Here's our latest list of Bibliomysteries.
Sally Owen
The Mysterious Bookshop
BIBLIOMYSTERIES
Since it has proven to be the most popular list we send out, we’re again offering some books in one of the most interesting sub-genres of the mystery world, "Bibliomysteries," which are books about books. They may be set in bookstores or libraries, they may involve collectors, librarians or authors, or they may involve rare books or manuscripts, but, for all of us who love the world of books, these are among the most satisfying books in the field, both for readers and for the many collectors who have specialized in these titles. If you would like to put together your own collection of bibliomysteries, whether reading copies or fine first editions, please make contact with Otto, who would enjoy working with you. Babson, Marian Murder on a Mystery Tour, N.Y., Walker, 1987. First U.S. edition A mystery weekend in England, sponsored by an American mystery bookstore, is attended by mystery fans, crime novelists–and murder. Very fine in dust jacket. $20.00
Block, Lawrence, The Burglar in the Library, London, No Exit, 1997. First trade edition, preceding the U.S. edition. The first issue with misprint of "settle" for "settled" on first page. This is one a very small number of copies (reputedly 47) misbound with the Scorpion Press title page. Very fine in dust jacket. Signed on the title page. $100.00
Block, Lawrence, Burglars Can’t Be Choosers, N.Y., Dutton, 1995. First printing of this reprint edition. Professional thief Bernie Rhodenbarr discusses how to hide money in books, as well as how to hide evidence in the style of Edgar Allan Poe. The first book in the series. Very fine in dust jacket. $23.95
Block, Lawrence, The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling, N.Y., Dutton, 1996. First printing of this reprint edition. Rhodenbarr, now the owner of a second-hand bookstore, becomes involved in the theft of a rare Kipling volume. Very fine in dust jacket. Signed. $25.00
Block, Lawrence, The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza, N.Y., Dutton, 1997. First printing of this reprint edition. Thief and bookstore owner Rhodenbarr becomes involved with a very rare coin and a fence who collects books on Spinoza. Very fine in dust jacket. Signed. $23.95
Block, Lawrence, The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian, N.Y., Dutton, 1983. First printing of this reprint edition. Bookseller Bernie Rhodenbarr leaves his bookshop to steal a Mondrian painting. Very fine in dust jacket. Signed. $23.95
Breen, Jon L(inn), The Gathering Place, N.Y., Walker, 1984. First edition. A Los Angeles bookseller becomes involved in murder when she uncovers some curious facts about an early Hollywood screenwriter. Very fine in dust jacket. $45.00
Bruen, Ken, The Book of Virtue, N.Y., Mysterious Bookshop, 2011. First edition. Short story. A man who never read more than the sports page leaves an inheritance to his son, a beautiful book titled The Book of Virtue. Very fine in dust jacket. One of 26 lettered copies, signed, $100.00. Paperback, $4.95
Carter, Robert A(yres), Casual Slaughters, N.Y., Mysterious Press, 1994. First paperback edition. The head of a publishing company finds that his star author has been murdered and his million dollar manuscript stolen. As new. $7.50
Coleman, Reed Farrel, The Book of Ghosts, N.Y., Mysterious Bookshop, 2011. First edition. Short story. A man over-writes his murderous past, spinning a web of lies that remains a secret until The Book of Ghosts is discovered, wrapped in the striped pajamas of Auschwitz. Very fine in dust jacket. One of 26 lettered copies, signed, $100.00. One of 100 numbered copies, signed, $60.00. Paperback, $4.95
Crispin, Edmund (pseudonym of Robert Bruce Montgomery), The Case of the Gilded Fly, N.Y., London House & Maxwell 1970. First printing of this reprint edition. The murder of an actress involves a coterie of odd figures, including a parrot who quotes Heinrich Heine in German and a large team of monkeys testing the statistical hypothesis that they will inevitably type all the books in the British Museum. The first Gervase Fen mystery. Near fine copy in dust jacket. $15.00
Crispin, Edmund (pseudonym of Robert Bruce Montgomery), The Case of the Gilded Fly, N.Y., IPL, 1991. With a new introduction by Douglas G. Greene. First printing of this paperback edition. The murder of an actress involves a coterie of odd figures, including a parrot who quotes Heinrich Heine in German and a large team of monkeys testing the statistical hypothesis that they will inevitably type all the books in the British Museum. The first Gervase Fen mystery. $7.50
