HAND IN GLOVE.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Serialised in abridged form in the UK, 'Woman's Journal',April - July 1962,in the same year as the book's first unabridged publication.] NFINE/VG. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,clean,matt,mauve background to front+spine with pinkish-red lettered author name,pale blue capitalised title and black-lettered capitalised 'Crime Club Choice' to front panel's colour design by Kenneth Farnell,illustrated dw/dj,with repeated colour design+ colour lettering to spine/backstrip,and a white background with light grubbing and sporadic foxing/spotting rear panel with critics' black-lettered reviews of author's 'FALSE SCENT' novel respectively; with some negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners.Small closed tears,chipping to both head+ foot of spine/backstrip and to same's rear gutter's fold/crease with some minimal paper loss,all corner tips of dw/dj with miniscule rubbing and reciprocal paper loss – but no other major nicks,tears or splits present.Fore-edges of both inner flaps of dw/dj with sporadic foxing/spotting.Top+fore-edges fairly bright but with minimal and light sporadic foxing/spotting; contents particularly bright,tight,clean,solid and sound – no intentional dog-ear reading creases - but a very tiny accidental(?) top corner tip crease to pp223/4 - no other dog-ear creases to any other pages' corner tips – else near pristine and possibly unread,apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,original,plain red cloth boards with bright, crisp,blocked black ink lettering and Crime Club logo to spine/backstrip and unusually clean plain white sets of endpapers without any off-setting from dw/djs' inner flaps.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,11-256pp [paginated] includes 8 chapters; plus [unpaginated] half-title with story's precis and publisher's list of author's other titles to its verso,title page,a dedication with blank verso,a contents list/table with blank verso, and a Cast of characters page with blank verso also.
Visually the exterior appearance is acceptable for a book of it's age,and even internally,the book is in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It is only the exterior faults described that prevent a slightly higher grading overall. Ngaio Marsh's twenty-second (of 33) novel to feature Roderick Alleyn.Policeman hero of Chief Inspector (later Chief Superintendent - as in this novel) of the C.I.D. (Criminal Investigation Department), Scotland Yard,Metropolitan Police (London). This novel finds its way into an upper society party gone astray into the path of precarious murder. Who had a hand in the murder of a country gent?
All manner of friction fills the English country house shared by genteel retiree Percival Pyke Period and fuddy-duddy lawyer Harry Cartell.Until one of them, after a flamboyant dowager's treasure hunt party,is found murdered,face-down in the mire of an open drain. Which of Superintendent Roderick Alleyn's suspects - linked by a tangled set of relationships - wore the crucial,but missing pair of gloves to commit this dirty deed? Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded, after order's receipt and before the order's despatch, especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **