"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. "
— Oscar Wilde
Crime & Thrillers
Finished.
London: Ward, Lock and Co., 1917. [Fantasy Adventure] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.320. With a black and white half-tone frontispiece. Publisher's green cloth with black titles to spine and upper board. Hinges split; spotting to edges and preliminaries. Rubbing to boards; spine head pulled; corners bumped. Good. The..... More
The 9th Directive. The 9th Directive Quiller in Bangkok.
London: Heinemann, 1966. [Espionage fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.254; [2] blank. Publisher's blue cloth lettered in gilt to spine, photographic dust-jacket designed by Tom Simmonds. Internally clean and bright, a little spotting to edges, cloth bright. Price clipped wrapper shows wells, a little edge wear and a...... More
Murder In The House Of Commons.
London: Hamish Hamilton, 1931. First Edition. Octavo, pp.316; [4]. Bound in publisher's pale blue cloth, with embossed titles to spine. Pictorial dust-jacket by V. Asta shows the House of Commons against a dark sky to front cover, titles to spine, and publisher's advertisements to rear cover; unclipped, originally priced 7s..... More
The Braydon Mystery.
London: John Long, 1963. [Crime novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.184. Publisher's black cloth with yellow and white titles to spine, series 'gunman' motif to foot, illustrated dust-jacket by William Randell priced at 12/6. Discreet ink name, jacket slightly soiled with small chips to crown, old tape to..... More
Naked Came the Manatee
New York: Putnam, 1996. FIRST EDITION, multi-signed. Octavo, pp.201; [1], blank. Publisher's hardcover in original dust-wrapper. A fine copy. A mystery parody comprising thirteen chapters, each written by a different Miami-based author writer. This is one of a small number SIGNED BY ALL THIRTEEN CONTRIBUTORS. More
The Boy Who Followed Ripley.
New York, NY: Lippincott and Crowell, 1980. [Modern Literature] FIRST EDITION, REVIEW COPY. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.[10] 292. [2]. With a purple publicity sheet from the publisher, a review copy note from Harper and Row, and a photograph of the author loosely inserted. Publisher's red quarter cloth with gilt..... More
The Boy Who Followed Ripley.
London: Heinemann, 1980. [Thriller] FIRST UK EDITION. Octavo (23 x 14cm), pp.292; [4], blank. Publisher's blue cloth hardcovers in glossy photographic dust wrapper, priced at £6.50. A lovely fine copy. The fourth Tom Ripley novel. More
A Dog's Ransom.
London: Heinemann, 1972. [Crime novel] UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY of the FIRST EDITION. Octavo (18 x 12cm), pp.282. Bound in yellow softcovers, printed lettering in two colours. Spine a little wrinkled else a fine copy. Kidnap thriller from the acclaimed writer of psychological mysteries. More
Eleven.
London: Heinemann, 1970. [Crime fiction] FIRST EDITION, INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR TO HER PUBLISHER. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.194. Publisher's maroon cloth in typographic dust-jacket. Author's inscription reads "For Otto Penzler | with thanks for the | party twenty-second | of October 1981 | Pat Highsmith". Internally clean. Binding is..... More
Ripley Under Ground.
London: Heinemann, 1971. [Mystery novel] UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY of the FIRST EDITION. Octavo (18 x 12cm), pp.298. Bound in yellow softcovers, printed lettering in two colours. Discreet ink name to upper, spine a little rolled; very good indeed. The fifth and final psychological thriller featuring anti-hero Tom Ripley. Rather scarce..... More
Ripley Under Water.
London: Bloomsbury, 1991. [Mystery novel] UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY of the FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.247; [1], Note. Bound from uncorrected proofs in photographic softcovers with publication date shown as October 1991. Lightly handled. One small mark to fore-edge. Fine. The fifth and final psychological thriller featuring anti-hero Tom..... More
Ripley's Game.
London: Heinemann, 1974. [Thriller] FIRST UK EDITION. Octavo (21 x 13cm), pp.282. Publisher's brown cloth hardcovers in glossy photographic dust wrapper, priced at £2.50. Book is fine; jacket with some laminate shrinkage, closed tear to rear panel, some tape to reverse, spine sunned. A very good copy. The third of..... More
![The Embassy Case [Publisher's retained copy]. Headon HILL](/pictures/thumb/54119.jpg?v=1561541294)
The Embassy Case [Publisher's retained copy].
London: Ward, Lock and Co., Limited, 1915. [Crime Fiction] FIRST EDITION. Crown Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.304; [1], advertisements. Frontispiece illustration by Gilbert, with tissue guard. Original black cloth decorated in red and gilt, illustrated dust-jacket. A near fine copy of the book in price-clipped wrapper, lightly chipped and rubbed..... More
Guilty Gold. A Romance of Financial Fraud and City Crime.