Daly, Elizabeth, Evidence of Things Seen, N.Y., Farrar & Rinehart, 1943. First edition. Gamadge’s wife is the primary suspect in a murder case. Ex-library reading copy. $12.50
Daly, Elizabeth, Evidence of Things Seen, London, Hammond, 1946. First U.K. edition. Gamadge’s wife is the primary suspect in a murder case. Cover stained, else very good, tight copy. $15.00
Dane, Clemence, and Helen Simpson, Enter Sir John, N.Y., Cosmopolitan, 1928. First edition. A murder in a London theater is solved by means of a neatly rewritten play. Frontispiece. A very good or better copy in the uncommon dust jacket, which has a couple of tiny chips and a bit of sunning to the purple color, as usual. $125.00
Another copy of the first U.S. edition. Very good copy. $35.00
Dean, S.F.X., It Can’t Be My Grave, N.Y., Walker, 1984. First U.S. edition. Prof. Neil Kelly is in England for the publication of his book on John Donne where he becomes involved with a long-lost 16th-century play, a cast of eccentric actors, and publishing people. Very fine, as new copy in dust jacket. Review slip laid in. $25.00
Derleth, August, The Chronicles of Solar Pons, Sauk City, WI, 1965. First edition, limited to 4,000 copies. Contains "The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians," a parody of Vincent Starrett’s great bibliomystery, "The Unique Hamlet. Very fine in dust jacket. $40.00
Dolson, Hildegarde, Please Omit Funeral, Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1976. Book club edition. After a right-wing extremist demonstrates against "dirty" books in the library and burns them, a local author is murdered and she is the prime suspect. Near fine in dust jacket. $8.50
Dunning, John, Booked to Die, N.Y., Scribner, 1992. First edition. Probably the greatest bibliomystery of all time; introduces Cliff Janeway, a second-hand book dealer who investigates the murder of a book scout. Very fine in a very fine dust jacket. $850.00
Engleman, Paul, Catch a Fallen Angel, N.Y., Mysterious Press, 1986. First edition. When the centerfold model for a magazine disappears before her photos run, suspicion falls on a rival magazine publisher planning his first issue—with the same model. Edges of boards sunned, else very good in dust jacket. $10.00
Evans, John (pseudonym of Howard Browne), Halo for Satan, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, 1948. First edition. Private detective Paul Pine is hired to learn whether a manuscript purportedly in the hand of Jesus Christ is genuine. The price is $25,000,000 and its authenticity is guaranteed by the foremost expert on ancient documents, a scholar with impeccable credentials. Murder soon follows. Tape and glue stains on the endpapers, else very good in a bright dust jacket that has been trimmed about a ½ inch. An uncommon book. $60.00
Fearing, Kenneth, The Big Clock, N.Y., Harcourt, 1946. First edition. A young woman involved with a large publishing company is murdered by a member of the prestigious publishing house. The basis for the outstanding 1948 Paramount film noir directed by John Farrow, with a screenplay by Jonathan Latimer; it starred Ray Millan and Charles Laughton. It was remade by Orion in 1987 as No Way Out. Fine in dust jacket, which has a sunned spine and small chips. Uncommon. $125.00
Fenster, Bob, The Last Page, N.Y., Perseverance Press, 1989. First edition. Trade paperback original. A New York mystery editor is found slumped across her desk with a rejection slip stapled to her sleeve and a bullet hole in her heart. Could a writer have accepted rejection badly? Very fine. $15.00
Fenster, Bob, The Last Page, N.Y., Perseverance Press, 1989. Second printing Trade paperback original. A New York mystery editor is found slumped across her desk with a rejection slip stapled to her sleeve and a bullet hole in her heart. Could a writer have accepted rejection badly? Very fine. $10.00
Fish, Robert L., Kek Huuygens, Smuggler, N.Y., Mysterious Press, 1976. First edition. A collection of clever short stories including one in which the gentleman smuggler manages to help steal the original manuscript of a Bach cantata. One of 1,000 copies. Fine in dust jacket. $10.00
