W. L. Alden

The Mystery of Elias G. Roebuck and Other Stories

London, A. D. Innes & Co. 1896 . First edition. Cloth. A very scarce, first edition of this collection of science-fiction and fantasy tales written by American author and diplomat, W. L. Alden. The first edition, bound in the publisher's original blue cloth. Very scarce work. Comprised of a collection of science-fiction, fantasy and ghost stories, including "Ghost Island", "The Captain's Wife" and "A COndensed Ghost". Also included is an intriguing tale entitled 'A Darwinian Schooner' which presents apes as humans, a well as a number of stories involving daring and dangerous inventions. With twenty collected stories all together, many of which were originally published in American magazines, such as 'Pall Mall Magazine', in the late nineteenth century. Written by American journalist, fiction-writer and diplomat, William L. Alden. Bound in the publisher's original blue cloth. Externally, very good with light bumping to the extremities and spine. Slight fading to the spine and the odd mark to cloth. Hinges are a touch strained, but holding firm. Internally, firmly bound with bright, clean pages. Very Good . Ill.: None. Very Good .

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: 903Q18

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: W. L. Alden The Mystery of Elias G Roebuck science-fiction short stories The Mystery of Elias G Roebuck None

David Alexander

The Death of Daddy-O a Marty Land Mystery

London, T. V. Boardman and Company Limited, 1960. First edition. Cloth. The first UK edition of this mystery novel from David Alexander. 'When the body that had been lying in the street had been carried away, the fat old many, carrying a bible, a parrot and an old phonograph shuffled across the courtyard and entered an apartment..' In an orange cloth binding with original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, very smart. Dustwrapper is generally smart, though with some slight edgewear, and handling marks. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean, with just some foxing to the textblock edge. Very Good . Ill.: None. Very Good/Very Good.

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: MOD1-A-10

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Mystery Thriller Detective Thriller None

Kingsley Amis

One Fat Englishman

London, Gollancz, 1986. First edition. Cloth. This is a first edition copy of this work by Kingsley Amis. Kingsley Amis was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher who wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry and various short stories, scripts and works of social and literary criticism. In a red cloth binding in original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, in excellent condition with just some minor shelfwear. Ink inscription to front free-endpaper. Dustwrapper very smart with some edgewear, handling marks and spots. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright and clean. Very Good . Ill.: None. Very Good/Good.

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: MOD1-B-11

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Amis Fiction First Edition Fiction None

Carol O'Connell; Val McDermid

Flight of the Stone Angel

Blakeney, Scorpion Press, 1997. First edition. Leather. The limited first edition of this fourth mystery novel in the Kathy Mallory series, signed by the author Carol O'Connell. Number 27 of 85 copies of this limited signed first edition, in the special quarter morocco binding with marbled paper boards and an acetate brodart cover. Signed by the author to the limited edition page. Carol O'Connell is a crime fiction author. This her fourth book in her Kathy Mallory series, in which Mallory visits the rural Louisiana town where she was born, to find closure in the mysterious death of her mother. She must sift through the creepy, dangerous layers of the past to get answers. With an appreciation by Val McDermid. In a quarter morocco binding and original paper boards. Externally in excellent condition, with a clean and smart acetate brodart cover. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean except for a little age toning to the page perimeters. Fine . Ill.: None. Fine .

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: 840M30

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Carol O'Connell Signed books Detective fiction Signed books None

Martin O'Brien

Jacquot and the Angel

London, Headline, 2005. First edition. Cloth. A signed first edition of this crime thriller from Martin O'Brien. Signed by the author to the title page. "In a gripping and skilfully crafted novel, Martin O'Brien serves up a murderous slice of French country life, laced with dark secrets and chilling menace." In a cloth binding with original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, very smart, with just some very slight shelfwear only. Dustwrapper is smart, with just a few handling marks. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright and clean. Fine . Ill.: None. Fine/Fine.

