THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. The Eye of the Needle," an Inner Sanctum award winner, is the fifth novel of this mid-20th century mystery writer, who got his start, as did many others of his era, with short stories for pulp fiction magazines such as "Black Mask" and "Ellery Queen MM." This book features a young priest, Father MacDonald, who believes he knows who murdered his brother's wife and must withhold his information without lying to a tough, shrewd NYC police detective, Neil Bresnahan. First edition, first printing (as stated). About 5 1/2 x 8 inches, 255 pages in white cloth-covered boards with pink lettering on spine and pastedowns decorated with Inner Sanctum logo. Dustjacket's front panel design by Tony Palladino features a long black needle splitting the panel's white background, and title and author's name in pink threading the needle's eye at the top of the panel. A pink medallion with white letters announcing the book is an award winner is located in lower left corner. Back panel features photo of author at his typewriter above a short bio. Lettering on spine is black. Boards and spine show some slight age-tanning at edges and a touch of soiling, and purple-dyed top edge of text shows a pair of small faded areas, o/w boards and text are complete, clean and unmarked. No tears, creases, or scratches or bumped corners. Not ex-library or remaindered. The white dustjacket shows some soiling and edgewear, with a 1/4-inch tear at bottom edge of front panel and small price sticker at top of back inside fold. No significant tears, creases or scratches. Not price-clipped. A collectable copy. Though Walsh published only 11 novels, three were the bases for Hollywood films, as were several of his short stories, and at his death in 1984, his estate was valued at $16 million.