Fiechter, J(ean) J(acques), Death by Publication, N.Y., Arcade, 1995. First edition in English. (Translated from the French Tire a Part, Paris, 1993). The head of one of England’s most prestigious publishing houses has always seemed quite content to be the silent supporter of his great authors as editor, translator and publisher. But when his best-selling French author delivers his greatest work, he recognizes it as a true story about the only woman he ever loved, reduced to ruin by the charismatic Frenchman, and determines to ruin him. Very fine in dust jacket. $20.00
Fletcher, J.S., The Yorkshire Moorland Murder, N.Y., Knopf, 1930. First U.S. edition. A wealthy American book collector (a fictional A.S.W. Rosenbach) travels to England to buy a collector’s library and becomes involved with murder. Tops of pages unevenly discolored, rear hinge cracked, else very good. $17.50
Frost, Mark, The Six Messiahs, N.Y., Morrow, 1995. First edition. Frost, Mark, The Six Messiahs, N.Y., Morrow, 1995. First edition. As Arthur Conan Doyle crosses the Atlantic with his brother Innes and a cryptic Irish priest, they are stalked by an otherworldly group of assassins attempting to steal a precious bit of the ship's cargo, a priceless book of ancient mysticism, The Book of Zohar. Very fine in dust jacket, which is crumpled at base of spine. $20.00
Fruterro, Carlo, and Franco Lucentini, The D. Case: The Truth about the Mystery of Edwin Drood, N.Y., Harcourt, 1992. First edition in English; translated from the Italian by Gregory Dowling. An international conference in Rome is convened to solve the unfinished mystery novel by Charles Dickens. Among those in attendance are Lew Archer, Father Brown, Sherlock Holmes, Jules Maigret, Philip Marlowe, Hercule Poirot and Porfiry Petrovich. As each chapter is examined and analyzed by the detectives, the question becomes: Who murdered Charles Dickens? Very fine in dust jacket. $35.00
Fuller, Timothy, Harvard Has a Homicide, N.Y., Grosset & Dunlap, 1936. Reprint. The murder of a professor sets off an investigation throughout Harvard, the Hasty Pudding Club and its famous library. Pencil inscription on front endpaper, else near fine in dust jacket, which has light wear at spine ends. $25.00
Fuller, Timothy, Harvard Has a Homicide, Boston, Little, Brown, 1936. Reprint. The murder of a professor sets off an investigation throughout Harvard, the Hasty Pudding Club and its famous library. Very good reading copy. $15.00
Furutani, Dale, Death in Little Tokyo, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1996. First edition. A mystery fan masquerades as a private eye at his local mystery club’s weekend event when a femme fatale turns up. The author’s first book. Very fine in dust jacket. $35.00
Garland, Lawrence (pseudonym of Lawrence Toppman and Steven Garland), The Affair of the Unprincipled Publisher, New Castle, DE, Oak Knoll, 1983. First edition, hardcover issue, limited to 275 copies in wrappers.. Dr. Watson discovers a manuscript that proves Sherlock Holmes and Thomas J. Wise, the notorious forger, crossed paths. $50.00
Gruber, Frank, The Gift Horse, N.Y., Farrar & Rinehart, 1942. First edition. After an unexpected opportunity to sell books at the race track, Fletcher is given a racehorse named Ulysses, with enough money to support it, but there’s always a catch. Foxing to endpapers, else a fine copy in a dust jacket that is chipped at top of spine. $100.00
Gruber, Frank, The Honest Dealer, N.Y., Rinehart, 1947. First edition. Fletcher and Cragg get mixed up with murder in Las Vegas. Minor bibliophilic content. Fine in dust jacket, which has a tape repair along top of spine and some staining on back panel. $75.00
Gruber, Frank, The Honest Dealer, N.Y., Rinehart, 1947. First edition. Fletcher and Cragg get mixed up with murder in Las Vegas. Minor bibliophilic content. Fine in dust jacket. $150.00
Gruber, Frank, The Scarlet Feather, N.Y., Rinehart, 1948. First edition. Johnny Fletcher, a tireless seller of books, and his partner Sam Cragg, become involved with cockfighting. Good in dust jacket. $25.00
Gruber, Frank, The Limping Goose, N.Y., Rinehart, 1954. First edition. Down on their luck as usual, booksellers Fletcher and Cragg have taken a temporary job as collection agents and run into trouble when they accept a bank in the shape of a goose as payment. Very fine in dust jacket, which has a sunned spine. $75.00
Gruber, Frank, Swing Low, Swing Dead, N.Y., Belmont, 1964. First edition. Paperback original. Fletcher and Cragg are still selling books but now they’re involved in the music business and own the manuscript to a single song. Fine and unread. $25.00
