LION IN THE CELLAR (A Rue Morgue Vintage Mystery) by Branch, Pamela - 2006

Lyons, Colorado, U.S.A.: Rue Morgue Press, 2006. 1st American Edition. (originally published in England in 1951). Other than her Uncle George, Sukie was the only member of the notorious Heap family who was still at large. Her great-grandfather was one of two family members immortalized in wax at Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors. He had invented a particularly nasty machine gun. The other was Sukie's grandmother who one day had taken an axe and promptly disposed of five of her neighbors. Sukie's mother later tried her hand at arson and was sent to a mental institution. Sukie defiantly explained, as had her mother before her, that insanity did not run in the family. After all, her grandmother had been hanged-and the British do not execute the insane. The Heaps were definitely being maligned. Why, her Uncle George couldn't even bear the sight of blood, which is no doubt why he preferred to strangle his victims. So, naturally, when Mr. Bentley turned up dead with a bloody axe at his side, Sukie's husband figured she was at last taking up the family trade and proceeded to cover up the crime. And why not? Other than a tendency to lie outrageously, Sukie was a very nice person. When Lion in the Cellar was pubished in Britian in 1951, Nancy Spain called Branch "the greatest find since Tutankhamen's Tomb was opened and infinitely more amusing." This is its first appearance in the United States.. First Edition. Pictorial Wrappers. As New. Illus. by Pudim, Rob. Trade Paperback.