- Home
- Books
- Literature
- Detective fiction
Detective fiction
Rare first editions, signed and inscribed copies, deluxe and collectible editions of books, pamphlets, and ephemera relating to novels and short stories centring on the investigation of a crime by a detective figure. Early examples include "The Murders in the Rue Morgue",Bleak House, andThe Moonstone, as well as the practitioners of the golden age of detective fiction – Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, et al. – and their modern successors.
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Complete Sherlock Holmes.New York : 1953
Signed limited edition, number 25 of 147 copies signed by the author. This "definitive edition" of the Sherlock Holmes stories was issued with signed sheets retained by the publisher from the production of the Crowborough Edition, which was published in 1930. Doyle signed the sheets for the edition but died on 7 July 1930, shortly before its...Learn More
CHANDLER, Raymond. The Long Good-Bye.London : 1953
First edition, preceding the US edition by a year, of the author's self-described best book. It won the Edgar Award for best novel in 1955 and was adapted into the 1973 film directed by Robert Altman, starring Elliott Gould. Copies are rare in such excellent condition.Learn More
STOUT, Rex. The Rubber Band.New York : 1936
First edition, first printing, of the scarce third Nero Wolfe novel, rare in excellent condition with an unrestored dust jacket. The story was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post between February and April 1936 prior to its publication in book form on 9 April. A second printing, distinguished by the lack of the publisher's device on the...Learn More
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Sign of Four.London : 1890
First edition in book form, in the first issue binding. The second Sherlock Holmes novel came to fruition after the American editor of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine's sought to commission a story from Doyle and Wilde to expand his paper's reach internationally. Doyle contributed The Sign of Four, and Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray.
The...Learn More
CHANDLER, Raymond. Playback.London : 1958
First edition of the final Philip Marlowe novel. "Set in San Diego, [it] is the most humorous of the novels and depicts Marlowe, now old and, in the eyes of the world, unsuccessful, but with his sense of humour, honour, and integrity intact" (ODNB).Learn More
CHANDLER, Raymond. The Long Good-Bye.London : 1953
First edition, preceding the US edition by a year, of the author's self-described best book. It won the Edgar Award for best novel in 1955 and was adapted into the 1973 film directed by Robert Altman, starring Elliott Gould.Learn More
LE CARRÉ, John. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.London : 1963
First edition. The definitive Cold War thriller secured le Carré's reputation and, through its use of realism, brought "a new vitality and literary style to the spy novel... The Cold War is presented in a grey, menacing light, [and] espionage is depicted as a sordid occupation" (McCormick & Fletcher, p. 64).
The instant best-seller earned...Learn More
CHANDLER, Raymond. The Big Sleep.New York : 1939
First edition of the author's debut novel, and the first book appearance of detective Philip Marlowe. The work was adapted by director Howard Hawks into the classic 1946 film noir, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, with a screenplay by William Faulkner.Learn More
FREEMAN, R. Austin. The Mystery of Angelina Frood.London : [1924]
First edition, inscribed by the author: "Vincent Starrett, with warmest greeting from R. Austin Freeman, Christmas 1924". The Mystery of Angelina Frood was the 11th appearance of Freeman's popular medico-legal forensic investigator, Dr Thorndyke.
The recipient, whose inscription is found on the half-title and his bookplate on the front...Learn More
CHANDLER, Raymond. The Long Good-Bye.London : 1953
First edition, preceding the US edition by a year, of the author's self-described best book. It won the Edgar Award for best novel in 1955 and was adapted into the 1973 film directed by Robert Altman, starring Elliott Gould.
In The Long Goodbye, Chandler used social critique and a conscience-driven Philip Marlowe "to take the mystery story...Learn More
GREENE, Graham. The Third Man.Helsinki : 1988
First Eurographica edition, one of 20 copies printed for the personal use of the author, from a total edition of 520 copies only. Greene wrote this novella as a film treatment, not originally intended for publication, before he used it as the basis for his screenplay for Carol Reed's 1949 film featuring Orson Welles.Learn More
CHANDLER, Raymond. The Little Sister.Boston : 1949
First US edition. Chandler wrote this Philip Marlowe novel after working as a screenwriter for Paramount in Hollywood. It is a disdainful portrait of the film industry and was adapted for the 1969 film Marlowe, starring James Garner.
"In its complications of family, organized crime, and Hollywood, it achieves a panorama of the modern...Learn More
FORSYTH, Frederick. Avenger.2003
Typescript for the author's political thriller, signed and dated on the title page "Frederick Forsyth, 2005", comprising "the original manuscript sent to America... on which the American Senior Editor made his numerous comments". These comments comprise editorial edits, amendments and corrections. A typed note about the manuscript from the author...Learn More
MILLER, Frank. Sin City.Milwaukie, Oregon : 1992
First edition, third printing (the same year as the first), inscribed by the author on the half-title, "To Trish & Eric - Frank Miller". Miller's neo-noir comic series first appeared in the anthology Dark Horse Presents between April 1991 and June 1992.
Sin City won multiple Eisner Awards, and Frank Miller was inducted into the Eisner...Learn More
STREET, Cecil, as John Rhode. Signal for Death.New York : 1941
First edition, part of the long running Dr Priestley series. The novel was published in the UK later the same year as They Watched by Night.
As John Rhode, Cecil Street (1884-1964) "quickly became one of the leading authors in the golden age of English detective fiction" (ODNB). He also wrote detective novels under the names Miles Burton...Learn More
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Works.New York : 1930
First complete collected edition, number 145 of 760 numbered sets signed by the author in Volume I. Ten sets were reserved for the author's presentation, and 750 were offered for sale. The collection includes 20 novels, 161 short stories, and Doyle's autobiography, Memories and Adventures.
The Crowborough Edition was named after the Sussex...Learn More
SAYERS, Dorothy L. Aeneas at the Court of Dido.1945
First edition, privately printed as a Christmas card and inscribed by the author on the rear cover, "All good wishes, D.L.S.". In this scarce verse retelling of the tale from Virgil's Aeneid, Sayers, a well-known lover of cats, portrays Aeneas as a tomcat and transposes the action to a coastal English setting. Three copies have been traced...Learn More
HJORTSBERG, William. Falling Angel.New York : 1978
First edition, first printing, inscribed by the author on the half-title, "For Joe Collins, With my very best wishes - William Hjortsberg". Hjortsberg's (1941-2017) fusion of the hard-boiled detective and supernatural horror genres was adapted into the 1987 film Angel Heart, starring Robert de Niro. Parts of the novel were first published in...Learn More
STREET, Cecil, as John Rhode. Night Exercise.London : 1942
First edition, first impression, with the scarce jacket. This detective mystery draws on Street's service in the Home Guard between 1940 and 1942.
Street (1884-1964) also wrote detective novels under the names John Street, Miles Burton, and Cecil Waye and books on the Royal Artillery under the pseudonym F.O.O. He was a member of the...Learn More
MILLAR, Kenneth, as Ross Macdonald. The Barbarous Coast.New York : 1956
First edition, first printing, of the first book published under the pseudonym "Ross Macdonald", "the name that would soon be recognized as that of the most significant detective novelist of his generation" (ANB). This is the sixth novel to feature the hard-boiled detective Lew Archer.
Millar (1915-1983) "developed the detective novel into...Learn More