Handler, David, The Man Who Died Laughing, N.Y., Bantam, 1988. First edition. Paperback original. The first book about Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag, once the toast of the publishing world and husband to the gorgeous actress Merilee Nash, but now reduced to eking out a living as a ghostwriter of celebrity memoirs and being a reluctant amateur detective. All the books in the series are bibliomysteries, though inevitably some to a greater extent than others. In this debut, Hoagy is ghosting the memoir of a has-been comedian who believes his comeback will be spurred by his tell-all biography will do the trick, but someone on La-La Land is determined to kill the book. As new, unopened copy, and scarce in this condition. $45.00
Handler, David, The Man Who Lived by Night, N.Y., Bantam, 1989. First edition. Paperback original. A publisher has paid nearly $2,000,000 to the superstar singer in a rock group for a memoir in which all the feuds, the women, and the drugs will be revealed. The job means a certain best-seller for Hoagy, as well as a chance to improve his relationship with his wife. As new, unopened copy, and scarce in this condition. $45.00
Hansen, Joseph, Skinflick, N.Y., Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979. First edition. A group of born-again Christians try to close a pornographic book shop, leading to murder. Very fine in dust jacket. $30.00
Harrison, Michael, Murder in the Rue Royale, London, Stacey, 1972. First U.K. edition of The Exploits of the Chevalier Dupin, including "The Mystery of the Fulton Documents" with four additional stories. Fine in dust jacket, which has two small tears at top of front and rear panels. $60.00
Hart, Carolyn G., Death on Demand, N.Y., Bantam, 1987. First edition. Paperback original. The first mystery in the series about Annie Laurence, the proprietress of the "Death on Demand" mystery bookstore on Broward’s Rock Island, S.C., holds a weekly meeting of mystery writers called "The Sunday Night Regulars" which doesn’t turn out as planned when one of the authors is murdered. Very fine, unread copy. $100.00
Hart, Carolyn G., Something Wicked, N.Y., Bantam, 1988. First edition. Paperback original. An Annie Laurence mystery in which the bookshop owner must deal with the surprising fact that her fiancé Max is accused of murdering the leading man in a summer stock production of Arsenic and Old Lace. Very fine, unread copy. Inscribed and signed. $45.00
Another copy. First edition. Very fine, unread copy. Not signed. $20.00
Hart, Carolyn G., Design for Murder, N.Y., Bantam, 1988. First edition. Paperback original. Annie Laurence, owner of the "Death on Demand" mystery bookstore, is invited to stage a mystery night that ends in murder. Very fine, unread copy. $20.00
Hart, Carolyn G., A Little Class on Murder, N.Y., Doubleday, 1989. Reprint Annie Laurence is asked to teach a class about "The Three Great Ladies of the Mystery" at Chastain Community College when a scandal erupts, causing a suicide and two murders. Fine in dust jacket. $20.00
Hart, Carolyn G., The Christie Caper, N.Y., Bantam, 1991. First edition. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Agatha Christie’s birth, Annie Laurence hosts a spectacular mystery convention at her Death on Demand bookshop, only to have it crashed by a literary critic who prefers hard-boiled crime and is writing a biography that will trash the memory of Dame Agatha. How many attenders want to kill him for that? Very fine in dust jacket. $18.00
Hart, Carolyn G., Mint Julep Murder, N.Y., Bantam, 1995. First edition. Annie Darling, owner of the Death on Demand Bookstore, attends the Dixie Book Festival and finds a publisher poisoned. Advance reading copy. Very fine in original wrappers. $7.50
Hess, Joan, Strangled Prose, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1986. First edition. The first novel about Claire Malloy, who operates the Book Depot, a classy college bookshop located in an old train station. She reluctantly agrees to host a book signing party at her shop for the author of a steamy romance, a roman a clef about escapades of faculty members. Very fine in dust jacket. $100.00
Hess, Joan, Murder at the Murder at the Mimosa Inn, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1986. A Claire Malloy mystery set at a murder mystery weekend. Very fine in dust jacket. $75.00
