A Puzzle in Poison
New York: The Sun Dial Press, Inc., 1939. Second American Edition. 8vo, 7 7/8 x 5 1/2 in.(198 x 140 mm); pp. x + 277. Printed on cream wove paper, deckled edges, top edge red. Black cloth binding with red lettering on spine. Paper dust jacket in perfect condition. Previous owners name in ink inscribed on the inside front cover.
[Cox, J. R. Masters of Mystery and Detective Fiction, pp 28-30].
The second American edition of this classic arsenic murder, DUST JACKET INTACT with striking lettering and a chilling skull-and-bone with red eyes. The book first appeared in London in 1938 with the title "Not to Be Taken" (our inventory no. 451). The first US edition was issued as part of The Crime Club Selection.
Anthony Berkeley Cox (1893 – 1971) is today recognized as a key figure in the development of crime fiction. He wrote under several pen-names, including Francis Iles, Anthony Berkeley and A. Monmouth Platts. He was educated at Sherborne School and University College, Oxford. He served in the British Army during the First World War and worked as a journalist for many years, contributing to such magazines as Punch and The Humorist. His first novel was published in 1925 and it introduced the amateur detective, Robert Sheringham, who would feature in many of his novels through 1934. In 1930, Berkeley founded the Detection Club in London along with Agatha Christie, Freeman Wills Crofts, Dorothy L. Sayers, Hugh Walpole and other established mystery writers. Several of his books were adapted for the screen including "Before the Fact" adapted by Alfred Hitchcock as "Suspicion", starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine.
Condition: Fine / Fine.
Item number: 450
Price: $600.00
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