London, C.Arthur Pearson Ltd. 1896. First Edition; large 8vo. Publisher's bottle green cloth, titles and decoration in gilt to spine, titles in gilt to front board with blind stamped decoration, top edge tinted in dark grey. 2 pages of advertisements to rear of text. Contains 16 illustrations, including frontispiece, all..... More
The Cottage in the Chine.
London: Ward Lock, 1913. Mystery novel. FIRST EDITION. Octavo. Pristine in publisher's black embossed cloth titled and decorated in gilt and red to spine and front board. Frontispiece with tissue guard. In the very scarce near fine colour dust-wrapper. Internally clean, light foxing to pastedowns. Jacket with some light edgewear..... More
The Chinese Keyhole.
London: Herbert Jenkins, 1968. [Thriller] FIRST UK EDITION. Octavo (20 x 13cm), pp.175; [1] blank. Publisher's red cloth, titles in white to spine, pictroail dust-jacket. Internally fine, some marks and toning to edges. Cloth lightly handled. Wrapper price clipped and repriced by hand, a little rubbed to folds, some chipping..... More
Enter the Lion: A Posthumous Memoir of Mycroft Holmes.
London: J. M. Dent, 1980. REVIEW COPY. Octavo, pp.xxii; [2]; 237; [3]. With publisher's compliments slip loose to prelims. In publisher's grey cloth with red titles to spine. With original pictorial dust-jacket. Light shelf-wear; likely unread. Near fine. A prequel to Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries, in which Mycroft..... More
No Honour.
London: John Hamilton Ltd., c.1930. SCARCE THIRTIES CRIME NOVEL. Octavo, pp. 224. Bound in green publisher's cloth with title, author's name, and publisher's logo in black to spine. In a pictorial dustjacket depicting a shocked suited gentleman encountering a policeman's body at night. Cloth boards in very good condition with..... More
The Camera Fiend.
London, T. Fisher Unwin. 1911. First Edition. 8vo. 352pp. Publisher's bottle green cloth titled in gilt to spine and white to front board. Cloth clean, some wear to extremities and bumping to spine ends, front inner hinge starting with an old glue stain to the gutter. Some light foxing notable..... More
Mr. Justice Raffles.
London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1909. FIRST EDITION., FIRST IMPRESSION. Octavo pp. 315, [4 ads.] Publisher's dark blue pictorial cloth, printed in white, red and black with gilt tiles to spine. Some wrinkling to the boards possibly from damp, though the cloth remains clean. Light foxing to the first few..... More
![Rogue Male [aka Man Hunt]. Geoffrey HOUSEHOLD](/pictures/thumb/49232.jpg?v=1574440566)
Rogue Male [aka Man Hunt].
London: Chatto and Windus, 1939. [Classic man-hunt adventure] FIRST EDITION, PROOF COPY, with an original 4-page advert/order form. Octavo, pp.[vii]; 271; [1], imprint. Publisher's brown card softcovers, with printed label to upper, handwritten details to spine. Contents clean, some wrinkling and lean to spine, covers lightly handled. A very good..... More
![Rogue Male [aka Man Hunt]. Geoffrey HOUSEHOLD](/pictures/thumb/52310.jpg?v=1552663321)
Rogue Male [aka Man Hunt].
London: Chatto and Windus, 1939. [Classic man-hunt adventure] FIRST EDITION, with later state/printing of the jacket. Octavo (20 x 13cm), pp.[viii]; 271; [1], imprint. Publisher's purple cloth lettered in white to spine, 'sniper' design dust-wrapper priced at 4/6 (earliest jackets were priced 7/6). Page edges are age-toned, fugitive-coloured cloth has..... More
The Sending.
Boston, MA/Toronto, ON: Little, Brown and Company, 1980. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Octavo, pp.186. Bound in publisher's subtlely patterned green cloth, with black cloth spine. In an illustrated dustjacket, designed by D. Christine Benders. As new/very fine. No visible signs of wear. More
The Third Hour
Boston: Little, Brown and Co. 1938. First US edition, with illustrations by E.E Anthony. PUBLISHER'S SAMPLE COPY. Near Fine, in the original decorative black cloth with folded dust-jacket attached to rear pastedown, and information label to rear noting price and publication date, with 'Return to Manufacturing Department' notice. The author's..... More
The Crime of the Crystal.
London: Digby, Long and Co. 1901. First Edition. Octavo, pp. 1 of adverts, 396, 16 of adverts. Yellow cloth with vivid design to spine and upper board. Bookseller's stamp to front pastedown, small close tear to front two pages, neat ownership inscription to the half title page, some occasional marking..... More