Search Results: Southern California from Murder By The Book

N.Y.: St. Martin 1993, 1993. 1st ed., with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in dust jacket. Andrea Perkins, art restorer, is in Southern California on a commission at the Huntington Museum. "Top-notch characterization, authoritative use of setting and an accelerating pace more than make up for this mystery's slow start. In the pristine, fenced garden of a Los Angeles museum, a vandal defaces a statue and a homeless man is shot. Murder and vandalism are nothing new to L.A. residents, but these crimes take place in San Marino, an upscale suburban-like enclave. LAPD plainclothes detectives Tina Roberson and Eduardo Lopez learn that the victim had been a chronic gambler, called Goochie after the Gucci shoes he favored. Meanwhile art restorer Andrea Perkins (seen last in The Balmoral Nude ), arrives at the museum to recondition Gainsborough's Blue Boy , and winds up sharing guest quarters with the other primary players in the case. Coincidence abounds as Andrea figures in the… Read More

Walker, 1996. bottom corners bumpes, black jacket shows some rubbing. The 2nd Wil Hardesty title -- the first of which won the Shamus Award for Best novel. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Near Fine.

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. 1st ed. Near fine in dust jacket. WINNER of the EDGAR AWARD for BEST MYSTERY NOVEL. "In her seventh outing (after Liar, 1998), journalist Irene Kelly is part of the investigative team on the hunt for serial killer Nicholas Parrish's many victims. Their graves are in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, and Parrish, having entered a plea bargain, is there too, leading the team to the women's corpses in exchange for a life sentence instead of the death penalty. But Parrish has planned a surprise or two. When a grave explodes, most of the team are killed, Irene flees, and the killer escapes. Back home, Irene continues to work at the behest of Gillian Sayre, the daughter of one victim. Her hunt for Parrish is made considerably easier by his growing obsession with her. A cunning psychopath with a calm demeanor, Parrish heavily resembles Hannibal Lecter. Rather than eat his victims, however, he tortures and dismembers them..." -- PUBLISHERS… Read More

NY: Morrow, 1994. 1st ed. Fine in dust jacket. The second Smokey Brandon, of the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner's Department.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine.

N.Y.: Caxton House, 1939. 1st edition, thus. (Originally published in 1935 by Doubleday Crime Club). Black binding with orange pictoral design on spine: knife through a sheet of paper dripping blood from the tip. Covers show some light soiling, paper is age toned else a solid copy in hoemade acetate jacket. Stan Lake, private investigator. 'Dead more than a year, his fingerprints covered the weapon used to murder the son of the man he hated.'. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. Book.

NY: Morrow, 1990. 1st ed. Near fine in dust jacket. Author's first book. "This impressive first novel by a nationally syndicated journalist is a curious and winning combination of noir violence, L.A. attitude, drug-inspired lunacy and sheer storytelling bravado..." -- PW. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Near Fine. Book.

N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, 1992. First edition with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, in protective mylar cover. Racetrack announcer and sleuth Jerry Brogan's fourth case. Southern California. "There's much ado at Surfside Meadows racetrack in California over the upcoming retirement of jockey Brad Roark. Will Wardwell, retired game-show MC, is orchestrating a Roark family reunion ? la This is Your Life, despite the decades-long estrangement of its members. Meanwhile, Brad's brother Mo, sister Naomi, Uncle Buller, and Aunt Frances can't resist the free trip to California. And Brad, even in the glow of winning his last race, can't wax enthusiastic over the carefully stage-managed surprise reunion. The discovery of Mo's body, stabbed with an ice pick, in his room at the hotel during a celebratory dinner, engages the sleuthing talents of likable track-announcer Jerry Brogan (Triple Crown, etc.). He manages to uncover some… Read More

N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984. 1st ed. Fine in dj. BRANDSTETTER. [1001 Midnights]. Insurance adjuster Dave Brandstetter investigates the death of truck driver, Paul Meyers. Someone placed a bomb under Meyers' truck, blowing up both the truck and Meyers. Dave's investigation soon reveals that Meyers had been doing nightwork to make some extra money. Brandstetter, a gay death-claims investigator in Los Angeles, California, is featured in the eighth book in this series.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Book.

NY, NY: Holt, 1984. 1st ed., with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in dust jacket with protective mylar cover. SIGNED COPY. Signed by Lyons in full at half-title page. Jacob Asch title. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Book.

N.Y.: Holt, 1984. 1st ed., with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in dust jacket with protective mylar cover. Fred Segal a top California music promoter, hires detective Jacob Asch to find out who is trying to destroy him, but soon Segal becomes a prime murder suspect. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Book.

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Mysterious Press, 1991. 1st ed. Fine in dj.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine.

NY: St Martins Press, 1994. 1st edition, June 1994, with complete number line beginning with 1. Light wear at edges, a few early pages wrinkled at top else fine in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, lightly rubbed at folds, in protective mylar cover. SIGNED by author at title page. A P.I. Delilah West title. "Delilah West is a spunky California PI who calls for, and sustains, comparison to Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone. Hired by a wealthy Orange County lighting manufacturer to find his runaway teenage daughter, Delilah smells something putrid coming from the house next door. It's the battered remains of a woman, not the daughter, but a friend and neighbor who was also more than friendly with the missing girl's deadbeat boyfriend, who's also AWOL. The murder and the missing persons don't come together until Delilah, fired by her first employer and deciding to work for the murdered woman's husband, finds herself targeted by a truck in an isolated parking lot. Her… Read More

NY: Knopf, 1971. 1st ed. Page edges lightly soiled, light wear at edges, slight spine slant, gift inscription at inside fron cover else very good in lightly soiled dj, couple of closed tears. Lew Archer title.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. Book.