THE AVENGING CHANCE and Other Mysteries from Roger Sheringham's Casebook (Lost Classics Ser.)

Norfolk, VA, U.S.A.: Crippen & Landru, Publishers, 2004. 1st edition. A fine, unread copy fine in dust jacket. Number 11 in the Lost Classic Series. Low print run as the publisher states that "The first printing of each book will be small perhaps 400-500 copies, divided between clothbound copies in dustjacket, and trade softcover." In 1930, Anthony Berkeley Cox founded London's Detection Club. His novels and short stories are among the finest examples of the fair play, challange-to-the-reader tradition of the Golden Age. Berkeley punctiliously presented all the clues to the reader, but as Tony Medawar and Arthur Robinson point out in their introduction, he loved showing that clues could be interpreted in multiple ways and Sheringham is often wrong in his conclusions. The title story in "The Avenging Chance" has long been considered one of the five or six greatest formal detective stories. This book also collects seven additional Sheringham and Moresby, one of which ("The Mystery of Horne's Copse") is a recently discovered novelette. Also included are Berkeley's own tongue-in-cheek satire of the Sheringham stories and a complete checklist of the Sheringham novels and tales. Introduction by Medwar and Robinson. . First Edition. Hard Cover. New/Fine. Illus. by Miller, Deborah. Book.