Modern Literature (Mysteries) from Quercus Rare Books

Garden City: The Crime Club, Inc. By Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1930. This is a Very Good copy of the First [American] Edition [stated]. It was published in England in the same year but with a different title, "The Clue of the Silver key" [Hubin, pp 420-422]. Black cloth binding with titling in orange on the spine and front… Read more about this item

New York: The Macaulay Company, 1934. "Gregory Baxter" is the pseudonym for the dual authors Jon Ressich and Eric De Banzie. This is a Very Good copy of the First American Edition, which precedes the English by a year. [Hubin, p. 26, mis-states the publication as 1935.] Green cloth binding with titling in black on the spine and front cover.… Read more about this item

Cleveland & New York: International Fiction Library, 1930. Steele is a pseudonym used by the Edward Stratemeyer Syndicate, most well-known for its juvenile series. This would have been ghost-written, as Stratemeyer only wrote the first in this mystery series. First published by George Sully & Company in 1918 [Hubin, 389]. This is a Very Good copy of a reprint… Read more about this item

London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1928. Robert Erskine Childers was English but became an advocate of Irish Nationalism. He smuggled guns, fought in the Civil War, and was executed by the Irish Free State. Prior to that he had served in the British army during the Second Boer War, receiving a Distinguished Service Medal. First published in 1903, this title is… Read more about this item

New York: Viking, 2013. A biblio-mystery featuring Will Shakespeare and friends. This is a Fine copy of the First Edition [full number line]. Cream coloured paper boards with a black spine; titled and decorated in gilt. Clean text; 352 pages. The dustjacket if Fine, unclipped. In an archival plastic protector.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" -… Read more about this item

Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1928. The third Charlie Chan mystery. [Hubin, 33] This is a Very Good copy of a Later Printing [dated 1928 but lacking the arrow on the Copyright Page]. Bright yellow cloth binding with titling in purple on the spine and front cover. Clean text; 337 pages. Textblock is very fresh. Rubbing to the top edges and… Read more about this item

New York: Richard Marek Publishers, 1981. Here is the first title in Gardner's multi-volume expansion of the James Bond franchise.This is a Fine copy of the First American Edition. Dark gray paper-covered boards with titling on the spine in gilt. Clean text; 285 pages. The dustjacket is Fine; unclipped. In an archival plastic protector [Note: due to a computer crash,… Read more about this item

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1928. First published by Dodd in 1912 under the title "The Vanishing Man." This Later Printing, part of "The S.S. Van Dine Detective Library," reverts to its English title. [Hubin, 157] Heavily embossed black cloth binding with a knife-holding miscreant highlighted in silver on the front cover. Clean text; 344 pages. Frontis illustration. Previous-owner signature… Read more about this item

New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1942. A novelization of the 1928 film that was "loose;ly" based upon Zangwill's "Big Bow Mystery." This is a Near Fine copy of the First Edition [not a typial G&D reprint] Black cloth binding with titling in red on the spine and front cover. Clean text; 197 pages. Wartime paper stock is tanned but perfectly… Read more about this item

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1949. "When the Cat Stalks - Men Die." This is a Very Good copy of the First Edition [stated "Published September MCMXLIX"]. Bright blue cloth binding with titling and the so-named cat stamped in black on the front cover; titling in black on the spine. Clean text; 245 pages. Previous-owner signature (1950) on the FFEP.… Read more about this item

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1922. This is a Very Good (Plus) to Near Fine copy of the First American Edition, which preceded the English by a year. [Hubin, 313] Considering Oppenheim's incredible out put and popularity, this is a surprisingly scarce title. Bright red cloth binding with titling in black on the spine and front cover. Clean text; 303… Read more about this item

Philadelphia, New York, London, Toronto: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1940. "Anthony Morton" is one of the pseudonyms employed by the prolific John Creasey (1908-1973). This is part of "...the series of breathless adventures of John Mannering, London man-about-town..." This is a Very Good copy of the First American Edition [Hubin, 299-300; published in the UK as "Versus the Baron"]. Turquoise cloth… Read more about this item

New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1949. This is a Very Good copy of the First American Edition [stated "first printing"]. Hubin, p. 300. Light gray cloth binding, titled in red on the sp[ine. Clean text;254 pages. Evidence of a label removal on the FFEP; fade along the fore-edge of the covers. The dustjacket is Very Good; unclipped, with the… Read more about this item

Garden City: Doubleday Doran & Company, Inc. For The Crime Club, Inc., 1933. This short story collection b Henry Christopher Bailey (1878-1961) features his series charcter Reggie Fortune, a medically qualified detective. This is a Near Fine copy of the First Edition [stated]. Hubin, p. 19. An uncommon title. Black cloth binding with a striking ilustration in red on the… Read more about this item

New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1925. The first title that featured the famed detective Charlie Chan. First published by Bobbs-Merrill; this is a Near Fine copy from the same year. Variant bright red cloth binding with titling in black on the spine and front cover. Clean text; 316 pages. Very bright and clear. Contemporary ("31 May 1930"] signature on the… Read more about this item

Chicago: Ziff-Davis Company, 1948. This is the last book written by Richard Burke (1886-1962), featuring his series character Quinny Hite [who appeared in five of the ten novels Burke wrote]. This is a Very Good copy of the First Edition. No publication date, but 1948. [Hubin, 58.] Turquoise blue cloth binding with titling in red on the spine. Clean text;… Read more about this item

New York, Haggerstopwn, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1978. The second book by this mysterious author, originally perceived to be of the male persuasion, featuring an intimidating Israeli millionaire/intelligence operative. A Very Good (Plus) copy of the First Edition [stated]. An uncommon title. Light blue-green paper-covered boards with a purple cloth spine titled in silver. Clean text; 179… Read more about this item

New York, Haggerstopwn, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1976. The second book by this mysterious author, originally perceived to be of the male persuasion, featuring an intimidating Israeli millionaire/intelligence operative. A Very Good (Plus) copy of the First Edition [stated]. An uncommon title. Orange paper-covered boards with an orange cloth spine; titling in white on the spine. Clean… Read more about this item

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1938. Kay Boyle (1902-1992) writes here a modernist mystery, certainly an oddity in mystery fiction. that seems like a precursor to Sam Beckett's "Godot." A naive medical student arrives in Paris and hooks up with a drunken writer; they wander about in search of a mysterious forensic doctor. This is a Very Good copy… Read more about this item

London: John Murray, 1925. This is a Very Good copy of the the first printing of Murray's "Thin Paper Editions" [stated "This Edition on Thin Paperfirst issued...1925"]. Not common. Red cloth binding, ruled and with "ACD" in gilt on the front cover; titling and decorations on the spine in black. Clean text; 285 pages; with a four-page publisher's catalog in… Read more about this item