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: MOD1-H-17

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Crime Thriller Signed Thriller None

Carol O'Connell; Barry Maitland

Killing Critics

Blakeney, Scorpion Press, 1995. Leather. A lovely limited edition of this Kathy Mallory mystery novel, signed by the author Carol O'Connell. Number 33 of 85 copies of this limited signed edition, in the special quarter morocco binding with marbled paper boards and an acetate brodart cover. Signed by the author to the limited edition page. Carol O'Connell is a crime fiction author. This her third book in her Kathy Mallory series, in which Mallory investigates the murder of Dean Starr, an artist whose death was made to appear as performance art. The New York City art world is a key theme in the novel. With an appreciation by Barry Maitland. In a quarter morocco binding, with original paper boards. Externally very smart, with very light rubbing to the tail of the spine. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very clean though a little age toned. Little chipping to the head of the spine of acetate brodart cover. Near Fine . Ill.: None. Near Fine .

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: 840M28

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Carol O'Connell Signed books Detective fiction Signed books None

Carol O'Connell

Mallory&Apos;S Oracle; the Man Who Cast Two Shadows; Killing Critics; Flight of the Stone Angel; Judas Child

London; New York, Hutchinson; G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1994-1999. First edition. Cloth. First impressions of five crime novels, mostly from Carol O'Connell's Kathy Mallory series. First edition, first impressions of five works in the publisher's original cloth bindings, with the original unclipped dust wrappers. Five novels by the American crime writer Carol O'Connell, four of which are from her NYPD Det. Kathy Mallory series. Judas Child is a standalone mystery about two missing girls. This selection are all first US editions or first UK editions, as listed below. This selection comprises: Mallory's Oracle (Hutchinson, London, 1994); The Man Who Cast Two Shadows (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1995); Killing Critics (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1996); Flight of the Stone Angel (Hutchinson, London, 1997); and Judas Child (Hutchinson, London, 1999). In the publisher's original cloth bindings, with the original unclipped dust wrappers. Externally, cloth is in excellent condition to all volumes. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright and clean to The Man Who Cast Two Shadows and Killing Critics. Pages to Mallory's Oracle, Flight of the Stone Angel and Judas Child are age toned to the perimeters but clean. Dust wrappers are very bright and smart. Fine . Ill.: Not Stated. Fine/Fine.

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: 873M23

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Crime fiction Kathy Mallory Carol O'Connell Kathy Mallory Not Stated

Clifford Ashdown; R Austin Freeman

The Adventures of Romney Pringle

London, Ward, Lock and Co, 1902. First edition. Cloth. The impossibly scarce blue version of the first edition of Richard Austin Freeman's important work of detective fiction 'The Adventures of Romney Pringle&apos. A vanishingly scarce and important work of detective fiction. Queen originally believed only six copies of this work existed. However, subsequently a very few more copies have been discovered in private collections and institutional collections.Despite there being only a handful of copies, the book was issued in both blue and red cloth.Freeman's bibliographer David Chapman notes that the blue copies were handled by the author and for libraries. This, Chapman suggests, would give the blue cloth priority. So far Chapman has located twenty six copies including this one. The white vignette to the front board is faded slightly. R Austin Freeman was a celebrated author of detective fiction. He invented the inverted detective story, and created one of the first medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke. With a frontispiece and three additional illustrations. With two pages of publisher's advertisements to the rear. Loosely inserted is a slip of paper advertising this book to have been from the collection of American Sherlockian, John Ruyle. These works are written under the pseudonym 'Clifford Ashdown&apos. The Romney Pringle stories were some of Freeman's first successful tales. They were written in collaboration with John James Pitcairn, a medical officer at Holloway Prison. The tales to this work were first issued in Australia under the pseudonym of Ralph J Jay, a year before their appearance in Cassell's Magazine. The Oxford companion to Crime describes Pringle as 'a literary agent who earns a living by swindling crooks out of their ill-gotten gains. A very scarce first edition anthology of this important work in the Crime Fiction cannon. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, very smart. Vignette to the front board is faded, as is common. Light shelfwear to the extremities of the work. Minor bumping to the extremities. Small tidemark to the front board. Front hinge is strained but firm. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright. Scattered spots, heavier to the first and last few pages. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: None. Very Good Indeed .

