Anthologies ~ Collections ~ Compilations

Readers, Rare & Collectable

	The Floating Admiral ~ The Detection Club 1981 (first pub' 1931) UK hardback later edition, published by Macmillan in London A VG indeed book (Macmillan paper tanning) in price clipped dustjacket A solid book, tanning to paper as ever with Macmillan of this period The jacket is clean and bright, no fading of red to spine as often seen with Macmillan with great artwork The twelve chapters of the story were each written by a different author, in the following sequence: Canon Victor Whitechurch, G. D. H. Cole and Margaret Cole, Henry Wade, Agatha Christie, John Rhode, Milward Kennedy, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Edgar Jepson, Clemence Dane and Anthony Berkeley. G. K. Chesterton contributed a Prologue, which was written after the novel had been completed. A classic Golden Age book, very uncommon in hardback, firsts are obviously very expensive, so a great and realistic addition to any collection For Sale at £18 UK delivery only *ub2 - Delivery Information ~ Free & Subsidised ~ Please Check!	Enquire or Add to Cart
	Ask a Policeman - The Detection Club 1983 (first pub' 1933) UK hardback later edition, published by Macmillan in London A VG indeed book (Macmillan paper tanning) in price clipped dustjacket A solid book, tanning to paper as ever with Macmillan of this period The jacket is clean and bright, no fading of red to spine as often seen with Macmillan with great artwork Once again, an attractive and reaistic option, the first seen further down this page sold for £850 and that was years ago . . . A brilliant idea, check it out online, authors include: John Rhode, Helen Simpson, Gladys Mitchell, Anthony Berkeley, Dorothy L. Sayers, Milward Kennedy, with Agatha Christie For Sale at £18 UK delivery only *ub2 - Delivery Information ~ Free & Subsidised ~ Please Check!	Enquire or Add to Cart
	Choice of Weapons ~ A Crime Writers Association Anthology 1958 UK hardback first edition, first impression, published by Hodder and Stoughton in London A VG book in unclipped dustjacket A solid book, some scattered edge taning, tightly bound The jacket has some age tanning, wear to spine ends and extremities, still solid with great Jarvis artwork Authors include: Josephine Bell, Christianna Brand, Margot Bennett, Guy Cullingford, Elizabeth Ferrars, Mary Fitt, Michael Gilbert, Cyril Hare, LAG Strong, Julina Symons and Roy Vickers I think most, if not all of these are true first appearances of the stories An important and well regarded crime fiction anthology and uncommon in jacket For Sale at £SOLD - SORRY, CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK (approx $SOLD) - Delivery Information ~ Free & Subsidised ~ Please Check!	Enquire or Add to Cart
	Planned Departures - A Crime Writers Association Anthology 1958 UK hardback edition published by Hodder and Stoughton in London Some of the authors included: Elizabeth Ferrars. Also contributions by Josephine Bell, Anthony Boucher, John Creasey, Guy Cullingford, Michael Gilbert, Cyril Hare, Helen McCloy, Ellery Queen, L.A.G. Strong, Julian Symonds, & Roy Vickers. A VG+ book in price clipped dustwrapper A clean, bright and tidy book No previous owner names, inscriptions or stamps The dust jacket has only minor rubs, clean and bright, overall a nice copy of an uncommon book An important anthology or original short stories and recommended in Cooper and Pike For Sale at £SOLD - SORRY, CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK (approx $SOLD) - Delivery Information ~ Free & Subsidised ~ Please Check!	Enquire or Add to Cart
	The Verdict of 13 ~ Ex Library ~ A Detection Club Anthology 1979 British hardback first edition, first impression, published by Faber in London Former public library copy All of these stories are true firsts and hadn't previously been published A solid book in like unclipped dustwrapper Pages tanned, as ever, stamp to endpaper, still solid and not 'wrecked The dust jacket has no loss or tears Some of the authors featured: PD James, Dick Francis, Ngaio Marsh, Michael Innes, Michael Gilbert, Gwendoline Butler, Christianna Brand and Patricia Highsmith A fantastic read as all the stories are cleverly linked, doesn't look like ex library when shelved For Sale at £SOLD - SORRY, CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK (approx $SOLD) * - Delivery Information ~ Free & Subsidised ~ Please Check!	Enquire or Add to Cart
	Crime on the Coast & No Flowers By Request 1984 UK hardback edition published by Victor Gollancz in London A fantastic read featuring the folowing authors Anthony Gilbert, John Dickson Carr, ECR Lorac, Dorothy L Sayers, Gladys Mitchell, Christianna Brand and Elizabeth Ferrars amongst others A VG++ book in like price clipped dustwrapper A clean, bright and tidy book No previous owner names, inscriptions or stamps The dust jacket has no loss etc, nice and clean A very interesting book and a great read For Sale at £SOLD - SORRY, CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK - Delivery Information ~ Free & Subsidised ~ Please Check!	Enquire or Add to Cart

