A collection of 17 crime novels, all of them signed (one a proof copy in wrappers, the others in cloth, with all but one with the dustwrapper) by McGUIRE, Paul

All first or early editions from 1932 to 1940, mainly published in London by Skeffington & Son or William Heinemann Ltd (with only one American imprint); in very good to excellent condition. Full details are as follows; the publisher is Skeffington & Son, Ltd. unless otherwise stated.

(1) Murder in Bostall. Sixth thousand [circa 1933]/ [1931].

(2) Three Dead Men. Seventh thousand [circa 1935]/ [1931].

(3) The Tower Mystery. Seventh thousand/ [1932].

(4) Murder by the Law. Sixth thousand [1939]/ [1932].

(5) There Sits Death. Seventh thousand/ [1933].

(6) Death Fugue. [1933].

(7) Daylight Murder. [1934].

(8) Murder in Haste. [1934].

(9) 7.30 Victoria. Seventh thousand/ [1935].

(10) W.1. William Heinemann Ltd, 1938/ 1937 (lacks the dustwrapper).

(11) Born to be Hanged. [1935].

(12) Threepence to Marble Arch. [1936].

(13) Prologue to the Gallows. [1936].

(14) Cry Aloud for Murder. William Heinemann Ltd, 1937 (proof copy).

(15) Burial Service. William Heinemann Ltd, 1938.

(16) A Funeral in Eden. New York, William Morrow and Company, 1938 (first American edition).

(17) The Spanish Steps. William Heinemann Ltd, 1940.

Dominic Mary Paul McGuire (1903-1978) was a South Australian-born journalist, author and diplomat. 'In 1932 McGuire was welcomed back to Australia by the "Bulletin" as a model for other authors seeking to publish in London. In Adelaide he continued to write. The poetry he had penned in England was included in anthologies and collected in "The Two Men and Other Poems" (1932). To pay "the butcher and baker (and in honesty ... the brewer)", he wrote detective stories (as he had done in London), sometimes two or three a year, claiming they took three weeks to complete (though once as little as four days). His fifteen mystery novels were published by 1940. Two in particular cemented his reputation as a "most satisfying person with whom to go a murdering": "Burial Service" (London, 1938) and "The Spanish Steps" (London, 1940). His non-formulaic plots gave the characters range to express opinions; and heroes were often in tune with his philosophy' ('Australian Dictionary of Biography'). [17 items].