Search Results: Small Town / Country Village from Murder By The Book

NY: Dodd, 1987. 1st US edition. Fine in dust jacket. Esteemed British scholar J. I. M. Stewart writes his witty, ingenious mysteries as Michael Innes, whose sleuth is Sir John Appleby. "Although retired, Appleby immerses himself in the murder of Lord Oliver Osprey, as requested by the victim's widow. The detective and his wife had met weekend guests at the Ospreys' splendid county home, where a bat infestation was deplored by Miss Minnychip and other Dickensian types. Uninterested in the flying rodents, Appleby concentrates on Osprey's valuable coin collection, missing after his fatal stabbing. Questioning Mr. Broadwater, Lady Osprey's brother, saturnine son Adrian and all those present, the detective has definite suspicions but no solid evidence. It's a surprise to him when the pesky bats play a stunning role, confirming his intuitions and trapping the criminal."..--PW. First US Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Book.

N.Y.: St Martins Press, 1980. 1st ed. Slight spine slant, top of page edges dusty else near fine in dust jacket rubbed along edges. REVIEW SLIP laid in. The Derbyshire village of Spentlow, where Chief Superintendent Kenworthy and his wife had chosen to spend their autumn holiday, was in the grip of celebrations organized by he Vicar to commemorate a remarkable incumbent of a hundred years ago. It was also in the grip of a long-standing feud between two prominent families, the Allsops and the Brightmores, and of the machinations of Davina Stott, a precocious, pretty adolescent, who had a lead part in the centenary celebration play. One evening Kenworthy walked home with her from rehearsal. Next morning her body was found on the Anathema Stone. The Anathema Stone, round which superstitions clustered, had originally been part of a Bronze Age barrow, but for the last two hundred years it had lain in Farmer AIlsop's yard. Recently a local archaeological society had tried to make him restore it to… Read More

Lyons, Colorado, U.S.A.: Rue Morgue Press, 2006. 1st Ed. AS NEW. Scotland Yard looks into the connection cbteween five suicides in Long Greeting and Miss Tidy, the white -haired owner of the village teashop. It was not until the fifth death in Long Greeting that Miss Tidy made up her mind to go to the police." The owner of the Minerva, a combination hat, tea, and beauty shop, Miss Tidy is a tiny, white-haired lady whose Dresden-doll daintiness conceals a cold and calculating heart. As everyone in the village is quick to point out, she is not a person who inspires affection in others. Five people had died in Long Greeting and its environs in the past months, all by their own hands, and their deaths are the talk of the small village. Although Miss Tidy doesn't realize it until she makes her statement to the police, Detective-Inspector Raikes of Scotland Yard has already been called down to Long Greeting to work with the local constabulary, in particular Superintendent Lecky. The villagers… Read More

New York, NY, U.S.A.: Saint Martin's Press, LLC, 1998. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine.

N.Y.: Harper, 1984. 1st ed. previous owners name else near fine in dust jacket. An EDGAR AWARD nominee. Murder in a quiet English town. ames Scotland, a young pathologist, has come to Melchester on a much-needed vacation. But amid the cathedral town's quiet medieval atmosphere, he finds a hornet's nest of church politics, town and country rivalries. . . and murder. When one of the community's most influential figures dies suddenly (and very publicly), Scotland uncovers some curious alliances among church, state, and big business. Modern forensic pathology, the age-old mysteries of the church, and a bit of unexpected romance all play a part as Scotland unravels the unsettling truth about Melchester.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Near Fine. Book.

Athens, OH, U.S.A.: Ohio University Press, 1999. 1st edition with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in bright red cloth, in fine dust jacket. Dust jacket design by Chiquita Babb. Promotional post card laid in. Author's first mystery, set in the Ohio Amish community. Tony Hillerman recommendation. Hardcover, there are only 1000 hardcover copies in the first printing (there is a simultaneous softcover issue). "In the Old Order Amish communities of Ohio's Holmes County, it is rare for one of the self-styled "plain" people to seek aid from an outsider, one of "the English." But Bishop Eli Miller needs help and goes for it to a local academic, Michael Brandon. Years before, Miller had exiled his son Jonah for his wild ways. Now Jonah has snatched his own son, Jeremiah, who has been living with the bishop. In a note to his father, Jonah sends assurances that the boy will be returned by harvest time. Concern about Jeremiah's exposure to the outside… Read More

N.Y.: St. Martin's, 1991. 1st ed. Fine in dust jacket. The 3rd Faith Fairchild, former New York City caterer, investigates a suspect retirement home in the small New England town where she now lives. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Book.

Boulder, CO, U.S.A.: Rue Morgue Press, 2008. 1st prtg. A fine, unread copy of this trade paperback. Inspector Purbright is on loan to the police in Chalmsbury to investigate a series of bombings. He quickly learns that Chalmsbury may be the Sodom to Flaxborough's Gomorrah. Detective Inspector Purbright finds himself on loan to the police in Chalmsbury, a town that neighbors Flaxborough and is very like it in the general licentiousness of its citizenry. It seems that one ofthem has been blowing up the town's monuments and all the efforts ofthe Chalmsbury police force to find the miscreant have been in vain. Also, explosives have gone missing from the Flaxborough civil defense center where, by an odd coincidence, Chief Inspector Hector Larch ofthe Chalmsbury police force spends his Tuesday nights. Determined not to get in Larch's way, Purbright takes his time getting to know the locals, but when one of them is killed in the latest explosion, he steps up his investigations. With almost… Read More

N.Y.: St. Martin, 1991. 1st ed. Fine in near fine dj, lightly frayed at spine ends, a couple of light scratches and sticker pull at rear . 3rd sheriff Pete McPhee title, set in a small Carolina town. "Greed is the real killer in this intriguing third mystery (after Snowshot ) of McBriarty's Sheriff Peter McPhee series. Here the young owner of a North Carolina gold-plating shop asks McPhee to investigate the disappearance of her boyfriend/business partner, who vanished soon after the couple discovered a gold mine. McPhee learns that the missing man was secretly stealing a large share of his partner's profits from the mine. Investigating at the mine shaft, he uncovers the young man's corpse and evidence that the murderer plans to return to mine more gold. The sheriff's fears that the killer is a lunatic are realized when the sole witness to the homicide, a Labrador retriever, is killed savagely. Closing in on the guilty party, McPhee watches avarice turn more than one citizen into… Read More

NY: St Martins Press, 1991. First edition, January 1991, so stated with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, in protective mylar cover. REVIEW COPY. 3rd sheriff Pete McPhee title, set in a small Carolina town. "Greed is the real killer in this intriguing third mystery (after Snowshot ) of McBriarty's Sheriff Peter McPhee series. Here the young owner of a North Carolina gold-plating shop asks McPhee to investigate the disappearance of her boyfriend/business partner, who vanished soon after the couple discovered a gold mine. McPhee learns that the missing man was secretly stealing a large share of his partner's profits from the mine. Investigating at the mine shaft, he uncovers the young man's corpse and evidence that the murderer plans to return to mine more gold. The sheriff's fears that the killer is a lunatic are realized when the sole witness to the homicide, a Labrador retriever, is killed savagely. Closing in on the guilty… Read More

N.Y.: Metropolitan Books, 1997. 1st edition, with complete number line beginning with 1. Small stain at front endpaper and at page edges else about fine in near fine dust jacket, sall stain at rear along bottom edge, not price clipped, with protective mylar cover. One by one, three young girls vanish in Aurelius, a small town in upstate New York. With the first disappearance, the townspeople begin to mistrust outsiders. When the second girl goes missing, neighbors and childhood friends start to eye one another warily. And with the third disappearance, the sleepy little town awakens to a full-blown nightmare. A GOLD DAGGER AWARD NOMINEE.. 1st Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. Book.

Boulder, CO, U.S.A.: Rue Morgue Press, 2008. 1st printing. A fine, unread copy of the trade paperback. Flaxborough is a "high-spirited town .. .like Gomorrah." It's Inspector Purbright's job to keep its citizens on the straight-and-narrow in this comic romp. He hasn't got a chance. There were surprisingly few mourners at Harold Carobleat's funeral, just his widow and a handful of prominent Flaxborough citizens, including newspaper publisher Marcus Gwill. When Gwill' s naked body is found electrocuted some months later, its mouth stuffed with marshmallows, Inspector Purbright and his cherubic assistant, Sergeant Love, begin to suspect the two deaths are connected. But what are they to make of a series of peculiar coded advertisements that has been appearing in the Flaxborough newspaper? And why is the doctor's surgery so busy after hours? Remember, this is Flaxborough, a "high-spirited town .. .like "Gomorrah," where anything can happen, and… Read More

St. Martin's, 1999. 1st ed. Fine in dust jacket. Author's 1st book; set in small upstate New York mountain town with a police trainee working her first homicide and a legendary cop working his last. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine.

