Search Results: Crime, Mystery, Spy, Detective, Thriller from Louise Aird

This is a first edition (1929) of The Bellamy Trial, by the American writer Frances Noyes Hart (1890-1943).
It is the first legal drama written by an American author and defined the genre of the court-room mystery dramas. It was made into a film in 1929.
Noyes wrote the book in 1927. In 1929, it became part of the Front Page Mystery Series, published by Doubleday Doran. So this is a first edition from that series, rather than from the book's original printing.
The Bellamy Trial is an "absorbing story of the mis-alliances and crossed lives of two couples from the gentry of upstate New York; one wife has been murdered, and the husband and the other wife are the accused," so say 20th Century Crime & Mystery Writers. It is based on the infamous Hall-Mills murder case of 1922. Only the Lindbergh kidnapping received more media attention than this case; The Bellamy Trail also illustrates American society of the 1920s and depicts the first 'media circus'.
It is 324 pages. Red boards with very minor wear to… Read More

This is a first edition (1966) of The Birds Fall Down, by the English writer Rebecca West (Dame Cicily Fairfield 1892-1983). It was published that year by Viking; this copy was issued by the Book of the Month club the same year.It is a political thriller, historical novel and family saga. A psychological mystery about Russian revolutionaries preparing to overthrow the Tsarist regime.435 pages.As you can see, the dust jacket is not in good shape. There was a splash to the spine. That carried through to the spine of the book, which is not stained but is a little wrinkled. The covers are unmarked, with no damage of any kind.Inside, the book is in perfect condition.

This is a first edition of The Bridesmaid, a best-selling 1989 novel by the British author Ruth Rendell. It is about a man whose feminine ideal is a Greek goddess; when he meets a woman who matches that image, he thinks he's found true love—until she demands that he commit murder. In 2004, it was adapted into the acclaimed French film La Demoiselle d'honneur.
This copy has not been read, or even opened. The spine is uncracked; the dust jacket is unclipped. There are no marks of any kind in it or on it.

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This is the last novel from Eric Ambler (1909-1998), the great English spy novelist known for bringing realism to the genre.
From an online synopsis:
One Monday, Robert Halliday receives a bomb threat in the mail. Two days later, the bomb arrives—accompanied by an offer of employment from one Karliss Zander, an international fixer. Unless Halliday agrees to help him edit the memoirs of a 19th century Russian terrorist and ghost-write an exposé of modern terrorist governments, Zander will detonate the bomb. For the sake of self-preservation, Halliday joins the project—but quickly discovers that Zander and his daughter are in mortal peril from a Middle Eastern terrorist group, and he is tangled in a massive international web of danger. The Care of Time is a carefully constructed, utterly absorbing story of intrigue and suspense, one of the most acclaimed works of Ambler's sixty-year career. It was made into a film in 1990.
This copy is a stated first printing of the first edition. 278 pages. Blue… Read More

Castle Garac is the 20th book by the prolific British novelist Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Monsarrat (1910-1979), who is most famous for his sea stories. It is about an impoverished American writer who unwittingly becomes involved in the scheme of a disreputable international financier.
This is a first edition, the second printing before publication, dated 1955.
Cover art by George Salter.
Unclipped dust jacket.
The dust jacket has quite a lot of shelfwear. There is minor fading to the edges of the book. Two previous owners have written their names on the front endpaper. And the paper has darkened a little.
Otherwise perfect condition.
NOTE: My quoted price for shipping OUTSIDE of North America is for surface mail without tracking. For other shipping options, please contact me.

This is Bennett's 14th novel, published in 1907.
"A thrilling suspense and romance tale with a fantasy city as a locale."
Includes two pages in four-colour
Original dust jacket, badly discoloured and with one small tear at spine.
Green Boards with Black Writing: Pristine
Inside Front Cover, someone has stamped 'Made in Great Britain' (very small)
Binding fully intact.
All other pages pristine; apparently never read.

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This is a first American edition (1963) of The Collector, the brilliant (and creepy) novel about a lonely man who kidnaps a young woman and keeps her in his house, along with his butterflies. It was the first novel by the British writer John Fowles (1926-2005).
This copy has no dust jacket.
It is the plainest of books; 238 unadorned pages.
There is some fading to the cover, and what looks like faded ink spots, but the inside is perfect. Tight binding and clean, brilliant white pages.

Every word that Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about Sherlock Holmes is contained in these two books: all four novels and 56 short stories, just as he wrote them. This collection was first published in the UK in 1927; Doubleday reprinted it in 1969.
Introduction by Christopher Morley.
Volume 1 is 480 pages
Volume 2 is 1122 pages
There is some wear to the dust jackets (which are unclipped), just from being moved around--you can see it all in the photos.
These books were read once, and have been well looked-after. There's one dog-ear, the odd mark here and there, but the pages are all clean and clear. No images or illustrations.
Each book has a very attractive bookplate on the inside front cover--they can be removed.
A very handsome set, in excellent condition.
NOTE: My quoted price for shipping OUTSIDE of North America is for surface mail without tracking. For other shipping options, please contact me.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for Sherlock Holmes, but he had other interests and wrote about many different types of subjects--terror and mystery, maritime adventures and British history.
Those stories were published in six volumes. In 1929, the six volumes were gathered together and published as The Conan Doyle Stories. Doyle wrote the preface (see photo). In 1988, the collection was printed again.
This is a near-perfect copy, with only minor shelfwear. I attach photos of the contents. It's 76 stories, 1202 pages, all in perfect condition.


