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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
Miss Hogg and the Missing Sisters -
Austin Lee (pseud. John Austwick)
1961 - Jonathan Cape, London - First Edition
Featuring Miss Hogg, schoolmistress turned private detective.
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Price HK$ 700
1961 - Jonathan Cape, London - First Edition
Featuring Miss Hogg, schoolmistress turned private detective.
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Price HK$ 700
Fifty-Two Pickup - Inscribed -
Elmore Leonard
1974 - Secker &, London - First English Edition
One of Elmore Leonard’s best, Inscribed to Greg Gatenby, author and founder of the Toronto, Festival of Authors.
Basis for 1986 film starring Roy Scheider and Ann-Margret, directed by John Frankenheimer.
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Price HK$ 1,100
1974 - Secker &, London - First English Edition
One of Elmore Leonard’s best, Inscribed to Greg Gatenby, author and founder of the Toronto, Festival of Authors.Basis for 1986 film starring Roy Scheider and Ann-Margret, directed by John Frankenheimer.
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Price HK$ 1,100
Confessions Of A Detective -
Alfred Henry Lewis, E. M. Ashe (illustrator)
1906 - A. S. Barnes &, New York - First Edition
A near fine first edition, illustrated with eight full page black and white plates.
In 1906 the world was rudely awakened by Inspector Val, a ‘hickory knot’ of a man, and the hard-boiled precursor to Mike Hammer. The author, Alfred Lewis was roaming the streets of detective fiction forty years before Spillane and his preoccupation with sex and sexual violence.
‘The five tales are mostly in the romantic pattern of the day; but underlying the romance is a tough realism far ahead of its time. The first story in the book, told in real-life style, can be interpreted as a precursor of the hard-boiled school minus the present-day preoccupation with sex.’ – Queen's Quorum (36).
‘‘Possibly, the prompt production of my Colt’s-38 had somewhat to do with their disappearance; for your true gangster is never one to meet the iron face to face.
In ancient days there was a party–Pythagoras was the name, I think, though I’ll not be sure I’ve got his number right at that–who taught how men’s souls, before they were men’s souls, served as the souls of animals... if old Pythagoras was right, then the soul of every gangster used aforetime to be the soul of a rat.’
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Price HK$ 2,500
1906 - A. S. Barnes &, New York - First Edition
A near fine first edition, illustrated with eight full page black and white plates.In 1906 the world was rudely awakened by Inspector Val, a ‘hickory knot’ of a man, and the hard-boiled precursor to Mike Hammer. The author, Alfred Lewis was roaming the streets of detective fiction forty years before Spillane and his preoccupation with sex and sexual violence.
‘The five tales are mostly in the romantic pattern of the day; but underlying the romance is a tough realism far ahead of its time. The first story in the book, told in real-life style, can be interpreted as a precursor of the hard-boiled school minus the present-day preoccupation with sex.’ – Queen's Quorum (36).
‘‘Possibly, the prompt production of my Colt’s-38 had somewhat to do with their disappearance; for your true gangster is never one to meet the iron face to face.
In ancient days there was a party–Pythagoras was the name, I think, though I’ll not be sure I’ve got his number right at that–who taught how men’s souls, before they were men’s souls, served as the souls of animals... if old Pythagoras was right, then the soul of every gangster used aforetime to be the soul of a rat.’
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Price HK$ 2,500