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The Case of the Journeying Boy -
Michael Innes (Pseud. John Innes Mackintosh Stewart)
1949 - Dodd, New York - First Edition
‘It is not easy to run full tilt through pitch darkness, it outrages an instinct against which the will can scarcely urge the muscles on. Much less is it easy in the knowledge that ice-cold waters, through which a corpse is drifting, await one at the length of an extended arm.’
When Humphrey Paxton accompanies his father to the movies, his hopes of a quiet afternoon are dashed by a murder, conspiracy, and an explosion, all before the final credits roll. The resulting investigation will take Humphrey and half of Scotland Yard on a series of escapades through London, Wales, and Ireland in order to catch the perpetrators. Written with Innes’s characteristic wit and humour, the novel has since been listed as one of the Crime Writer Association’s top 100 crime novels of all time.
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Price HK$ 1,500
1949 - Dodd, New York - First Edition
‘It is not easy to run full tilt through pitch darkness, it outrages an instinct against which the will can scarcely urge the muscles on. Much less is it easy in the knowledge that ice-cold waters, through which a corpse is drifting, await one at the length of an extended arm.’When Humphrey Paxton accompanies his father to the movies, his hopes of a quiet afternoon are dashed by a murder, conspiracy, and an explosion, all before the final credits roll. The resulting investigation will take Humphrey and half of Scotland Yard on a series of escapades through London, Wales, and Ireland in order to catch the perpetrators. Written with Innes’s characteristic wit and humour, the novel has since been listed as one of the Crime Writer Association’s top 100 crime novels of all time.
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Price HK$ 1,500
The Phone Booth Mystery -
John Ironside (psued. Euphemia Tait)
1924 - Henry Holt and Company, New York - First American Edition
Rare in dust jacket. The best known of John Ironside’s nine detective novels, published in England as ‘The Call-Box Mystery’ and in France as ‘La Cabine 19’.
‘The wife of a famous diplomat is found murdered in a telephone booth after the theft of confidential documents her husband kept in secret in his home office. An obviously innocent suspect is imprisoned and can only count on his wife and friends to exonerate him before he is hanged.’
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Price HK$ 5,000
1924 - Henry Holt and Company, New York - First American Edition
Rare in dust jacket. The best known of John Ironside’s nine detective novels, published in England as ‘The Call-Box Mystery’ and in France as ‘La Cabine 19’.‘The wife of a famous diplomat is found murdered in a telephone booth after the theft of confidential documents her husband kept in secret in his home office. An obviously innocent suspect is imprisoned and can only count on his wife and friends to exonerate him before he is hanged.’
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Price HK$ 5,000
The Van Beck Will. A Novel -
Henry Wynans Jessup
1928 - Walter Neale, New York - First Edition
A rare first edition in dust jacket.
‘Shall a son be robbed of his rightful inheritance and a murderer go unwhipped of justice to satisfy a strict rule of legal ethics?
Shall a lawyer be compelled by the law to hold inviolable under all circumstances the information imparted to him buy his client?
Shall a priest be prevented by law, as well s by his church, from revealing the secrets of the confessional, even if he learns that a crime will be committed or a criminal escape justice if he rem,ains silent?
Shall a physician be forced by law to remain mute while he sees his patient rob a friend of a vast estate?...’
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Price HK$ 4,000
1928 - Walter Neale, New York - First Edition
A rare first edition in dust jacket.‘Shall a son be robbed of his rightful inheritance and a murderer go unwhipped of justice to satisfy a strict rule of legal ethics?
Shall a lawyer be compelled by the law to hold inviolable under all circumstances the information imparted to him buy his client?
Shall a priest be prevented by law, as well s by his church, from revealing the secrets of the confessional, even if he learns that a crime will be committed or a criminal escape justice if he rem,ains silent?
Shall a physician be forced by law to remain mute while he sees his patient rob a friend of a vast estate?...’
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Price HK$ 4,000
The Nine Mile Walk: The Nicky Welt Stories -
Harry Kemelman
1967 - G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York - First Edition
‘Strictly speaking, criminal investigation is not my job... but it is only natural to seize the opportunity of showing the professional where he might have slipped up.’