N.Y.: Dodd, 1983. 1st ed. Fine in dust jacket. Pentecost has written frequent Uncle George short stories for EQMM, this is only the 2nd novel to feature Uncle George. The small New England village of Lakeview is struck by a rash of guesome murders. The pattern, which resembles a sensational crime committed elsewhere, results in Uncle George dubbing them "copycat crimes."-. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Book.

N.Y.: Walker, 1989. 1st US. with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in dust jacket with protective mylar cover. Author's first book.. NEW BLOOD DAGGER AWARD FINALIST. "An English village with its tightly knit, at times almost claustrophobic community provides the setting for this splendid mystery/coming-of-age debut. Eleven-year-old Cassie Wade's life changes drastically after the disappearance of her popular, spoiled classmate Margie Thoroughgood, last seen getting into a stranger's car. As police leads fail and the fearful residents of Upper Grisham hold their children close , Cassie, who lives with her overprotective grandmother, faces her own set of problems. Cassie's mother, who had left her husband and daughter years before, resumes an interest in the girl, much to Cassie's dismay; Margie's mother, whom Cassie dutifully befriends, becomes unhealthily dependent on the child; and Cassie's father, whose job takes him away from Upper Grisham much of the… Read More

N.Y.: HarperCollins, 1999. 1st ed. Fine in dust jacket. Law school dropout takes over the sheriffing of a small Oklahoma town. NERO WOLFE WINNER. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine. Book.

New York, NY, U.S.A.: Mysterious Press, 1993. 1st ed. Fine in near fine dust jacet.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Near Fine.

N.Y.: Saint Martin's Press, 1991. 1st U.S. edition, March 1991, so stated with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, in protective mylar cover. "This tidy English procedural, part of a series by former detective superintendent Ross, captures the flavor of a small British city, including police life and politics. When a classified ad is sent to the Abbotsburn newspaper seeking information on the whereabouts of Daphne Gosse and intimating foul play, the editor calls detective superintendent George Rogers ( A Time for Dying ), who takes on a quiet investigation. Daphne's husband, Clifford, a pharmacist, denies placing the ad, although it bears his name, and he ultimately confesses his wife has left him for another, unidentified man. As Rogers pursues various leads to the woman's whereabouts, tackling the law firm through which she was filing for divorce, he must steer a fine line between harassment (as charged by the solicitor and the… Read More

N.Y.: Scribner, 2000. 1st American edition, with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, in protective mylar cover. A Luke Thanet title. Cozy. A SPOTTED OWL NOMINEE for Best Novel. "Another of the authors literate explorations of life and death in the town of Sturrenden and environs, where Inspector Luke Thanet and his faithful Sergeant Lineham bear the brunt of infrequent murder investigations (Once Too Often, 1998, etc.). The victim now is Virginia Mintaurwife of lawyer Ralph, mother of Caroline and Rachelwhose body has been found at the bottom of the decorative well adorning her prized garden. Virginia had disappeared the previous evening while entertaining neighbors Howard and Marilyn Squires; Rachel and tennis coach Matthew Agon, who have just announced their engagement; and Virginias sister Jane and her boyfriend Arnold Prime..." -- Kirkus Review. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Book.

N.Y.: Mysterious Press, 1996. 1st edition, January 1996, so stated with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, in protective mylar cover. Publishers publicity sheet laid in. "The town of Blackwater Bay, Mich., the inspired setting for A Few Dying Words, is back. Gold Dagger winner Gosling uses two main characters to hold together this intricate tale of big-time mob doings and small-town dirty laundry: Jess Gibbons, a 30-something home-economics teacher; and stolid Sheriff Matt Gabriel. In the middle of a harsh winter, Jess, a little bored and a little depressed, can't know that when a local fisherman glimpses a corpse floating beneath the ice, events will conspire to give her more excitement than she bargained for. Meanwhile, Matt is mystified by the corpse's identity, and the homecoming queen has been throwing wild parties and may be living a secret life. Jess is still cooking gourmet meals for her five housemates, but the air is charged and… Read More