Praying Mantis by Johnson Edgar (4 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First UK edition, first printing of this novel. No dustjacket. Slightly sun-faded spine. Light edge wear. Earlier owner wrote 1/6th in pen on the first free-end page. In very good condition.

hardcover. B011049; 332 pp Hardcover, Very good contents, Fair dust jacket.

Paperback. Condition: VG. 1st Edition. First edition bound in green cloth. Scarce mystery novel. A VG copy in a Good dust jacket. The cloth cover has dust staining to the upper edge of the front board and to the head of the spine. Heavy fading to the spine and to the margins of the boards. The dust jacket has a 1" chip at the head of the spine. Chips, creases, and rubs to the edges of the panels. Dust soiling to the panels. Author's first and only mystery.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good dj. First Edition. [good sound clean copy, teensy bump to top front corner, appears unread, vintage bookseller's label (Daniels and Fisher Book Shop) on rear pastedown; jacket lightly edgeworn, with a couple of insignificant tears and a dime-sized surface-peel scar on the spine (probably from the careless removal of a price-sticker)]. "The glittering lady of [this] novel devours her man -- but by no simple physical process. [The book] is a subtle character study, a drama of jealousy and a clash of emotions that result in murder. It presents an ironic picture of an aging belle of the 1920's, an absorbing story of devious female intrigue, and a solution that is brilliant in its poetic justice." At 332 pages and over an inch thick, it's considerably heftier than your average mystery novel, but then again it's not your average mystery novel. As explained by the New York Times reviewer: "If this were a detective story, which it is not, although it deals with murder and has a detective in it, one would expect Arline [the title character] to be murdered, but the author has devised for her a more subtle punishment, one that leaves her hopelessly defeated by her own too devious plot. Most of the characters in this book make fetishes of sophistication and bohemianism, but their bohemianism is bogus and their sophistication is simply nasty. They take pride in flouting the conventions of sex morality, and they make their views known in no uncertain terms. The story does not make pleasant reading, but it could scarcely do that with Arline as the central character." The author wrote several other books, both fiction and nonfiction, but this was his only mystery novel, so-called.