British Classics, First Edition (127 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. With dust jacket. It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.

Soft cover. Condition: New. First Edition. PHOTO AND VIDEO OF PAGES TAKEN TO SHOW CONDITION PRIOR TO SHIPPING; PHOTOS EMAILED FOR MORE SPECIFICS WHEN REQUESTED. Book.

trade paperback. Condition: near fine. First edition, complete line of . NOT an ex library book. Clean pages.

softcover. Condition: Fine copy. Profusely illustrated (illustrator). 1st. 4to, 408 pp.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Gut. 1. Auflage. 267 Seiten; Das Buch ist ordentlich erhalten und kann altersbedingte Gebrauchsspuren aufweisen. In ENGLISCHER Sprache. Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 230.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. It happened on a dark and mistiy night, the night of the ball at the Prince's Hall, Fordings. Abuzz with rumours surrounding the disappearance of Rosemary Reeve on the eve of last year's ball, the date proves ill-fated again when two homebound partygoers, Nick and Dilys, come to a swerving halt before a corpse on the road. Arriving at the scene to the news that Nick has been attacked after telephoning for the police, Inspector Turner suspects there may be more to the case than a deadly accident. It's not long before Waring of the local C.I.D. is drawn into the investigation, faced with the task of unraveling an increasingly tangled knot of misleading alibis and deep-rooted local grievances. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2022 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. The Surrays and their five children form a prolific writing machine with scores of treatises, reviews, and crime thrillers published under their family name. Following a rare convergence of the whole household at their Oxfordshire home, Ruth -- the middle sister who writes "books which are just books" -- decides to spend some weeks there recovering from the pressures of the writing life while the rest of the brood scatter to the winds again. Their next return is heralded by the tragic news that Ruth has taken her life after an evening at the Surrays' hosting a set of publishers and writers, one of whom is named as Ruth's literary executor in the will she left behind. Despite some suspicions from the family, the verdict at the inquest is suicide -- but when Ruth's brother Richard receives a letter from the deceased, which was delayed in the post, he enlists the help of Chief-Inspector Macdonald to investigate what could only be an ingeniously planned murder. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2023 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. When Dr. Raymond Ferens moves to a practice ad Milham in the Moor in North Devon, he and his wife are enchanted with the beautiful hilltop village lying so close to moor and sky. At first they see only its charm, but soon they begin to uncover its secrets -- envy, hatred, and malice. Everyone says that Sister Monica, warden of a children's home, is a saint -- but is she? A few months after the Ferrens' arrival, her body is found drowned in the mill-race. Chief Inspector Macdonald faces one of his most difficult cases in a village determined not to betray its dark secrets to a stranger. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2019 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. The Second World War is drawing to a close. Nicholas Vaughan, released from the army after an accident, takes refuge in Devon -- renting a thatched cottage in the beautiful countryside at Mallory Fitzjohn. Vaughan sets to work farming the land, rearing geese, and renovating the cottage. Hard work and rural peace seem to make this a happy bachelor life. On a nearby farm lives the bored, flirtatious June St. Cyres, an exile from London while her husband is a Japanese POW. June's presence attracts fashionable visitors of dubious character, and threatens to spoil Vaughan's prized seclusion. When Little Thatch is destroyed in a blaze, all Vaughan's work goes up in smoke -- and Inspector Macdonald is drafted in to uncover a motive for murder. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 2018 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. The English country house is an iconic setting for some of the greatest British crime fiction. This new collection gathers together stories written over a span of about 65 years, during which British society, and life in country houses, was transformed out of all recognition. It includes fascinating and unfamliar twists on the classic "closed circle" plot, in which the assorted guests at a country house party become suspects when a crime is committed. In the more sinister tales featured her, a gloomy mansion set in lonely grounds offers an eerie backdrop for dark deeds. Many distinguished writers are represented in this collection, including such great names of the genre as Anthony Berkeley, Nicholas Blake, and G.K. Chesterton. Martin Edwards has also unearthed hidden gems and forgotten masterpieces -- among them are a fine send-up of the country house murder: a suspenseful tale by the unaccountably neglected Ethel Lina White, and a story by the little-known Scottish writer J.J. Bell. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 2016 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. When the police arrive at the holiday bungalow of the haughty justice Ireton to find a man killed by gunshot and the high court judge brandishing a pistol, the case seems as straightforward as it is scandalous. Yet, with the incongruous assemblage of physical evidence, the judge's denial of any participation in the crime, and the recent events of his daughter's love life combined, the deceptively simple case is soon steeped in complexity. At a loss in the bizarre circumstances, the local force calls in the larger-than-life sleuth Dr. Gideon Fell, who just the previous day had been contending with Ireton's intellect over a game of chess. With Fell and the judge now facing off as detective and suspect, a new battle of wits begins in this fiendishly plotted masterclass of the mystery genre. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2023 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Chief Inspector Macdonald has been invited to a treasure hunt party at the house of Graham Coombe, the celebrated publisher of Murder by Mesmerism. Despite a handful of misgivings, the inspector joins a guest list of novelists and thriller writers disguised for the night under literary pseudonyms. The fun comes to an abrupt end, however, when "Samuel Pepys" is found dead in the telephone room in bizarre circumstances. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2022 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. A bookish puzzle threatens an eagerly awaited inheritance; a submission to a publisher recounts a murder that seems increasingly to be a work of nonfiction; an irate novelist puts a grisly end to the source of his writer's block. There is no better hiding place for clues -- or red herrings -- than inside the pages of a book. But in this world of resentful ghost writers, indiscreet playwrights, and unscrupulous book collectors, literary prowess is often a prologue to disaster. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2022 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Capital Crimes is an eclectic dollection of London-based crime stories, blending the familiar with the unexpected in a way that reflects the personality of the city. Alongside classics by Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, and Thomas Burke are excellent and unusual stories by authors who are far less well known. The stories give a flavour of how writers have tackled crime in London over more than half a century. Their contribution srange from an early serial-killer thriller set on the London Underground and horrific vignettes to cerebral whodunits. What they have in common is an atmospheric London setting, and enduring value as entertainment. Each story is introduced by the editor, Martin Edwards, who shed light on the authors' lives and the background to their writing. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 2nd Printing, 2015 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition.