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: 746L5

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Romney Pringle Thorndyke Clifford Ashdown Freeman Thorndyke None

Various Authors

A Selection of Novels from the Sexton Blake Library in Fourteen Volumes

London , The Sexton Blake Library, c1930. Paperback. Fourteen volumes from the Sexton Blake Library. The set consists of: The Mystery of the Rio Star by Walter Tyrer, The Case of Two Crooked Baronets by Walter Tyrer, The Millionaire's Nest-Egg by Anthony Parsons, The Case of the Green Caravan by Rex Hardinge, The Riddle of the Greek Financier by John G. Brandon, The Mystery of Avenue Road, Dick Turpin in Dungeon Deep (from Newnes' Black Bess Library), The Mystery of the New Tenant by John Hunter, The Secret of the Desert by Rex Hardinge, Partners in Crime by Hilary King, Retired from the Yard by Anthony Parsons, The Case of the Missing Surgeon, It Happened in Melgrove Square by John Hunter and The Three Trails (from the Prairie Library). Sexton Blake is a fictional detective who appeared in many British comic strips and novels throughout the 20th century. He was described by Professor Jeffrey Richards on the BBC in The Radio Detectives in 2003 as "the poor man's Sherlock Holmes". Sexton Blake adventures appeared in a wide variety of British and international publications (in many languages) from 1893 to 1978, running to over 4,000 stories by some 200 different authors. As the years passed, Blake's character underwent various permutations. Originally, he was created in the vein of earlier 19th century detectives but in the late 1890s, Blake's authors consciously modeled him on Sherlock Holmes. It was not until 1919 that Blake took on a more distinctive personality. The golden age of the story papers coincided with Blake's golden age, as he became far more action-orientated than Holmes and duelled with a variety of memorable enemies. Many of Blake's writers had been men of adventure, men who had travelled the world and seen the seamier side of life. When World War II started, they enlisted, leaving just a small group of writers behind (with the addition of the occasional guest writer). Consequently, the standard of Blake's stories suffered. In November 1955, William Howard Baker took over as editor of the Sexton Blake Library and, in 1956, introduced a successful update of the Blake formula. The Sexton Blake Library found new popularity with faster-moving, more contemporary stories (often influenced by American pulp fiction). Blake, who had moved a number of times over the years, moved to a suite of plush offices in Berkeley Square (while retaining lodgings at Baker Street) and acquired a secretary, Paula Dane, who became a not-quite-love interest for Blake. Tinker was given a real name, Edward Carter, and Blake's office receptionist Marion Lang was introduced as his female counterpart. Covers, which had become rather staid in the early 1950s, became far more dynamic and a new group of authors were commissioned. In decorative paper bindings in acetate slipcases. Externally, generally smart, lightly rubbed in places. Internally, generally firmly bound. Pages are generally bright and clean. Good . Ill.: None. Good .

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: SET34-C-1

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Sexton Blake Sexton Blake Library Walter Tyrer Sexton Blake Library None

Jo Bannister

Broken Lines

London, Macmillan, 1998. First edition. Cloth. A first edition of this crime fiction novel by Jo Bannister. First edition, first impression. 'Riding his motorcycle through the frosty back roads in the country is Detective Sergeant Donovan's idea of relaxation: Walking in on the armed robbery of a Castlemere gas station isn't. Donovan pursues the thief, but the chase ends in a horrible accident. The nineteen-year-old driver of the get-away van survives the crash, thanks largely to Donovan himself, who plunges into the burning wreckage and pulls the young man to safety. Unfortunately, it turns out that the accused robber is none other than Mikey Dickens, youngest son of a local crime family, and the Dickens family solicitor knows some good tricks for getting her clients released. Donovan, supported by Detective Superintendent Frank Shapiro and Detective Inspector Liz Graham, is determined to prove Mikey's guilt. But has he finally met his match?' In a red cloth binding with original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, very smart. Dustwrapper is smart also, with just a few marks. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Fine . Ill.: None. Fine/Fine.

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: MOD2-E-11

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Jo Bannister Crime Fiction Crime None

Martyn Bedford

Acts of Revision

London, Bantam Press, 1995. First edition. Cloth. The first edition of this psychological thriller by Martyn Bedford. A sample copy for review (label to front endpaper). In a black cloth binding with original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, smart, with just some slight bumping and a few marks. Dustwrapper is quite smart, though with a few handling marks and instances of foxing. Very Good . Ill.: None. Very Good/Very Good.

