Corpse Guards Parade

KENNEDY (PSEUD. MILWARD BURGE), Milward

Published by Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1929

First Edition. -- Condition: Fine with the exception of the usual offsetting to endpapers. -- Details: A fine first edition of Milward Kennedy's second solo novel after 'The Corpse on the Mat', and featuring John Meriman and Inspector Cornford. 'Mr. Kennedy has one characteristic which distinguishes him from his rivals in bloodshed. He is acquainted with the English language and has apparently met (and can remember) actual living men and women. The result is that his murders have almost the thrill of local news. They happen, if not to somebody you know, at any rate in company which you might have frequented. Nor does this odd distinction rob Mr. Kennedy of an ability to invent a mystery so tortuous as to be soluble only by a woman, and yet intelligible when solved. Mr. Kennedy indeed runs a risk of burgeoning into a detective best-seller.' - Contemporary review from the Observer newspaper. Milward Rodon Kennedy Burge (1894-1968) was an English civil servant, journalist, crime writer and literary critic. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. Burge served with British Military Intelligence in World War I and then worked for the International Labour Office and the Egyptian government. He was London editor of the Empire Digest and reviewed mystery fiction for The Sunday Times and The Guardian. He retired in the 1960s to West Sussex. He also wrote under the pseudonym Evelyn Elder. Kennedy specialised in police mysteries, but also wrote about the adventures of Sir George Bull, a professional private investigator. He also collaborated with other members of The Detection Club on The Floating Admiral and Ask a Policeman. His series characters are Sir George Bull and Inspector Cornford. -- Provenance: Small stamp to rear free endpaper with the numbers 10-52.50, not clear where this comes from. -- References: Haycraft, Murder for Pleasure, 204. Reilly,Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers (1980), 895. -- Octavo (book size 19 x 13 cm), pp. 288. Publisher's black cloth, spine lettered in orange. --. Seller Inventory # 109519

Bibliographic Details

Title: Corpse Guards Parade
Publisher: Victor Gollancz Ltd, London
Publication Date: 1929
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fine
Edition: 1st Edition