MURDER TO GO Hardcover - 1969

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1969. First Edition. . Hardcover. Good to Good Plus/Very Good. The tenth mystery novel for the award-winning writing team of Latsis and Henissart finds bank vice president and amateur sleuth John Putnam Thatcher called in to save a restaurant chain from bankruptcy when it becomes the suspected source of a food poisoning epidemic. Then it's discovered the poisonings are deliberate and a mass poisoner is now at large. First printing, first edition (stated). About 5 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches, 256 pages in light green cloth-covered boards with black lettering on spine. Pictorial dustjacket shows skull in a restaurant "take-out" bag on front panel, blurb from "Newsweek" review of previous Lathen mystery on back panel. Tape residue on both boards and end pages where former dj was taped to covers. Add the patch of glue residue on the fep and it appears to be an ex-library copy in a replacement dj. O/w only significant flaw is previous owner's signature on the title page. Boards and text are complete, clean and unmarked. No creasing or bumping. DJ shows some minor surface wear and single crease on front flap. No tears, chipping or other creasing. Not price-clipped. With the dj concealing most of the tape residue, and given the book's scarcity in the first edition, this copy is borderline collectable or, in any event, a perfectly fine reading copy.