Hess, Joan, Dear Miss Demeanor, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1987. First edition. A Claire Malloy mystery in which her daughter’s principal falls dead from a mouthful of poisoned peach compote. Very fine in dust jacket. $25.00
Hess, Joan, Busy Bodies, N.Y., Dutton, 1995. First edition. Claire Malloy becomes involved with an artist whose front yard showcases a coffin and a nude model, causing so large a crowd and commensurate noise that the local mystery writer can’t finish her book. Advance proof copy. Very fine in original wrappers. $10.00
Houston, Robert, The Fourth Codex, Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1988. First edition. A U.S. Customs Service agent investigates the disappearance of a priceless pre-Maya codex only weeks after it was discovered. Review material laid in. Very fine in dust jacket. $25.00
Hoyt, Richard, The Siskiyou Two-Step, N.Y., Morrow, 1983. First edition. The body of a nude woman floating down an Oregon river is connected to an international plot to steal a manuscript reputedly written by Shakespeare. Very fine in dust jacket. $25.00
Innes, Michael, Appleby and Honeybath, N.Y., Dodd, Mead, 1983. First U.S. edition. Appleby is enjoying a weekend at an country estate when he finds a body in the library that later disappears. The papers of the library hold the clues that allow Honeybath, in collaboration with Appleby, to solve the mystery. Very fine in dust jacket. $20.00
Kenney, Susan, Garden of Menace, N.Y., Scribner, 1983. First edition. A Vassar professor is hired to edit the papers of famed author Lady Viola Montfort-Snow and learns that some people will do anything to prevent her—including murder. A fine fresh copy in dust jacket; advance copy with review slip and publicity letter laid in. $20.00
Kurnitz, Harry, Invasion of Privacy, N.Y., Random House, 1955. First edition. A hot young Hollywood producer acquires the rights to a book by a beautiful woman and, after the film is shot, learns it was based on a true story. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. $17.50
Lewis, Roy Harley, Where Agents Fear to Tread, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1984. First U.S. edition. A librarian is needed to identify priceless Arabic manuscripts that had been stolen from British museums and libraries, then smuggled back to Pakistan. Very fine in dust jacket. $25.00
Lewis, Roy Harley, Miracles Take a Little Longer, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1986. First edition. Rare bookseller Matthew Coll answers a late night knock on his door and confronts a figure seemingly out of a Gothic novel. Light glue stains on endpapers, else about fine in dust jacket rubbed at edges. $20.00
Lockridge, Frances and Richard, Murder within Murder, Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1946. First edition. A writer doing research at the library discovers another researcher has been murdered and calls on her publisher for help. He agrees, and Mr. and Mrs. North are on the case. Bottom of spine rubbed, else very good. $20.00
Lockridge, Frances and Richard, The Drill Is Death, Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1961. First edition. A British poet is teaching at a New York university. When he steps into a taxi, he discovers the body of one of his students. Since she had recently been spreading vicious rumors about him, he is the most likely suspect. Fine in dust jacket. $30.00
Lockridge, Frances and Richard, Murder by the Book, Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1963. First edition. On vacation in Florida, Mr. and Mrs. North discover a body on a pier and read his notebook, which leads them to the local library to search for the killer. Very fine in dust jacket. $35.00
Lockridge, Frances and Richard, Murder by the Book, Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1963. First edition. On vacation in Florida, Mr. and Mrs. North discover a body on a pier and read his notebook, which leads them to the local library to search for the killer. Fine in near fine dust jacket. $30.00
McAleer, John, Coign of Vantage, Woodstock, VT, Foul Play Press, 1988. First edition. When three members of a venerable Boston literary society die horribly, the investigation leads to the world’s foremost gentleman’s library where some scandal-filled manuscripts, kept secret for 40 years, have just surfaced. Very fine in dust jacket. $20.00
MacDonald, Marianne, Smoke Screen, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1999. First U.S. edition.