softcover. Condition: VG pencil markings.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. London, 1945. The capital is shrouded in the darkness of the blackout, and mystery abounds in the parks after dusk. During a stroll through Regent's Park, Bruce Mallaig witnesses two men acting suspiciously around a footbridge. In a matter of moments, one of them has been murdered. Mallaig's view of the assailant but a brief glimps of a ghastly face in the glow of a struck match. The murderer's noiseless approach and escape seem to defy all logic, and even the victim's identity is quickly thrown into uncertainty. Lorac's shrewd, yet personable C.I.D. man MacDonald must set to work once again to unravel the near-impossible mystery. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 2019 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. 1913. John Farringdale, with his cousin Eric Foster, visits the famous archaeologist Tolgen Reisby. At Scarweather -- Reisby's lonely house on the windswept northern coast of England -- Eric is quickly attracted to Reisby's much younger wife, and matters soon take a dangerous turn. Fifteen years later, the final scene of the drama is enacted. This unorthodox novel from 1934 is by a gifted crime writer who, wrote Dorothy L. Sayers, "handles his characters like a real novelist and the English language like a real writer" -- merits which are still, unhappily, rarer than they should be in the ranks of the murder specialists. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2017 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. When the San Angelo drifts into port in the Pool of London, telephones begin to ring across the capital and an intricate series of events is set in motion. Beset by dreadful storms in the Bay of Biscay, the ship, along with the "mixed cargo" it carries is late. Unaware of the machinations of avaricious importers, wayward captains, and unscrupulous traders, docklands residents Harry Reed and June Harvey are thrust together by a riverside acciden before being swept into the current of a dark plot developing on the harborside. First published in 1938, this early novel from one of the great Golden Age mystery writers skillfully delivers a compelling tale of murder set against a gritty portrayal of life alongside the Thames. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2021 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. When Sergeant Wigan stops to escort a swaying reveler home at the end of his late shift, he is spun a tale of the ups and downs of a life spent collecting and selling rare books. His new companion, Michael Fisk, has been celebrating the acquisition of a signed copy of Keats's Endymion, and a trip into Fisk's library is enough to convince Wigan to begin his own collection. After developing a love for antiquarian books and a friendship with Fisk, Wigan is called upon by the C.I.D. when tragedy strikes and Fisk is found murdered in his library. Suspecting another book collector, seller, or agent of murdering his friend and stealing a precious volume, Wigan dives into the antiquarian book trade where pleasantries and a kind of collector's code mask simmering jealousies and ruthless desires. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2023 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Crime author Dick Markham is in love again, engaged to Lesley Grant, the mysterious newcomer to the village. When Grant accidentally shoots the fortune-teller through the side of his tent at the local fair -- following a very strange reaction to his predictions -- Markham is reluctantly brought into a scheme to expose his betrothed as a suspected serial husband-poisoner. That night , the enigmatic fortune-teller -- and his chief accuser -- is found dead in an impossible locked-room setup, casting suspicion onto Grant and striking doubt into the heart of her lover. Lured by the scent of the impossible case, Dr. Gideon Fell arrives from London to examine the perplexing evidence and match wits with a meticulous killer at large. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2022 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. A car speeds down a road between miles of marshes and estuary flats, it's passenger a young woman named Agnes -- hands bloodied, numb with fear, her world turned upside down. Meanwhile, the news of a girl found dead on the marsh is spreading around the local area, panic following in its wake. A masterpiece of suspense, Mary Kelly's 1962 follows Agnes as she casts her mind back through the past few days to find the links between her husband, his friends, a mysterious stranger new to the village, and a case of unexplained death. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2022 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. When two newlyweds discover that a corpse has been buried in the basement of their new home, a grueling case begins to trace the identity of the victim. With all avenues of investigation approaching exhaustion, a tenuous piece of evidence offers a chance for Chief Inspector Moresby and leads him to the amateur sleuth Roger Sheringham, who has recently been providing cover work in a school south of London. Desperate for evidence of any kind in the basement case, Moresby begins to sift through the manuscript of a satirical novel Sheringham has been writing about his colleagues at the school, convinced that amongst the colorful casts of teachers hides the victim -- and perhaps their murderer. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 2nd Printing, 2023 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. It is 1942, and struggling up the hill to the new Kent military hospital, Heron's Park, postman Joseph Higgins is soon to deliver seven letters of acceptance for roles at the infirmary. He has no idea that the sender of one of the letters will be the cause of his demise in just one year's time. When Higgins returns to Heron's Park with injuries from a bombing raid in 1943, his inexplicable death by asphyxiation in the operating theatre casts four nurses and three doctors under suspicion, and a second death in quick succession invites the presence of the irascible -- yet uncommonly shrewd -- Inspector Cockrill to the hospital. As an air raid detains the inspector for the night, the stage is set for a tense and claustrophobic investigation with a close-knit cast of suspects. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2023 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Pictorial Wrappers. Condition: Near Fine. No Jacket. 1st Edition. The stories in this collection will dredge up delight in crime fiction fans, as watery graves claim unsuspecting victims on the sands of an estuary and disembodied whispers penetrate the sleeping quarters of a ship's captain. How might a thief plot their escape from a floating crime scene? And what is to follow when murder victims, lost to the ocean floor, inevitably resurface? 1st edition, Paperback Original. Introduction by Martin Edwards. A few indents to cover else a near fine, tight copy. This British Library anthology collects the best mysteries set on choppy seas, along snaking rivers and even in the supposed safety of a swimming pool, including stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, C. S. Forester, Phyllis Bentley, E.W. Hornung, William Hope Hodgson, Gwyn Evans, Andrew Garve, Edmund Crispin and R. Austin Freeman et al. 364 pages. Trade Paperback.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. When Miss Pongleton is found murdered on the stairs of Belsize Park station, her fellow-boarders in the Frampton Hotel are not overwhelmed with grief at the death of tiresome old woman. But they all have their theories about the identity of the murderer, and help to unravel the mystery of who killed the wealthy "Pongle." Sseveral of her fellow residents -- even Tuppy the terrier -- have a part to play in the events that lead to a dramatic arrest. This classic mystery novel is set in and around the Northern Line of the London Underground. It is now republished for the first time since the 1930s. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2016 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. A signalman is found dead by a railway tunnel. A man identifies his wife as a victim of murder on the underground. Two passengers mysteriously disappear between stations, leaving behind a dead body. Trains have been a favourite setting of many crime writers, providing the mobile equivalent of the "locked-room" scenario. Their enclosed carriages with a limited number of suspects lend themselves to seemingly impossible crimes. In an era of cancellations and delays, alibis reliant upon a timely train service no longer ring true, yet the railway detective has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the twenty-first century. Both train buffs and crime fans will delight in this selection of fifteen railway-themed mysteries, featuring some of the most popular authors of their day alongside less familiar names. This is a collection to beguile even the most wearisome commuter. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 2018 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Soft cover. Condition: New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. In classic British crime fiction, dazzling detective work is often the province of a brilliant amateur -- whereas the humble police detective cuts a hapless figure. The twelve stories collected here strike a blow for the professionals, with teasing mysteries to challenge a hard-working police officer's persistence and scrupulous attention to detail. As in his previous anthologies for the British Library Crime Classics series, Martin Edwards introduces readers to fascinating neglected gems of British crime writins as well as uncovering lesser-known stories by the great novelists of the golden age. Each of these stories combines realism with entertainment, skilfully blending the conduct of a criminal investigation with a compelling murder-mystery plot. Poisoned Pen Press, Softcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2017 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.

Paperback. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket as issued. 1st Edition. First printing in this edition. Virtually as nw.

Hardcover. Condition: VG++. Stan Irvine (illustrator). First edition. Clean unworn copy.