from Shellhouse Books

Picador, 2005. 1st edition. Hardcover. Fine in very near fine dustjacket, a lovely copy of the author's fourth Inspector Montalbano novel.

Gollancz, 1933. 1st edition. Hardcover. Original black boards, very slight rubbing to front, nice red lettering to spine, small repair to spine fold, sturdy binding. Light spotting to text blocks and to first and last couple of leaves, else the pages are very clean. Overall a very nice copy of the extremely scarce first printing of the author's… Read more

Gollancz, 1932. 1st edition. Hardcover. Very good original black boards, nice spine lettering, some spotting to the text blocks, else the pages very clean. Overall, a near fine copy of the author's very scarce seventh work, a locked-room mystery, to feature the detective Lord Peter Wimsey.

Gollancz, 1933. 1st edition. Hardcover. Original black cloth, slightly marked, nice sturdy binding, good red spine lettering; very clean pages, some spotting to the text blocks, no inscription. A near fine copy of the first printing of Sayers's short stories, four featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and six featuring Montague Egg, her travelling salesman sleuth, with two other stand-alone stories.… Read more

Little, Brown UK, 2017. 1st edition. Hardcover. Very fine boards and pages, in a very fine dustjacket. An exceptionally nice copy of the author's debut crime novel, set in a small Australian town in the grip of a severe drought, receiving superb reviews and made into an excellent film starring Eric Bana. Multiple award-winner, including the CWA Gold Dagger… Read more

Picador, 2004. 1st edition. Hardcover. Fine in fine dustjacket, not price-clipped, no foxing or internal markings. An unusually nice copy of the second of the author's Inspector Montalbano novels set in Sicily. Surprisingly scarce in such condition.

Picador, 2004. 1st edition. Hardcover. Fine in fine dustjacket. A first printing of the third of the author's Inspector Montalbano novels, which is by far the hardest in the series to find at all, let alone in good condition. This copy is in excellent state, and very scarce thus.

Collins for the Crime Club, 1930. 1st edition. Hardcover. A very rare example of the true first of this early crime novel by the Coles. The orange boards are in very good condition, a little crimped at the spine ends. There is a little spotting to the front text block, but almost none on the pages themselves, and the… Read more

Penguin, 2013. 1st edition. Softcover as issued, very fine condition. Signed by the author, with his handwritten line 'She screams when the first nail goes in'. Shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger Award, this is an excellent copy of the first trade edition to feature Detective Inspector Tony McLean, set in Edinburgh, by this author-cum-farmer.

Little, Brown and Company, 2017. 1st edition. Hardcover. Fine in like dustjacket, an extremely nice copy of the elusive first UK impression of the author's debut crime novel, set in a small Australian country town in the grip of a severe drought. ' A satisfyingly complex, impressively airtight plot ready-made for cinema ' (Tim Robey), and indeed the film… Read more

Macmillan, 1995. 1st edition. Hardcover. Very fine boards and pages, in very fine, clean, unclipped dustjacket showing no wear. Signed by the author on the title page, an exceptionally nice copy of the author's fourth novel to feature Commissario Guido Brunetti, rather elusive with her signature.

Little, Brown and Company, 2017. 1st edition, 2nd impression. Hardcover. Near fine black boards, very clean pages, in a very near fine dustjacket, not price-clipped. Very nice, and rather scarce copy of the author's debut crime novel, centering on the murder of three members of a family in a small Australian country town during the worst drought for a… Read more

Gollancz, 1939. 1st edition. Hardcover. Black boards, slight rubbing, red spine lettering, pages with some small, sporadic spotting, mostly in the first and last few leaves. This 'round robin' crime story was compiled by the aforementioned six members of the Detection Club, each of them adding to the previous contributor's chapter, not always continuing in the expected way. Scarce.… Read more

Ernest Benn, 1928. 1st edition. Hardcover. Black cloth with orange lettering design to front and spine, binding square, front hinge strengthened, pages and endpapers very clean indeed. The first printing of Sayers's fourth novel to feature Lord Peter Wimsey, the gentleman detective, from an edition of only 1000 copies, and one of the most elusive of her titles, very… Read more

Macmillan, 2010. 1st edition. Hardcover. Fine, slight page-tinging, in a fine dustjacket, no tears, not price-clipped. Signed by the author. Excellent copy of the fourth book to feature Jimmy Perez in the author's 'Shetland' series, and surprisingly elusive as a signed copy.

Macmillan, 2009. 1st edition. Hardcover. Fine in like dustjacket, no tears, not price-clipped. Signed by the author. Extremely nice copy of the third Jimmy Perez novel in the author's 'Shetland' series.

John Long, 1945. 1st edition. Hardcover. Original red boards with silver lettering, very clean and tidy pages, small initials in corner of fpd, tiny repair to head of spine, slight wear at foot to spine fold, else looking very nice and bright. Signed by the author on his own Ex-Libris plate loosely inserted. This fifth Paul Temple mystery is,… Read more

Collins, 1952. 1st edition. Hardcover. Red boards with black spine lettering, very clean pages and endpapers, in a very good dustjacket, not price-clipped, with some small pieces of renovation at the extremities, slightly rubbed to the rear panel and spine. Overall a nice copy of quite a scarce Lorac title, once again featuring Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald.

Mantle, 2012. 1st edition. Hardcover. Very fine in very fine dustjacket. The 14th Inspector Montalbano mystery, a first printing in excellent condition.

Methuen, 1986. 1st edition of each title. Hardcover of the second-named, in 1986. Fine in fine dustjacket. The first-named - the first in the author's Beiderbecke trilogy - is a softcover original from 1985, a little edge-worn. A very nice pairing of the first two comedy thrillers in the sequence, charting the relationship between Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne,… Read more