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BOWERS, DOROTHY: : The BELLS at OLD BAILEY - A Novel of detection

LONDON.HODDER & STOUGHTON,1947.

ISBN No ISBN.

UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.VG+/VG. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip (8/6d.) to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,reasonably clean,colour pictorial illustrated front panel of dw/dj,with black-lettered title and capitalised,black-lettered author name to same; spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered author name, similarly coloured+lettered title but in a white recrangular panel and publisher's capitalised, black-lettered+illustrated colophon to foot of same,rear panel with a clean white background with black-lettered synopsis.Some minimal shelf-wear,bumping,creasing and chipping to edges and corners – no major,tears,splits or loss present. The majority of the minimal edge creasing/ chipping is to the top edge and head of spine/ backstrip.Top edges lightly aged/toned with faint,sporadic foxing,fore-edges clean with a single foxing spot; contents bright,tight,clean, solid and sound - virtually pristine - no foxing to margins of text body and no intentional dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips - an accidental lower corner tips fold and creasing to consecutive pp271-76,else appears unread,other than my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered original plain brick-red cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked black ink capitalised lettered title across top edge of front board and similarly coloured+ lettered title,author+publisher's colophon to spine/backstrip with immaculate plain white pastedowns with no hinge cracking,but both free endpapers with off-setting from dw/dj inner flaps.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,7-288pp [paginated] includes 15 chapters+Epilogue; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,and a dedication. Described hard but fairly and honestly and is much better than it actuall reads.                Visually the exterior appearance is more than acceptable,and even internally,the book is in a near exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its age and period of production.It is only the minimal exterior and minor interior faults that prevents a slightly higher overall grading. Despite them,it really is still an exemplary example and an opportunity to acquire her last title since her books have been out-of-print for decades.    Scotland Yard looks into the connection between five suicides in Long Greeting and Miss Tidy,the white-haired owner of the village teashop.It was not until the fifth death in Long Greeting that Miss Tidy made up her mind to go to the police." The owner of the Minerva, a combination hat, tea, and beauty shop, Miss Tidy is a tiny, white-haired lady whose Dresden-doll daintiness conceals a cold and calculating heart. As everyone in the village is quick to point out, she is not a person who inspires affection in others. Five people had died in Long Greeting and its environs in the past months, all by their own hands, and their deaths are the talk of the small village. Although Miss Tidy doesn't realize it until she makes her statement to the police, Detective-Inspector Raikes of Scotland Yard has already been called down to Long Greeting to work with the local constabulary, in particular Superintendent Lecky. The villagers don't take kindly at first to an outsider in their midst, but as poison-pen letters and then murder follow upon the inexplicable suicides, they gradually begin sharing their secrets with Raikes and Lecky, until finally the sharp-witted detectives are able to make some sense of the puzzling events.                               Dorothy Violet Bowers (1902-1948) was born in Leominster,her father a confectioner. The family moved to Monmouth in 1903 where her father ran his own bakery until he retired in 1936. She was educated at the Monmouth High School for Girls, received a scholarship for Oxford,and after sitting the Latin entrance exam three times,she was finally accepted. Women had only recently been able to get degrees at Oxford and Bower’s sister Evelyn also joined her there.Bowers graduated from the Society of Oxford Home-Students (now St Anne’s College) in 1926,with a 3rd Clas Honours degree in Modern History,and spent the next few years pursuing a career as a history teacher.Temporary jobs teaching history and English did not inspire her and she turned to writing.It was during this time that she supplemented her income by compiling crossword puzzles for John O’London Weekly under the pseudonym “Daedalus”.                            Bowers published four Inspector Pardoe novels in quick  succession: 'Postscript to Poison.' (1938), 'Shadows Before.' (1939),'Deed without a Name.' (1940) and 'Fear For Miss Betony.' (1941). 'Fear For Miss Betony' was lauded by the Times Literary Supplement as the "Best mystery of 1941", stating “Every page bears witness to a brain of uncommon powers”. War brought Bowers to London to work in the European News Service of the BBC.This title 'The Bells at Old Bailey' was to be her final book,and was published in 1947,with Inspector Pardoe being replaced replaced by another Scotland Yard detective,Detective Inspector Raikes. Never of robust health,she contracted tuberculosis during this period and eventually succumbed to the disease in August,1948.She died having been inducted into the prestigious Detection Club,the only writer selected for membership in 1948. Her books are intricately plotted affairs,with the clues freely and subtly,interspersed  throughout the story,bringing to life 1930s and 40s life,with thoughtful descriptions of provincial England and the war years.Her early death has resulted in her books becoming out of print for decades.                               Please contact seller,because of the lighter weight and the value of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,that stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.    ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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