A series of eight charming and quirky short stories originally published in ‘Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine’, all revolving around Nicky Welt, Professor of English, a Sherlock Holmes-esque analyst with a knack for word puzzles and etymological anomalies. Able to solve a murder simply by overhearing the sentence ‘a nine mile walk is no joke, especially in the rain’, Kemelman provides puzzles and enigmas that will tease even the most seasoned mystery fans.
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Price HK$ 1,500
1967 - G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York - First Edition
‘Strictly speaking, criminal investigation is not my job... but it is only natural to seize the opportunity of showing the professional where he might have slipped up.’ A series of eight charming and quirky short stories originally published in ‘Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine’, all revolving around Nicky Welt, Professor of English, a Sherlock Holmes-esque analyst with a knack for word puzzles and etymological anomalies. Able to solve a murder simply by overhearing the sentence ‘a nine mile walk is no joke, especially in the rain’, Kemelman provides puzzles and enigmas that will tease even the most seasoned mystery fans.
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Price HK$ 1,500
Corpse Guards Parade -
Milward Kennedy (Pseud. Milward Burge)
1929 - Victor Gollancz Ltd, London - First Edition
A fine first edition of Milward Kennedy’s second solo novel after ‘The Corpse on the Mat’, and featuring John Meriman and Inspector Cornford.
‘Mr. Kennedy has one characteristic which distinguishes him from his rivals in bloodshed. He is acquainted with the English language and has apparently met (and can remember) actual living men and women. The result is that his murders have almost the thrill of local news. They happen, if not to somebody you know, at any rate in company which you might have frequented. Nor does this odd distinction rob Mr. Kennedy of an ability to invent a mystery so tortuous as to be soluble only by a woman, and yet intelligible when solved. Mr. Kennedy indeed runs a risk of burgeoning into a detective best-seller.’ – Contemporary review from the Observer newspaper.
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Price HK$ 3,200
1929 - Victor Gollancz Ltd, London - First Edition
A fine first edition of Milward Kennedy’s second solo novel after ‘The Corpse on the Mat’, and featuring John Meriman and Inspector Cornford.‘Mr. Kennedy has one characteristic which distinguishes him from his rivals in bloodshed. He is acquainted with the English language and has apparently met (and can remember) actual living men and women. The result is that his murders have almost the thrill of local news. They happen, if not to somebody you know, at any rate in company which you might have frequented. Nor does this odd distinction rob Mr. Kennedy of an ability to invent a mystery so tortuous as to be soluble only by a woman, and yet intelligible when solved. Mr. Kennedy indeed runs a risk of burgeoning into a detective best-seller.’ – Contemporary review from the Observer newspaper.
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Price HK$ 3,200
The Elusive Four -
William Le Queux
1921 - Cassell and Company, London - First Edition
A superior example of the first edition in the scarce delicate dust jacket.
The Elusive Four, two gentlemen and two ladies, are Robin Hood-type adventurers who rob the rich to give to the poor, in this case an orphans' home.
In these inter-linked short stories, they contrive to get their money, or in some cases artefacts that they sell on via a fence, from profiteers who had illegally made money during World War I.
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Price HK$ 9,500
1921 - Cassell and Company, London - First Edition
A superior example of the first edition in the scarce delicate dust jacket.The Elusive Four, two gentlemen and two ladies, are Robin Hood-type adventurers who rob the rich to give to the poor, in this case an orphans' home.
In these inter-linked short stories, they contrive to get their money, or in some cases artefacts that they sell on via a fence, from profiteers who had illegally made money during World War I.
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Price HK$ 9,500
Miss Hogg and the Dead Dean -
Austin Lee (pseud. John Austwick)
1958 - Jonathan Cape, London - First Edition
Featuring Miss Hogg, schoolmistress turned private detective.
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Price HK$ 600
1958 - Jonathan Cape, London - First Edition
Featuring Miss Hogg, schoolmistress turned private detective.
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Price HK$ 600