Dido Hoare buys the valuable personal library of a woman who turns up dead soon after. Dido is arrested when the police find a precious manuscript in her car. Very fine in dust jacket. $23.95
MacDonald, Marianne, Road Kill, London, Hodder, 2000. First edition. Antiquarian bookseller Dido Hoare becomes involved in a mystery when her nanny is locked up and her house is burgled. Very fine in dust jacket. Signed. $40.00
MacDonald, Marianne, Blood Lies, London, Hodder, 2001. First edition. Antiquarian bookseller Dido Hoare becomes involved in a mystery in an idyllic Georgian mansion in a picture postcard village. Signed. Very fine in dust jacket. $40.00
McGaughey, Neil, Otherwise Known as Murder, N.Y., Scribner, 1994. First edition. America’s leading authority on mystery fiction takes a pseudonym to attempt his own novel but before he can begin he is asked to find one of the mystery world’s most influential writers and finds murder. Very fine in dust jacket. Signed. $25.00
McGaughey, Neil, A Corpse by Any Other Name, N.Y., Scribner, 1998. First edition. The author known as Stokes Moran decides to divest himself of his more famous identity. Then his wife and literary agent is asked to identify the body of Stokes Moran. Very fine in dust jacket. Signed. $25.00
Monfredo, Miriam Grace, Blackwater Spirits, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1995. First edition. Each chapter begins with a quote from an early publication as Glynis Tryon, the librarian of a small town in Seneca Falls, N.Y., becomes involved in a murder investigation. Very fine in dust jacket. $20.00
Monteilhet, Hubert, Murder at the Frankfurt Book Fair, N.Y., Doubleday, 1976. First edition. A novel about the publishing industry involving "a young librarian," "a plump publisher" and "a distinguished professor¼and plagiarist." Non-authorial gift inscription on front endpaper, else fine in dust jacket. $22.50
Morse, L(arry( A(lan), Sleaze, N.Y., Avon, 1985. First edition. Paperback original. A fanatical cult threatens to commit murder unless a trashy magazine stops publishing explicit material. Very fine, unopened copy. $20.00
Neri, Kris, Revenge of the Gypsy Queen, Highland City, FL, Rainbow, 1999. First edition. First edition. Mystery writer Tracy Eaton uses her sleuthing skills to find a kidnapped bride. Praised by Carolyn Hart. Fine in dust jacket. Signed. $20.00
Offord, Lenore Glen, Walking Shadow, N.Y., Simon & Schuster, 1959. First edition. At the Ashland, Oregon, Shakespeare Festival, someone adds a line to one of Shakespeare’s plays, leading to murder. Remainder stripe on bottom page edges, else very good in dust jacket. $15.00
O’Scollain, Shuggie, The Printer’s Proof, London, Cadds, 2006. First edition (The book states "First Paperback Edition" but there is no record of a hardcover edition ever having been produced). Many over tones of Sherlock Holmes in a case involving England’s printer’s union, notably the NUPBW, which represented the men who did the folding, guillotining (cutting the page edges) and binding of books. Fine trade paperback edition. $19.95
Packard, Frank L., The Red Ledger, N.Y., Doran, 1926. Later printing. Ewen Stranway answers an ad to meet an old gentleman who has told him he is in his debt. At his flat, he removes from his safe a large book bound in red morocco in which it lists his debts. When he was very poor, Stranway’s father had given him a dime. Now fabulously wealthy, he desires to pay back all those who helped him—as well as those who did not--and he recruits Stranway to continue when he is too old to handle it himself. Eight untitled stories disguised as a novel. Very good. $10.00
Page, Marco (pseudonym of Harry Kurnitz), Fast Company, N.Y., Dodd, Mead, 1938. First edition. A rare book dealer (said to have been based on Ben Abramson, the first publisher of The Baker Street Journal), is murdered, and the investigation leads through the arcane and fascinating world of rare books. Page co-wrote the screenplay for Fast One, the 1938 MGM film based on the novel; it starred Melvyn Douglas, Florence Rice, Claire Dodd and Louis Calhern. It was filmed again by MGM in 1939 as Fast and Loose, this time with the screenplay credited to Harry Kurnitz; it starred Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell. Some wear to the spine, but a very good copy in the scarce dust jacket, which has a chip at the front hinge and light wear to spine ends. $250.00
