A Collection of First Edition Novels from The Crime Club by Collins

A smart collection of thrilling crime novels from the Collins Crime Club. Seven volumes. The Crime Club. This set includes: Mystery at Olympia, 1935. First edition. Scarce. A novel featuring armchair detective Lancelot Priestley, who is quick to take up the case when a spectator falls dead with no clear reason at an annual motor show held at London's Olympia. Written by Cecil Street, under the pen name of John Rhode, an British crime fiction novelist and a major in the British Army. Fourfingers, 1939. First edition. Very Scarce. The second in the trilogy of Detective Sergeant Venn and Constable Kither novels. When the body of celebrated author Carla Waterlow is found in a car on Marton Common, it is clear she has been shot through the heart. Before long, two more bodies are discovered and the investigation grows more complex. Written by Alister McAllister, under the pen name of Lynn Brock, an Irish writer known for his mystery novels. Come and Be Killed!, 1946. First edition. Florence Brown was a shy women living close to her sister Phoebe, a confident and attractive actress. Suffering badly from depression, her doctor instructs her to take a "holiday" at a nursing home where she finds herself in the company of Mrs. Jolly. Weeks go by with no trace of Florence, so it is left to Phoebe, with the help of Inspector Johnson, to decipher who the mysterious woman her sister befriended really is. Written by Nancy Hermione Courlander Bodington, under the pen name of Shelley Smith, a British crime novelist. The Megstone Plot, 1956. First edition. Scarce. A gripping suspense novel following a man and his mistress as they weave an intricate plot to make a fortune. Later adapted for film and titled 'A Touch of Larceny.' Written by Paul Winterton, under the pen name Andrew Garve, an English journalist and crime novelist. End of Chapter, 1957. First edition. The twelfth in a series of novels featuring private detective Nigel Strangeways. Called in by a publishing house to investigate a retired general's wartime memoirs which controversially criticize public figures, Strangeways needs to work out which member of staff has tampered with the manuscripts. Written by Cecil Day-Lewis, under the pen name of Nicholas Blake, an Anglo-Irish poet who was Poet Laureate from 1968 to 1972. He also wrote mystery stories many of which feature fictional detective Nigel Strangeways. Woman of Straw, 1957. When playboy Tony Richmond schemes to acquire the fortune of his tyrannical tycoon uncle with the help of his new maid, she becomes the prime suspect in the murder investigations. Adapted for film in 1964, starring Gina Lollobrigida and Sean Connery. Written by Pierrette Henriette Denise Marthe Pernot better known professionally as Catherine Arley, a French novelist and actress. Translated by Mervyn Savill, a British translator, writer, and editor. Kill or Cure, 1968. First edition. When a private detective and a health specialist accidentally solve a murder during their time at a charming resort, the last thing they expect is for there to be another murder. Written by Joan Fleming, a British author of crime and thriller novels who won the Gold Dagger award twice. In the original red cloth binding. Externally, smart with light shelf wear and minor bumping to the extremities. Light fading to the spines with further discolouration of the cloth to Mystery at Olympia, Four-Fingers, and Come and Be Killed. The odd mark to the boards with light fraying to the extremities of Mystery at Olympia and minor loss of the cloth to the extremities of Fourfingers. Internally firmly bound. Pages are very bright and clean with the odd spot. Light age toning to the endpapers. Contemporary ink inscriptions to the front endpaper or pastedown. Bookseller's label to the rear pastedown of Mystery at Olympia. Very Good.…