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: MOD1-A-3

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Review Copy Psychology Thriller Dustwrapper Psychology None

Pauline Bell

Feast Into Mourning

London, Macmillan, 1991. Cloth. A first edition of this murder mystery by Pauline Bell. 'The parishioners of St Oswald's have turned out in force to support relatives and friends in the annual cricket match. Sixteen-year-old Zoe Morgan is bored, and decides to walk to the nearby spinney; she finds a charred and decaying corpse..' In a cloth binding with original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, smart, with just some light shelfwear. Dustwrapper is smart also, with just a few marks. Internally, firmly bound. Pages have some marginal age-toning, but are otherwise clean. Very Good . Ill.: None. Very Good/Very Good Indeed.

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: MOD2-F-15

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Pauline Bell Detective Mystery Crime Detective None

Pauline Bell

Swansong

London, Constable, 2002. Cloth. A first edition of this DI Mitchell mystery from Pauline Bell. 'When opera buff Lewis Blake wins millions on the lottery he decides to make his local amateur operatic society a really professional concern and hires three star names for their new production of 'Carmen&apos. But as soon as rehearsals start, so do the anonymous letters, and when Carmen is found with her throat cut, D I Mitchell and his team realise the real drama is not on the stage..' In a cloth binding with original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally smart, with just some light shelfwear. Dustwrapper is generally smart, though with some edgewear. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Near Fine . Ill.: None. Near Fine/Near Fine.

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: MOD2-E-14

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Pauline Bell DI Mitchell Mystery Crime DI Mitchell None

E C Bentley

Cas Deireannach Trent

Dublin, Oifig Diolta Foilseachan Rialtais , 1934. Cloth. An Irish edition of E C Bentley's novel 'Trent's Last Case&apos. Translated by Sean Mac Maolain. 'Trent's Last Case' is the first novel to feature Philip Trent. It is a classic whodunit, detective fiction crossover. In the United States this novel was published as 'The Woman in Black&apos. In Irish, translated by Sean Mac Maolain. This novel was so successful it received praise from many noted authors of the genre including G.K Chesterton and Agatha Christie. Christie regarded this novel to be one of the three best detective stories ever written. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, very smart. Fading to the spine and extremities. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright. Scattered spotting to the first and last few pages. A few light spots to the fore-edge. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: None. Very Good Indeed .

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: 766L12

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Deireannach Trent Trent Irish Gaelic Trent None

Nicolas Bentley

Gammon and Espionage

London, The Cresset Press Ltd. 1938. First edition. Cloth. A humorous mystery novel by Nicolas Bentley, with illustrations throughout the text, in the scarce dust-wrapper. First edition, uncommon. In the scarce price-clipped dust wrapper.Illustrated by the author himself, with twenty-four full-page illustrations. 'Gammon and Espionage' is a humorous detective novel that was inspired by a work written by the author's father, E. C. Bentley. Described as a 'comprehensive satire of a book', Bentley plays with classic tropes such as red-herrings, thrilling cliff-hangers, and a general sense of mystery. Nicolas Bentley (1907-1978) was a British writer and illustrator. He drew an array of cartoons that were seen in magazines throughout the 1930s and 1940s, but is most well-known for his illustrations within T. S. Eliot's 'Old Possum's Books of Practical Cats&apos. Collated, complete. In the publisher's original cloth binding, in the price-clipped dust wrapper. Externally, excellent, with just a bit of fading to the margins, particularly to the top edge of boards. Dust wrapper is generally smart with a bit of discolouration and spotting to the wraps, including the reverse. Chipping to edges of wraps, particularly to the top edge as well to the bottom spine region. A few closed tears to wraps. Damp stain along spine. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright and clean throughout. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: Nicolas Bentley. Very Good Indeed/Good.

-- Rooke BooksProfessionele verkoper

Boeknummer: 807D43

Catalogus: Detective Fiction

Trefwoorden: Gammon and Espionage Nicolas Bentley detective fiction humour Nicolas Bentley Nicolas Bentley