Perry, Anne, The Scroll, N.Y., Mysterious Bookshop, 2011. First edition. Short story. When a bookseller discovers an ancient scroll in a tin biscuit box, he is visited by three mysterious men who make it plain that they want the scroll and will pay or do anything to have it. Very fine in dust jacket. One of 26 lettered copies, signed, $100.00. One of 100 numbered copies, signed, $60.00. Paperback, $4.95
Peterson, Linda Lee, Edited to Death, Henderson, NV, 21st Century Publishing, 2005. First edition. A writer for San Francisco’s Small Town magazine investigates a murder at the chi-chi publication, taking her from Pacific Heights to a legendary North Beach bookstore. Very fine in dust jacket. $23.00.
Priestley, J(ohn) B(oynton), Salt is Leaving, N.Y., Harper, 1966. First U.S. edition and first hardcover edition. An antiquarian bookseller and a young woman vanish, so Salt searches for them with the assistance of the book dealer’s daughter and assistant. Signed by Grand Master Dorothy B. Hughes. Very good in dust jacket. $20.00
Pronzini, Bill, Labyrinth, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1980. First edition. Very fine in dust jacket, which has a very light water stain at base of spine. By far the rarest of Pronzini’s "Nameless" detective series. Inscribed from one Grand Master to another: "For Ed & Pat Hoch, Best as always, Bill Pronzini" and dated 2/28/80 $150.00
Pronzini, Bill, Nightshades, N.Y., Delacorte, 1984. First edition. Very fine in dust jacket. $25.00
Pronzini, Bill, Nightshades, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1984. First edition. Very fine in dust jacket. $25.00
Pronzini, Bill, Breakdown, N.Y., Delacorte, 1991. First edition. Very fine in dust jacket, which has a small closed tear in the middle of the spine. $15.00
Pronzini, Bill, Oddments, Unity, ME, Five Star, 2000. Second printing.. A short story collection with a "Nameless" story and "Prose Bowl" (with Barry Malzburg). Very fine. $15.00
Reno, Marie, Final Proof, N.Y., Harper, 1976. Book club edition. The editorial director of a major book club is found slumped over a set of galley proofs. Written by a long-time publishing insider. Near fine in dust jacket. $7.50
Richardson, Robert, The Book of the Dead, St. Martin’s, 1989. First U.S. edition. Augustus Maltravers is at the home of a wealthy bibliophile who promises to show him his greatest treasure, the manuscript of an unpublished Sherlock Holmes story, but he is murdered by one of his dinner guests. Page edges damp-stained, else nice in dust jacket. $15.00
Schorr, Mark, Red Diamond, Private Eye, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1983. First edition. Simon Jaffe is a New York cab driver by day, an avid pulp fiction reader and collector by night. Fine in dust jacket. Inscribed and signed. $45.00
Simonson, Sheila, Skylark, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1992. First edition. On her way to a convention in London, bookseller Lark Dailey finds her book store burglarized, then evicted, and, on top of it all, suspected of murder. Fine in dust jacket. Signed. $20.00
Sims, George R., The Despain Papers, Philadelphia, PA, Holmes, 1992. First U.S. and first hardcover edition; trade edition limited to 650 copies. Very fine in lightly rubbed dust jacket. $25.00
Starrett, Vincent, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, N.Y., Otto Penzler. First of this edition. Contains "The Adventure of the Unique Hamlet," which many believe to be the finest Sherlock Holmes pastiche ever written." Fine in wrappers. $7.95
Strong, Tony, The Poison Tree, London, Doubleday, 1997. First edition. A young woman moves to Oxford to study for her doctorate in detective fiction and learns that her home was once the site of a brutal murder. Soon, strange and frightening events begin. Very fine in dust jacket. $35.00
