Morland Nigel Donavan John (4 results)

Robert Hale & Co. 1937. First edition. Hardback, NO DW. Black cloth, red lettering. Boards are a little marked, extremities slightly bumped and spine is faded. Fore-edges and endpapers are lightly foxed o/w contents very clean and sound.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. First American Edition. (lacking the original dust jacket, but encased in a professionally-made facsimile reproduction of same; see 2nd image posted with this listing) [a bit of fraying at the spine ends and the lower tips, front hinge cracked but not separated; apparently a former rental-library copy but marked as such only by a small remnant of a label on the front endpaper, and small tape-marks at the top and bottom edges of both covers; one-time owner's ink notes regarding place & date of purchase plus some brief critical commentary, at edge of rear pastedown (hidden beneath jacket flap)]. "A perfect example of the classical type of detective story," sez the jacket blurb. This was the author's third "John Donavan" mystery, featruing "the incomparable Detective-Inspector Cross and his erudite assistant, Sergeant Johnny Lamb." Published three years earlier in England, by Hale. The prolific author, who wrote under a number of other pseudonyms, was a one-time secretary to Edgar Wallace and a co-founder of the Crime Writers Association. All his "Donavan" books are quite scarce. NOTE again that this book bears a FACSIMILE dust jacket, to serve the dual purpose of protecting the book from further wear and enhancing its appearance on the shelf; its presence has not been factored in to our pricing. …

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Very Good dj. First American Edition. [a good sound copy, slight exposure of board at one bottom corner, two tape-residue marks on each pastedown; the jacket is edgeworn, with some very shallow paper loss along the top edge, a couple of short closed tears, several small internal tape-repairs, moderate scuffing/surface wear, and a 2.5" split at the top front flapfold]. A mystery with a background of industrial espionage, with a "cunningly devised murder" the primary clue to which is a mysterious violet smoke. The case is assigned to the author's series characters, Detective-Inspector Cross and his assistant Sgt. Johnny Lamb, of the (London) Metropolitan Police -- the latter, conveniently, being the "son of Europe's most brilliant chemist." Lamb's "cold logic, keen hunches, and an uncanny knowledge of chemical secrets lead [him] to spurn the obvious and finally ensnare the assassin." The prolific author, who wrote under a number of other pseudonyms, was a one-time secretary to Edgar Wallace and a co-founder of the Crime Writers Association. All his "Donavan" books are quite scarce. This title was previously published in England under the title "The Case of the Coloured Wind.". Illustrated by (dj design) "Silten" (illustrator).…

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good+. Very Good dj. First Edition. [a good sound copy, spine slightly turned, some soiling to top of the text block; the jacket is moderately edgeworn, lightly soiled on the rear panel, with tiny bits of paper loss at a couple of corners, a couple of small internal tape-repairs, a couple of tiny scuff marks on the front panel]. Mystery novel in which Detective-Inspector Cross and his assistant Sgt. Johnny Lamb, of the (London) Metropolitan Police, in the last of their five adventures, "pool their mental resources on a new case -- the disappearance of a famous Professor of Anthropology. Fragments of his body moulded in synthetic resin were discovered; and his brother was found asphyxiated under circumstances almost as mysterious and odd." The prolific author, who wrote under a number of other pseudonyms, was a one-time secretary to Edgar Wallace and a co-founder of the Crime Writers Association. All his "Donavan" books are quite scarce; this one was published a year later in the U.S. as "The Case of the Plastic Mask.".…