THE WRONG MURDER: A John J. Malone Mystery

Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Co., 1944. First Edition Thus, Tower Books #T-173, October 1944. Lightly rubbed at edges, damp stain at lower edges unaffecting text, pages uniformly age toned in dust jacket, sunned at spine, shallow loss at top spine ends and flap corners, a couple of closed tears. Remarkably good copy as Tower Books were notorious for poor quality and cheap paper. Press agent Jake Justus doesn't care if all of Chicago drops dead. He's just tied the knot with debutante Helene Brand, and a Bermuda honeymoon is only three in-flight martinis away. But the shooting death of a man in broad daylight, on the busiest shopping day of the year, with plenty of witnesses, is particularly ill timed. Jake's pal, attorney John J. Malone, agrees. Only a day before, wedding guest Mona McClane, notorious jetsetter and tipsy big-game hunter, bet the two men she could bag an innocent stranger and they'd never be able to prove a thing. Then Malone discovers that the victim wasn't so innocent. Any number of people wanted him dead. And if Mona is only one of them, Malone's wagering there's much more to this murder than just the thrill of getting away with it. The first mystery writer to ever make the cover of Time magazine, Craig Rice was known for her fizzy cocktails of hard-boiled noir and screwball comedy.. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Illus. by Manso, Leo. Book.