" It is a man's duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life. "
— Henry Ward Beecher
Crime & Thrillers
Hilda Wade.
London: Grant Richards, 1900. First Edition. 8vo. Publisher's dark blue cloth titled and decorated in gilt to spine and front board. A used copy with some shelfwear,rubbed to extremities, gilt illustration rubbed to upper, discreet owner stamp to flyleaf, inside paper joint cracked. Very good. Illustrated throughout by Gordon Browne..... More
The Ability to Kill.....And Other Pieces.
London: The Bodley Head Ltd., 1963. [Murder/true crime] FIRST EDITION, corrected state. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.222. Publisher's light red cloth in a rather chilling pictorial dust-jacket, illustrated by Don Higgins. Illustrated bookplate to flyleaf. Usual laminate shrinkage at joint, some soiling, spine and extremities toned. Very good... More
Epitaph For A Spy.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1938. [Haycraft-Queen cornerstone novel]. FIRST EDITION. Octavo (18 x 13cm), pp.287; [1], advertisement. Bound by the W.H. Smith and Son bindery in green cloth, titled in gilt to the spine. Some spotting and toning to page edges, cloth a little rubbed and darkened to extremities. Very..... More
The Light of Day.
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1963. [Crime Thriller] SIGNED FIRST US EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[6] 243 [5]. SIGNED by the author in black ink to half-title. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles and green decoration to spine, a gilt EA monogram to upper, top edge red, fore-edge..... More
The Mask Of Dimitrios.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939. FIRST EDITION. A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone novel. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.320. Publisher's red cloth with gilt titles to spine. Internally very clean with no ownership marks, bookplates or inscriptions. Covers are fresh but for a little sunning to spine, a few small marks and the..... More
Uncommon Danger.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1937. [Intrigue] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.314; [6], advertisements. Publisher's pale blue cloth lettered in black, mid-blue endpapers, pictorial jacket by Gibbs, priced 7/6. Trivial toning to edge of text block, jacket with very light rubbing/wear to extremities. Overall a lovely fine copy of..... More
The Man Who Killed Hitler.
London: T. Werner Laurie, 1939. [Anti-Nazi Novel] UK FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.113, [1]; [14] publisher's advertisements. Publisher's black cloth with titles in yellow, in yellow typographic dust-jacket showing printed price of 3/6 net to the spine. Binding is tight, printing crisp with no spotting. Dust-wrapper is bright..... More
Heads You Win.
London: Macmillan, 2018. [Political thirller] SIGNED LIMITED EDITION. Octavo (25 x 16cm), pp.470. Publisher's cream cloth with red titles to spine, in typographic dust-jacket. Signed by the author to the limitation page. Minor spot of ink transfer to front edge of textblock. Signed copy sticker to front of jacket. Fine..... More
Dead Man's Bay.
London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins, 1959. [Mystery Thriller] FIRST UK EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.160. Publisher's red cloth with black titles to spine. With the green and black dust-jacket priced at 10/6. Light offsetting to endpapers and some browning to edges. Jacket toned and chipped to..... More
Conjuror.
London: Head of Zeus, 2016. [Fantasy Crime Thriller] SIGNED FIRST UK EDITION. Octavo (22 x 14cm), pp.[6] 303 [11]. SIGNED by both authors in black marker to title page. Publisher's black paper-covered boards with metallic blue titles. With the dust-jacket designed by Larry Rostant, priced at £12.00. 'Signed by the..... More
The Ten Holy Horrors.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939. First edition. Octavo. Near fine in publisher's black cloth titled in red to spine and front board, with the illustrated dust-jacket. Clean and sharp, minor edgewear and bumping to spine ends. In a near fine dustwrapper, clean and bright with very slight edgewear to extremities..... More
Trent's Own Case.
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1936. [Crime Mystery] FIRST US EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.[10] 324 [2]. Publisher's orange cloth with blue titles to spine and upper. Top edge blue, others untrimmed. With the dust-jacket designed by Hawkins, priced at $2.00. The usual wood-grain pattern browning to preliminaries..... More
Trent's Own Case.
