysterious manuscript (possibly derived from a short story penned by the author's wife, herself a writer[?]). Scarce in the first issue jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Ward Lock, 1930
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket (the 3 digit number (245) on spine indicates it is an early reprint).
As the Pretty Sinister blog asks: how can anyone resist the subtitle? "In Which a New and Quite Different Type of Detective Unravels a Mystery Staged in Chicago, Bagdad of the Lakes, London of the West!"
Casimer Jech, crooked curio dealer, is approached by millionaire Amos Carrington and together they hatch a scheme to acquire a rare manuscript mistakenly labeled as something fairly worthless to be auctioned off at an Evanston estate.
Detective Fiction
London, Ward Lock, 1939
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket (the 3 digits - 902 - indicate an early reprint).
A man claimed that with his artifical ear-drums he could detect sounds inaudible to ordinary people. This acute listening would allow him to manipulate any combination lock and open any safe. Was he the one that opened Mrs. King's safe and stole all of her precious diamonds and jewels?
Detective Fiction
London, Ward, Lock & Co., 1943.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original pale blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 5/-.
A very good first UK edition of this non-series title by the often under-appreciated Harry Stephen Keeler, deviser of the "webwork" plot concept.
Detective Fiction
London, Hammond, Hammond, 1947 [1948].
First edition. 8vo. Original turquoise cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 8s6d.
The first book to feature series character Detective Inspector Jimmy Brent, investigating the murder of a successful auctioneer and estate agent.
London, Constable, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in white. Dust-jacket, priced 2s.6d.
A first-class mystery... a story of dark doings, with a pleasant background of East coast life... (Daily Telegraph). Attractive jacket artwork, and a scarce first edition, here in a slightly later issue jacket.
Detective Fiction
New York, Wilfred Funk, 1940.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $2.00.
The last of seven crime thrillers by psychologist C. Daly King; this time the protagonist Walter Lord is all at sea, in several senses, as he tries to resolve a double murder, kidnap and matters of the heart simultaneously, bewildering even his stalwart companion Dr L. Rees Pons.
Detective Fiction
New York, Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $2.00.
Aeronautical crime-thriller featuring King's series character Michael Lord, investigating murder aboard a transcontinental flight. An intricate plot combined with "locked room" element, the mystery was praised by The New York Times as "a very thrilling story." Very much in the S.S. Dine vein, and one of only seven genre titles recorded by this author.
Detective Fiction
London, Robert Hale, 1948.
First edition. 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
An attractive first edition of one of the 'Dormouse' titles, by the author of The Ghoul.