	Winter's Crimes Vol 1 1969 British hardback first edition, first impression, published by Macmillan in London All of these stories are true firsts and hadn't previously been published A VG book in price clipped dustwrapper A solid clean book, usuual period page tanning, no names etc The dust jacket has tape repair to cover and creasing to inside flap Some of the authors featured, all first edition stories: Ellis Peters, Michael Gilbert, Joan Fleming and Edmund Crispin A great read and a solid readers copy For Sale at £SOLD - SORRY, CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK (approx $SOLD) * - Delivery Information ~ Free & Subsidised ~ Please Check!	Enquire or Add to Cart
	Winter's Crimes Vol 3 1971 UK hardback first edition, first impression, published by Macmillan in London All of these stories are true firsts and hadn't previously been published A VG+ book in unclipped dustwrapper A tidy book, usuual period page tanning, no owner names or stamps The dust jacket has some wear but still tidy Some of the authors featured, all first edition stories: Agatha Christie, Christianna Brand, Julian Symons and Selwyn Jepson A scarce title and a solid readers copy For Sale at £SOLD - SORRY, CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK (approx $SOLD) * - Delivery Information ~ Free & Subsidised ~ Please Check!	Enquire or Add to Cart
	Ask a Policeman - Anthony Berkeley, Milward Kennedy, Gladys Mitchell, John Rhode, Dorothy L. Sayers & Helen Simpson [1933] UK hardback 1st edition, 1st impression, published by Arthur Barker in London A very rare book in jacket and a classic ! A VG book in 7/6 unclipped dustwrapper The book is solid, clean textblock, couple of marks to boards No previous owner names, inscriptions or stamps The dust jacket has shallow wear and rubs to edges and some age tanning There is a tape repair to rear, it's recent and is archival document tape Here is something delightfully new In "thrills in a story which combines the interest of detection with the fun of parody. A problem is propounded ; ingenious and, for the solvers, malicious, and in itself a parody of a thousand and one Detective Stories : a great Newspaper Proprietor dies in his study, and suspicion falls upon an Archbishop, a Secretary, a Police Commissioner and the Chief Whip of the political party in power. There is, too, a Mysterious Lady. What, then, can the Home Secretary do but call in the Amateur Experts? There are four of them, each takes a hand, and each produces a different solution. In the end the Gordian knot Is cut: they are all wrong, and the moral seems to be that at times it is wise not to consult the amateur however expert, but to Ask a Policeman however ordinary. A very special and important book with a star cast, I've never seen a copy in jacket before! For Sale at £SOLD - SORRY, CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK (approx $SOLD) -Delivery Information ~ Free & Subsidised ~ Please Check!	Enquire or Add to Cart
	Detection Medley By Members of the Detection Club [1939] UK hardback 1st edition, 1st impression, published by Hutchinson in London Another rare and classic Golden Age title featuring short stories, essays, contributions and articles by the following Agatha Christie, John Rhode, Anthony Gilbert, Carter Dickson, F.W. Crofts, John Dickson Carr, Nicholas Blake, EC Bentley, HC Bailey, Margery Allingham, ECR Lorac, Dorothy L Sayers and Henry Wade A VG book in 8/6 unclipped, over-printed, dustwrapper The book is tight and square, some age tanning to paper No previous owner names, inscriptions or stamps The dust jacket has a couple of shallow chips, minor wear etc, still clean and bright The 8/6 price on spine has been over-printed with 4/6 See the bottom of the page for the foreward written by John Rhode A very collectable highlight book, very rare in jacket and rather cheap - though I say so myself of course For Sale at £SOLD - SORRY, CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK (approx $SOLD) - Delivery Information ~ Free & Subsidised ~ Please Check!	Enquire or Add to Cart