London: Constable and Co., 1936. [Crime Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[6] 314. Publisher's orange cloth with blue titles to spine and upper. Top edge blue. Toronto bookseller's stamp to flyleaf. Erasure of heavy pencil inscription also to flyleaf. Gently toned throughout. Only very minor rubbing to cloth;..... More
Trent Intervenes.
London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1938. [Crime Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.280. Publisher's blue cloth with white titles to spine. Top edge blue. Some browning to edges and endpapers, with gentle occasional spotting. Spine toned, with some rubbing and marking to cloth. Very good. A collection of..... More
Duane and the Art Murders.
London: Cassell and Company, Limited, 1939. [Dective novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.[8]; 246; [2]. Publisher's red cloth, titles in black to spine, splendid dust-jacket designed by Ronald Lampitt with printed price of 3'6 net to spine. Bookplate detailing provenance to pastedown. Offsetting to endpapers, spotting and dustiness..... More
The Decoy.
London: William Collins Ltd., 1927. [Crime Fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.[ii]; 251; [1], imprint. Publisher's burgundy cloth in illustrated jacket priced at 3/6 (title was likely published at 7/6, although we are certain this particular jacket has always been with this book). Some trivial dustiness handling and..... More
The Black-Eyed Blonde. A Philip Marlowe Novel.
New York, NY: The Mysterious Bookshop / Henry Holt, 2014. [Detective mystery] DELUXE EDITION, SIGNED by the author. Number 86 of 100 copies thus. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.[xii]; 290; [4]. Publisher's glit-stamped black leather over marbled paper covered sides, light grey endpapers. Fine / as new. A new novel..... More
Malice in Wonderland.
London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins, 1940. [Crime Fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.284 [4]. Publisher's orange cloth with black titles to spine. Cosmological self-devouring snake bookplate to front pastedown. Small Indian bookseller's stamp to fly-leaf. Light spotting and thumbing to edges. Cloth well-worn, just starting..... More
A Tangled Web.
London: Collins, 1956. [Crime novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.255; [1], blank. Publisher's black cloth with green titles to spine, illustrated dust-jacket by Kenneth Farnhill priced at 12s. 6d. The book was issued in both Crime Club (red cloth) and Collins (black cloth) bindings. Some dustiness to edges..... More
The Widow's Cruise.
London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins, 1959. [Crime Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. Publisher's red cloth with black titles to spine. With the black dust-jacket titled in white and orange, priced at 12/6. Spotting and browning to edges, with a little bumping and toning to..... More
The Mystery of Belvoir Mansions.
London: Ward, Lock and Co., 1929. Octavo, pp.128. Bound in publisher's pictorial white paper wraps, with illustration by Abbey to front panel. Advertisements to inner of wraps. In remarkable condition, considering age and format. Wraps appear clean and bright, with no visible marks. Textblock age toned. Tight, strong binding. Very..... More
The Red Rat's Daughter. Illustrated by Henry Austin.
London: Ward, Lock and Co., 1899. First Edition. Octavo, (20 x 14cm), pp.384. With occasional half-tone plates by Austin, including a frontispiece. Publisher's dark blue cloth with titles and elaborate decoration in gilt to spine and upper. Light rubbing to cloth; front endpapers browned. Very good. More
Murder in the King's Road.
London: Harvill Press, 1953. [Crime Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.212. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the dust-jacket illustrated by Monica Walker, priced at 9/6. Some spotting to edges and endpapers; offsetting also to endpapers. Gilt dulled to spine. Light rubbing to jacket edges..... More
The Pious Agent.
London: Eyre Methuen, 1975. [Spy Thriller] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.[2] 252 [2]. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the photographic dust-jacket priced at £3.25. A fine copy. A Catholic assassin is recruited to hunt down Soviet agents in London. More
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards.
London: Published for The Crime Club by Collins, 1967. [Mystery] FIRST EDITION, REVIEW COPY EX LIBRIS ANTHONY LEJEUNE. Octavo (20 x 13cm), pp.191; [1] blank. Publisher's red cloth, gilt titles to spine, dust-jacket designed by Kenneth Farnhill with printed price of 16s. net. With the publisher's review slip loosely inserted..... More