Crime of the Fictional Variety

Maigret in Court – Georges Simenon

Translated from the French of 1960, this edition by the Thriller Book Club, Charing Cross, London in conjunction with Hamish Hamilton. A first of type.

Octavo, 192 pages in very good condition.

Gaston Meurani is on trial and on first blush deserves to get off having been accused of the murder of his aunt and a little girl. Maigret convinced he is innocent. However, things come out in the trial that require a different type of justice. Intrigued?

Maigret has a moral viewpoint but how does it pan out?

$35.00

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Maigret and the Burglar’s Wife – Georges Simenon – First UK edition 1955

A first UK edition of an early Simenon published by Hamish Hamilton in 1955, the French equivalent being 1953.

Octavo, 160 pages, a little age and spots but not a bad copy for a sought after Maigret.

The burglar’s wife had a history with Maigret – she tried to spoil his arresting of her by taking her clothes off. This is years later when Loft is married to Sad Freddie a not very successful burglar. Sad Freddie comes across a dead body during one of his late night escaped and it all starts from there.

Early Maigret First Edition and the story of Lofty and Sad Freddie

$50.00

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Agatha Christie – Complete Set of the Collected Edition by Hamlyn – 24 Volumes – 72 Novels.

Published by Hamlyn, London various dates as issued in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Uniform octavo, over 12,000 pages. Nicely bound in decorated black cloth covered boards with gilt adornment and titles, super headbands, all top edges stained red as required. Each covered in the original “Crime Themed” dust jackets of the period .. now all protected in removeable Brodart. Very good condition, the tiniest bit of age to a couple, all clean as a whistle internally … as fine a set as you could find.

To be read over a lifetime … maybe twice. Comprising …

1. 4:50 From Paddington; Lord Edgware Dies; Murder in Mesopotamia;
2. Sparkling Cyanide; The Secret of Chimney; Five Little Pigs;
3. A Caribbean Mystery; Taken at the Flood; The Seven Dials Mystery;
4. Evil under the Sun; Death Comes as the End; The Sittaford Mystery;
5. Ordeal by Innocence; One, Two, Buckle my Shoe; The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding;
6. Partners in Crime; At Bertram s Hotel; The Hound of Death;
7. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd; They Do It With Mirrors; Mrs. McGinty s Dead;
8. The Clocks; Third Girl; Murder in the Mews;
9. Halloween Party; Passenger to Frankfurt; The Thirteen Problems;
10. The Hollow; The Moving Finger; Three Act Tragedy;
11. The Mysterious Affair at Styles; Ten Little Ni*****s; Dumb Witness;
12. Appointment with Death; Crooked House; Sad Cypress;
13. The Pale Horse; The Big Four; The Secret Adversary;
14. Cat Among the Pigeons; The Labours of Hercules; Hickory Dickory Dock;
15. Nemesis; Parker Pyne Investigates; Poirot Investigates;
16. Death on the Nile; Towards Zero; After the Funeral;
17. By the Pricking of My Thumbs; The Mysterious Mr. Quin; Endless Night;
18. Peril at End House; The Body in the Library; Hercule Poirot’s Christmas;
19. Murder is Easy; Dead Man s Folly; The Man in the Brown Suit;
20. The Mirror Crack d from Side to Side; They Came to Baghdad; The ABC Murders;
21. Murder on the Orient Express; Death in the Clouds; Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?;
22. The Mystery of the Blue Train; The Listerdale Mystery; The Murder at the Vicarage;
23. The Murder on the Links; A Pocket Full of Rye; Destination Unknown;
24. Cards on the Table; N or M; A Murder is Announced.

Total weight packed is approaching 20 kgs so we will have to quote postage to any buyers location. We always pack well and find the best mailing arrangement for all our customers.

Agatha Christie simply the best complete set.

$390.00

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The Chiffon Scarf – Mignon Eberhart – First Edition 1940.

1940 First Edition published by The Sun Dial Press, New York. Octavo, 301 pages, some dust jacket chips otherwise a really good copy of a hard to come by period mystery.

More murders than Midsummer. A triangular love affair complicates a situation rife with horror! A test flight to check the performance of a new engines leaves two dead. With many a weapons about but what about “The Chiffon Scarf”?

Nebraska born Mignon Eberhardt (1899-1996) was probably America’s most successful female mystery writer during her lifetime and she wrote from the 1920’s into the 1980’s. Winner of many awards her novels compared with Agatha Christie in terms pf plot, characterisation and dramatic effect …

1940 First Edition – Sensational Mystery

$50.00

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The Nature of Crime – Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Hueffer (Ford) – First Edition 1924

An unusual novel the third and final collaboration between Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford. Originally written in 1909 but only published until June 1924 … Conrad was to die in August that year.

Published by Duckworth, London. Octavo, 119 pages, a short, pointed story. Preface by Conrad, one of the last things he penned. And, another Preface by Ford Madox Ford. Both particularly interesting writing about the effects of their collaboration [Conrad didn’t like Madox Ford’s choice of verbs]. A particularly good copy in a rather fine dust jacket.

Described by Conrad as a “Fragment” … it is a short read … we agree with Conrad’s conclusion that it is well honed and written to be read out loud for dramatic effect. They did this to each other in its crafting.

The unnamed protagonist tells his story through a series of letters to a love interest. The protagonist, a lawyer, has committed a crime, the embezzlement of trust funds over and extended period. He becomes more inwardly affected as time goes by … the letters become more frequent, and his deteriorating moral stance leads him downwards. Likely echoes difficult periods in Conrad’s early life and makes for a powerful intense drama.

An unusual novel from the Conrad / Madox Ford co-operative … when alone read out loud!

$40.00

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The Book and The Brotherhood – Iris Murdoch – First US Edition 1987

A first US edition of Iris Murdoch’s substantial and powerful novel published by Viking, New York in 1987.

Large octavo, 607 pages, printed on heavy stock paper, Complete dust jacket, with some sunning, very clean inside. A heavy book, would require an Overseas supplement. Very good condition.

A suspense novel with a romantic element, characters develop to a depth rarely achieved. Violence, passion, hatred, a duel and even murder have their place.

Iris Murdoch at the top of her game with The Brotherhood.

$25.00

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Maigret in Court – Georges Simenon

Maigret and the Burglar’s Wife – Georges Simenon – First UK edition 1955

Agatha Christie – Complete Set of the Collected Edition by Hamlyn – 24 Volumes – 72 Novels.

The Chiffon Scarf – Mignon Eberhart – First Edition 1940.

The Nature of Crime – Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Hueffer (Ford) – First Edition 1924

The Book and The Brotherhood – Iris Murdoch – First US Edition 1987

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