Symons, Julian, The Colour of Murder, London, Collins, 1957. First edition. A happily married visits the library, where he begins an affair with a pretty young woman, leading to murder. Covers marked, else very good in dust jacket, which is sunned at the spine and has a closed tear. $25.00
Symons, Julian, A Three-Pipe Problem, London, Collins, 1975. First edition. Sheridan Hayes, who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes, begins a murder investigation that leads him to an adult book shop. Very fine in dust jacket. $45.00
Symons, Julian, A Three-Pipe Problem, London, Collins, 1975. Second printing. Sheridan Hayes, who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes, begins a murder investigation that leads him to an adult book shop. Very fine in dust jacket. $20.00
Symons, Julian, A Three-Pipe Problem, N.Y., Harper, 1975. First U.S. edition. Very fine in dust jacket, which has very light wear. $15.00
Symons, Julian, The Kentish Manor Murders, London, Macmillan, 1988. First edition. The second book about Sheridan Haynes, who thinks he’s Sherlock Holmes, as he becomes involved in a mystery involving murder and the manuscript of an unpublished novel by Arthur Conan Doyle. Very fine in dust jacket. Signed by Symons. $50.00
Taylor, Phoebe Atwood, Proof of the Pudding, N.Y., Norton, 1945. First edition. This tangential bibliomystery involves primary source material being used to write an unwanted biography. Very fine in price-clipped dust jacket, which has light wear at the top of the spine. $75.00
Tilton, Alice, File for Record, N.Y., Norton, later edition. Leonidas Witherall investigates a murder in a Massachusetts library. Top of spine worn, else very good in a chipped, good only dust jacket. A solid reading copy. $15.00
Trocheck, Kathy Hogan, To Live and Die in Dixie, N.Y., Harper, 1993. First edition. An authentic Civil War diary is fervently pursued by numerous characters, from various university librarians to a lunatic Civil War buff. Very fine in dust jacket. $20.00
Valin, Jonathan, Final Notice, N.Y., Dodd, Mead, 1980. Private detective Harry Stoner is hired to stop a psychopath who has been mutilating books in a Cincinnati library by cutting out parts of the female anatomy from art books before he escalates to the real thing. Very fine in dust jacket. $125.00
Vance, G. Warlock, The Missing Narrative of Neptune, Morristown, N.Y., Scrybe Press, 2008. First edition. Trade paperback original. A private eye novel in which three people die over a stolen 16th-century manuscript. "I mean, really, how hard can it be to find a one-of-a-kind book in Greensboro, N.C.?" Very fine. $15.00
Van Gieson, Judith, The Stolen Blue, Albuquerque, N.M., University of New Mexico, 2000. First edition. Claire Reynier’s job is to buy books for the University of New Mexico’s library, a job she loves. But when a collector invites her to a remote wilderness ranch, her dream job becomes a nightmare. Very fine in dust jacket. Signed. $22.95
Williams, David, Murder in Advent, N.Y., St. Martin’s, 1986. First U.S. edition. Mark Treasure investigates a fire in the Cathedral Library which caused the death of the librarian and apparently destroyed many fine books, including a priceless copy of the Magna Carta. Very fine in dust jacket. $20.00
Wood, Sally, Murder of a Novelist, London, Swan, 1946. First U.K. edition. A best-selling novelist is murdered because of one of his manuscripts. Good-very good. $15.00
Wren, Lassiter, and Randle McKay, The Baffle Book, N.Y., Doubleday, 1928. Later printing. A collection of solve-them-yourself mysteries, including "The Problem of Napoleon’s Signatures." Fine in dust jacket, which has minor spine wear. $45.00
Wren, Lassiter, and Randle McKay, The Third Baffle Book, N.Y., Doubleday, 1930. First edition. Another collection of solve-them-yourself mysteries, including "The Stolen Endymion." Very good. $15.00
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