Mystery from Alcuin Books, ABAA-ILAB

New York; (1950): Dodd, Mead and Co. First Edition. Octavo. 243 pages. One of Dorothy L. Sayers favorite writers of detection. He and Milward Kennedy collaborated with Sayers as members of the Detection Club in writing on crime and in fiction. In his letters to Sayers, they often discussed crime methods. A very scarce novel bound in blue gray… Read more about this item

New York: Doubleday, Doran and Co. Published for the Crime Club, 1942. First Edition. Octavo. 274 pages. Inspector Schmidt is at a friend during one of the blackouts during World War II, when a body is discovered in a nearby apartment when the lights come back on. A fascinating story which also involves a Russian princess and milkman though… Read more about this item

Chicago: The Detective Science Company, 1923. Quarto. 41 pages. While some of this is found in Vintage True Crime Stories, this gives the techniques in 1920 which often were ahead of its time. Most of the film noir detective movies used these systems of investigation. The author had earlier printed items such as Enemies of the Underworld which dealt… Read more about this item

San Francisco: RE/SEARCH Publications, 1987. Limited Edition. Small Octavo. 124 pages. Signed, Limited to 250 copies of which this is number 83. Two novels and a play bound back-to-back and inverted [dos-a-dos). His crime novels were praised by Elmore Leonard, Jim Thompson, James Lee Burke and his imagery certainly was in the background of Quentin Tarantino's thinking in developing… Read more about this item

New York (1972): G.P Putnam's Sons. First Edition. Quarto. 220 unnumbered pages. Illustrated. Here Gorey produces 15 of his classics. The Unstrung Harp -- The Listing Attic -- The Doubtful Guest -- The Object-Lesson -- The Bug Book -- The Fatal Lozenge -- The Hapless Child -- The Curious Sofa -- The Willowdale Handcar -- The Gashlycrumb Tinies --… Read more about this item

Santa Rosa, Ca: Black Sparrow Press, 1994. First Edition Limited. Octavo. 202pp. signed Bukowski after the bound in original Bukowski print depicting a shooting. Limited to 300 copies, the present copy is #231. A fascinating novel of a detective on his last legs, booksellers and publishers and characters in the twisted world of Southern California's darker side. The detective… Read more about this item

Santa Rosa, Ca: Black Sparrow Press, 1994. First Edition. Octavo. Limited to only 16 presentation copies, published a month after Bukowski's passing. It has Bukowski's signed print bound in, the following page is signed by Bukowski and with 3 drawings included. In addition, there is a remarkable presentation before the title page dated 5/9/94 from John Martin, the publisher… Read more about this item

New York: Privately printed by the Baskerrette Press for subscription Only, 1958. First Edition. Octavo. Limited to 59 numbered and registered copies. The present copy is not numbered. Illustrated in color and in black and white. The Crown Diamond was written during the Sherlock Holmes revival after the war, which was partly inspired by the new Stoll films. It… Read more about this item

New York; (1990): The Mysterious Press. First Edition. Octavo. Limited edition of only 100 copies. The present copy is #3 signed by 16 contributors. 278 pages. signed by Lawrence Block, Loren D. Estleman, James Elroy, and 13 others. A fine copy bound in black cloth, spine lettering in pink foil, housed within the publisher's black cloth covered slipcase. … Read more about this item

London; 2020: Orenda Books. First Edition. Octavo. First edition in English. Limited and signed by the author. Limited to 750 copies. The present copy is # 736. 304 pages. Winner of the Blackbird Award for Best Icelandic Crime Novel, and the John Creasy Award in 2020. A haunting book of fiction, crime, and murder from one of Iceland rising… Read more about this item

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1959. First Edition. Octavo. 220 pages. First printing. An Inner Sanctum mystery. The Crossroads was a little town with everything a traveler could want, two restuarants, an acre of cabins, a drive in movie, trucker's garage and more. The Crossroads is a smoothly managed oasis for the hungry tourists, the weary motorist and tired… Read more about this item

Baltimore: Publish America, 2007. First Edition. 213 pages. Inscribed by the author: "To Richard of Alcuin Books, "the original lost sheep" with best regards, Bettie Anne Doebler. 4/24/08". Laid in is the original two typed pages of her novel that originally was to be entitled "Back to the Books" with her handwritten corrections (see image). Issued only in a… Read more about this item

(Sarasota, Florida; 1986 and 1988): Disc-US Books, 1988. Octavo. 103 and 123pp. Two books bound in one. An honest autobiography of his life as a homeless boy in the Great Depression, including life in jungle camps, time in bordellos, relief camps and depending on soup kitchens, The second part of his life as a soldier how he signed up… Read more about this item

Yonkers, NY: Alicat Bookshop, 1948. Octavo. 40 unnumbered pages. During World War II, Willeford served as a tank commander with the 10th Armored Division of George S. Patton's Third Army. He earned the Bronze Star, Silver Star and the Purple Heart as well as the Luxenbourg Croix de Guerre. After recovering from wounds to the face and leg, he… Read more about this item

New York; (1978): Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. First Edition. Octavo. First printing. In 1973, armed soldiers dragged Charles Horman from his home in Santiago, Chile. This is a chronicle of his final days. It is the moving and disturbing story of his family's ongoing search for the truth about his death. Was his death a personal tragedy or was it… Read more about this item

New York; (1985): Penzler Books. First American Edition. Octavo. First printing. Limited to 250 copies signed by the author. The present copy is number 242. 327 pages. The author introduces the Alderman family as they descend into moral crisis. She weaves a powerful tale about blind faith and the peculiar ideas of justice that lie underneath the veneer of… Read more about this item

London; (1952): Hodder & Stoughton. First Edition. Small Octavo. 256 pages. The seventeenth Miss Silver mystery. The author had created a character who though on the outside appeared to be an old woman somehow outwitted the best of the local police. This is the story of Lewis Brading's brooch with five perfectly matched brilliants of five carats but soon… Read more about this item

New York; (1994): Harper Collins. First Edition. Octavo. 375 pages. The uncorrected proof signed by Tony Hillerman. Besides the helpful summaries of his first twelve books (omitting the conclusions for the fan who wants to discover the end for himself), there is an important self-effacing interview with Hillerman by Jon L. Breen and an essay on Navajo culture by… Read more about this item

Bloomington, Illinois; (1949): McKnight and McKnight. First Edition. Octavo. x, 182 pages, illustrations. Inscribed by the author to Tom Coll, FBI spokesman in1970's "to Tom Coll, the Innocent Bystander" James S. Eiseman, 1972. Eiseman was in Military Intelligence. As Robert H. Scott, Police Sciences, Michigan State wrote: "important for government agencies to know regarding the… Read more about this item

Royal Oak, Michigan: Np, 1997. First Edition. Small Quarto. Limited to 150 copies, signed by Margaret Coel and James D. Doss who has written the introduction, and Phil Parks who has produced the four illustrations which are tipped in and finally a handwritten Arapaho word written by Coel for "thou shalt do no murder". While the author is known… Read more about this item