Foreward to Detection Medley by John Rhode IN PRESENTING ' DETECTION MEDLEY,' WHICH IS A COMPILATION by members of the Detection Club, it may be fitting to explain the formation of the Club, and to touch very lightly upon its history. The founder of the Club was Mr, Anthony Berkeley, who unfortunately has been unable to contribute to the present volume. In the year 1928 he approached several writers of detective fiction, with the suggestion that they should dine together at stated intervals for the purpose of discussing matters connected with their craft. The idea found immediate favour, and a series of dinners was held. The success of these meetings was such that the group of some twenty persons who had been invited to attend them decided to organize themselves into a permanent Club. It •was resolved from the first that future membership of the Club should be by election. It is open to any, member to propose a writer of detective fiction for election to the Club. The Committee of the Club consider the proposal and, if it is approved by them, the name of the proposed candidate is circulated to all members. If no objection is received, the candidate is considered duly elected. He or she is submitted to an initiation ceremony, at which certain vows of professional rectitude are taken. But that is another story. Two other early resolutions were, that members' subscriptions to the Club should be purely nominal, and that for their convenience Club premises should be secured. At first sight these two resolutions might appear contradictory. But the solution of the problem was soon found. Members should establish a Club fund by contributing, not cash, but the products of their industry. The first attempt in this direction was the publication in 1931 of The Floating Admiral (Hodder and Stoughton), to which fourteen members contributed. Subsequent publications were Ask a Policeman (Arthur Barker), and The Anatomy of Murder (John Lane). The publication of these books, in Great Britain and America., has allowed the Club to establish and maintain premises at 31 Gerrard Street, free of any cost to individual members. The first President of the Club was Mr. G. K. Chesterton, and in his article reprinted in the present volume it will be seen that he alludes to his Presidency. By his death the Club lost one of its most active and enthusiastic supporters. In his place Mr. E. C. Bentley, whose Trent's Last Case will for ever be a classic, was elected. Every member of the Club owes Mr. Bentley a deep debt of gratitude for the genial efficiency with which he performs his sometimes exacting duties. It should be emphasized, perhaps, that the Detection Club is in no sense a trade union. The principal reason for its existence is that members should meet at intervals for the enjoyment of one another's company. In addition to this, the Club offers to its members certain educational facilities. It possesses an extensive * detection ' library, and at intervals speakers, usually experts in some branch of criminology, are invited to address meetings of the Club. Further, any member who may happen to possess specialized knowledge is always ready to advise any of his fellow-members. The present volume continues the series, which has already been mentioned, of Detection Club publications. It consists of material contributed by members, some of which has already appeared serially or in individual collections of short stories, but not in any other anthology but this. This material, it will be observed, appears in the alphabetical order of the author's name. As the member appointed by the Committee of the Club to edit this book, I am under so many obligations that to acknowledge all of them adequately would be beyond my power. In the first place, my sincere thanks are due to individual contributors, all of whom responded so readily to my appeal, and have since done their utmost to lighten my labours in every possible way. In every case they have generously allowed me the free use of material in their possession, although in some instances this was to their own personal disadvantage. Next, I have to acknowledge the courteous readiness with which the various publishers, agents, and others concerned have allowed me the privilege of reprinting material which has already appeared elsewhere. In particular, I must express my thanks to the following : Messrs. Constable and Co. for permission to reprint Henry Wade's stories, 'The Sub-Branch' and 'Four to One—Bar One/ which appeared in Policeman's Lot. Also to Messrs. Constable, as publishers of The Nineteenth Century and After > for allowing me to use R. Austin Freeman's article, ' The Art of the Detective Story/ which appeared in that publication. Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton, for permission to reprint the Baroness Orcfcy's story, ' A Shot in the Night/ which appeared in her collection of short stories entitled Skin o' my Tooth. Messrs. Hutchinson, for permission to reprint Arthur Morrison's story, ' A Professional Episode/ which appeared in the collection Fiddle o' Dreams. Also for permission to use the Baroness Orczy's story, * The Tytherton Case/ from Unravelled Knots. Will all those others who have helped me with their advice accept the assurance of my gratitude ? JOHN RHODE.

detective fiction   

how to order    free delivery    contact us