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This is a near-perfect copy of Crime and Punishment, by the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881). He wrote it in 1866; it remains one of the most influential and widely-read novels in Russian literature. It is the story of a man who commits a murder and is then tortured by guilt.
This copy was published in the US in 2000. It does not appear to have been read, but there is a book plate on the inside front cover with the date 2002.
There is no wear to the dust jacket, although the remains of the price tag are still on the top right corner. On the inside on the dust jacket, some of the black from the book has transferred to the paper and the corners of the dust jacket have yellowed a little.
The book itself is pristine.

This is a first trade edition of the 8th novel (1994) by the English biographer, author and critic Peter Ackroyd (1949-).
It is still in its original plastic wrapper. 6" x 9 1/4"It is a murder mystery framed with a story featuring real historical characters, including Karl Marx and George Gissing. It is set around a music hall in Victorian London just before the emergence of Jack the Ripper. It was made into a movie in 2015 and has since been adapted for opera and television.

This is a collection of five novels by the great American crime writer Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961). Hammett is known for creating enduring characters such as Sam Spade and Nick and Nora Charles. Many of his novels were made into films.The novels in this book are Red Harvest, The Dain Curse, The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key and The Thin Man. The book has not been read. Other than significant darkening of the pages, and the remnants of price tag glue on the (unclipped) dust jacket cover, it is in mint condition, with no marks of any kind in it or on it.
Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

This is a first Canadian edition, and the publisher's review copy, of Dermaphoria, the second novel (2006) of the American author Craig Clevenger. It is "Puzzle Fiction", with surreal confusion brought about by the character's use of a hallucinogenic drug.
This copy includes the publisher's news release. There is no evidence that it has been read. It is in mint condition.

This is a first edition of Dinner at Antoine's, a murder mystery set at the famous New Orleans restaurant that has been a landmark since 1840. It was written in 1948 by the prolific American author Frances Parkinson Keyes; it was a huge best-seller at the time and people still flock to Antoine's. Keyes' dedication to its owner at the time, her friend Roy Alciatore, is printed at the front.This copy is in excellent condition. No dust jacket. A tiny amount of shelfwear and fading to the spine. On the inside, it looks like the binding may have been repaired. Aside from some darkening of the paper, it's perfect.Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

This is a mint-condition First Edition, First Printing of Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb Party
by the great English writer Graham Greene (1904-1991). He wrote it in 1980; it is a black comedy about a man who hosts extravagant (dangerous) parties for the purpose of seeing how far people will go to satisfy greed.

As you can see, the dust jacket has little tears at the edges.

The book itself does not appear to have been read.
It is pristine.

This is an unread first edition of The Dynamite Fiend, a 2005 book about one of the most devious criminals of the 19th century. Alexander Keith was a member of the Keith brewing family of Nova Scotia, and worked for the firm for a short time. But he was also a Confederate spy who helped orchestrate some of the most infamous terrorist plots of the Civil War. In peacetime, dogged by creditors and victims of his numerous frauds, Keith continued to scheme, scam and cheat, while his obsession with explosives became more intense. Finally, in 1875, a scheme to blow up an empty passenger ship for the insurance money backfired and 80 people were killed. The world called it 'the Crime of the Century'. In this book, American author Ann Larabee unfolds an engrossing tale of obsession and the lust for power and profit.
This is a first Canadian edition. The dust jacket is unclipped. It has no shelfwear and there is not a mark in it or on it.

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This is a very nice copy, published in 1961, of Edgar Allan Poe Stories: Twenty-Seven Thrilling Tales by the Master of Suspense, with an Added Selection of His Best Poems.
See photo of contents.
As you can see, there is quite a bit of wear to the dust jacket, which is unclipped.
The book itself is perfect. It does not appear to have been read.

This is a stated first edition (1967) of The Eighth Day, the 6th novel by the American writer Thornton Wilder (1897-1975). It won the 1968 National Book Award; it is described as a great American epic...suspenseful and deeply moving. It is a family saga centered around a murder mystery.
435 pages, no adornment.
The dust jacket is in terrible condition.
The silver ink on the spine has faded and there has been a spill to the bottom 1/8" of the cover. This continues onto the bottom of the pages, but not onto the front of the pages/inside.
That said, this book does not appear to have been read.
The inside is perfect. Lovely white pages without a mark on any of them.
PLEASE NOTE: THE STATED EXPECTED SHIPPING DATE APPLIES ONLY WITHIN NORTH AMERICA. THE SHIPPING CHARGE APPLIES TO NORTH AMERICAN BUYERS, OR TO INTERNATIONAL BUYERS WHO ACCEPT SURFACE MAIL. DUE TO PANDEMIC-RELATED SHIPPING ISSUES, UNLESS YOU PAY TO HAVE YOUR ITEM DELIVERED BY AIR, OR BY A PRIVATE CARRIER, DELIVERY CAN TAKE FROM 2 TO 5 MONTHS.

Equinox was a high-end Canadian magazine that ran investigative articles about science and culture. It published from 1981-2000.
April 1995:
114 Pages. Pristine Condition. Unread. No Label, no barcode.
Wildlife: Aliens & Secrets of the Lost Forests of Vietnam
Crime: Cowboy Conman
Behaviour: Body Talk; Man's Earliest Digital Interface
Medicine: Hantavirus, Mystery Killer
See table of contents scan for full line-up

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Esquire, December 1996See scans of Contents.There is creasing to the cover and a little dog-earing to the inside pages.
The editorial in this issue is very good though, particularly if you're interested in Tupac or Stallone.

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