from H.W. Gumaer, Bookseller

New York: The Mysterious Bookshop, 2019. Original Paper Wraps. Fine. During the December holidays in 1993, Otto Penzler's The Mysterious Bookshop on Warren Street in NYC commissioned a short story from the late mystery writer Donald E. Westlake. The only conditions were that the story was set at Christmas time and that at least part of the story… Read more

New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2017. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. The 32nd book in Beaton's long-running, highly-regarded cozy mystery series set in rural Scotland and featuring Sgt. Hamish Macbeth. This time Macbeth decides to put an end to a haunted castle rumor by spending the night at the ruined castle with patrolman Charlie Carson. Carson promptly falls through… Read more

Pleasantville, NY: Impress Mystery/Reader's Digest, 2008. Hardcover. Very Good. Craig Rice, a 1930s-'40s mystery writer, was often considered the queen of the madcap, humorous mystery. "Home Sweet Homicide," originally published in 1944, now a classic of the genre, features Dinah, April and Archie Carstairs, 14, 12, and 10 respectively, who decide to solve the murder of next door… Read more

New York: Obsidian/Penguin Group, 2013. Hardcover. Very Good to Near Fine/Near Fine. The ninth book in Martin's humorous, cozy mystery series featuring the Blackbird sisters, renegade members of Philadelphia high society. This time it's Nora, assigned by her editor to write an exclusive on the murder of billionaire fashion designer, Swain Starr, who recently retired to develop a… Read more

New York: Ballantine Books, 1997. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. For a number of years Heilbrun, a tenured professor of English literature at Columbia University, kept her identity as "Amanda Cross," the author of a series of witty, literary mysteries (featuring an amateur sleuth, Kate Fansler, who was also an English professor0, concealed from the public, afraid it might compromise her… Read more

Garden City: Doubleday & Co., 1964. Hardcover. Good Plus to Very Good/Fair To Good. An omnibus of mystery, detective and suspense fiction of the first half of the 20th century, selected by Haycraft and Beecroft, legendary editors and critics of the mystery genre. The editors provide a sampling of three mystery formats -- novels, novelettes and short stories… Read more

New York: Crooked Lane Books, 2016. First Edition. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. Barnes first novel is this highly-praised cozy mystery featuring retired Minnesota Police Chief Katherine Sullivan. Now an artist, Sullivan finds her former skills still very useful when her visit to her lawyer daughter is interruped by murder. First Printing, First Edition. About 5 3/4 x 8… Read more

New York: Warner Books, 1994. First Edition Thus. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. Victor Juhasz. It's 10:30 on Christmas Eve at the 87th Precinct where Detective Steve Carella is typing a report when fellow detective, Cotton Hawes arrives with two men and a shopping bag full of pot, derisively described by one of the two as "frankincense" and by… Read more

New York: E.P. Dutton, 1986. First Edition. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. The eighth novel in Cross' mystery series featuring English Lit professor and amateur sleuth, Kate Fansler, who is asked to find Winifred Ashby, the "niece" of renowned British author, Charlotte Stanton. Winifred left a New England dairy farm for London to help a young woman named Charlie… Read more

New York: Books, Inc., 1944. First Edition Thus. . Hardcover. Very Good. Walling was a British author of a series of "very English" mystery novels in the 1930s and '40s. The 18th novel in Walling's series featuring "private inquiry agent" Peter Tolefree has Tolefree called in to straighten out what he believes is a lover's quarrel, only to… Read more

New York: A.L. Burt Company, 1911. First Edition Thus. . Hardcover. Good Plus/No Jacket. Vance was an American novelist writing a the beginning of the 20th century. His books featuring a detective named Michael Lanyard, known as the Lone Wolf, were popular successes and made into a number of films. "Cynthia of the Minute," is a romantic mystery… Read more

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1949. Book Club. . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. This humorous locked room mystery won its author the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery in 1950. The body in question belongs to Merlin Broadstone, the health and fitness guru, shot to death about 6:30 in the morning at the brand new Broadstone luxury hotel… Read more

New York: Random House, 1988. First Edition. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. Bond is much better known for his books for children, especially his Paddington Bear series, but as a change of pace, perhaps, he is also the author of an adult mystery series featuring Aristide Pamplemousse, premier undercover operative for "Le Guide," France's prestigious restaurant rating guide. In… Read more

New York: Bantam Books, 1946. First Edition. . Mass Market Paperback. Good Plus. Vintage Paperback. Bantam 42:The tenth novel by Brown using the pseudonymn, Leslie Ford. Set just before World War II in Charleston, SC, which is seen and described for the reader by Diane Baker, a "friend" of Phyllis Lattimore, a beautiful and aggresively ambitious woman whose… Read more

New York: Summit Books, 1988. First Edition. . Hardcover. Very Fine/Fine. The second mystery in Stacey's classic English mystery series featuring the kind and thoughtful Superintendent Peter Bone, who finds murder even on a night off. Bone is attending a performance of "The Beggar's Opera" at his daughter's school when the pretty and ambitious Miss Fairlie is stabbed… Read more

New York: Bantam Books, 2011. First Edition. . Hardcover. Very Good/Near Fine. The 11th novel in King's mystery-suspense series featuring Sherlock Holmes and his American wife, Mary Russell. This time, Russell is sent undercover to Portugal to investigate rumors of criminal activities surrounding the meglomanial leader of England's young silent film industry and his studio that are gearing… Read more

New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 1999. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. The sixth novel in the Agatha award-winning Kelner's mystery series featuring amateur sleuth, Laura Fleming, transplanted North Carolinian and amateur sleuth, who returns home from Boston to find herself squarely in the middle of arson and murder. First Edition, First Printing copy has… Read more

New York: Viking Penguin, 2002. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. The 16th book in Langton's widely-praised mystery series featuring retired detective, Homer Kelly, and his wife, Mary. This time, the Kelly's offer to help a friend find a woman met at an M.C. Escher exhibition, becomes a search akin to finding themselves in an Escher… Read more

New York: St. Martin's Press, 2009. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. The 20th book in Beaton's long-running and highly-praised cozy mystery series featuring English female private detective Agatha Raisin. Agatha is not happy. Though upset over the upcoming marriage of her ex-husband, James Lacey, to the beautiful Felicity Bross-Tilkington, Agatha takes time from her… Read more

New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2010. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Fine/Very Good. The 25th book in Beaton's long-running, very popular mystery series featuring Scottish Police sergeant Hamish Macbeth finds this most famous of highland bachelors about to be married at long last if he survives a bad case of prenuptial jitters. His birde-to-be is also his… Read more