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MARSH Ngaio : False Scent

Collins, London, 1960

12mo - over 6? - 7? tall. (500 gram rate) pen inscription to fep otherwise clean copy in unclipped dust jacket with some foxing showing to rear white panel ( the scan shows the foxing as darker than appears to the eye), split at bottom quarter of upper joint, minor rubbing or chipping to spine ends and corners, 254pp. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Hard Cover. Jacket: Good

First Edition

MARSH**, NGAIO: : False Scent

LONDON.COLLINS,ST JAMES'S PLACE,1960.

ISBN No ISBN.

UK,8vo HB+protected dw/dj,1st edn. [Serialised in an Australian Women's Weekly (1960) magazine and also serialised in an abridged form in the UK,in 'Woman's Journal',February - May,1960.] VG+/NFINE. Owner's ihandwritten,black ink name to front free endpaper,and a b/w W. H. SMITH Circulating/lending Library bookplate with a W.H. Smith Railway Station elliptical, black ink Library stamp (first few letters of station's name illegible - but ending LETT).pasted to front pastedown and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,matt,3-colour (pink+dark green,and black borders to same) design artwork illustrated dw/dj,with white lettering respectively to front panel and spine/backstrip of dw/dj, colour scheme+lettering repeated to spine/ backstrip,a bright,crisp,clean white background with author's b/w portrait and black lettering blurb (Celebrating the Crime Club's 30th anniversary with author's 21st crime novel) to rear respectively; all with negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges evenly aged/toned but without foxing/spotting; contents tight,reasonably clean - a small residual grease(?) stain to lower corners of pp224/28 in decreasing effect,else solid – no other dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners – possibly unread,apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp, clean,sharp-cornered, original,plain orange/red cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering to spine/backstrip and lightly grubbed with some inevitable,but minimal off-setting from dw/djs' inner flaps to respective white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,9-254pp [paginated] includes 8 chapters; plus [unpaginated] half-title with story precis and publisher's advert for author's other titles to its verso,title page,a dedication with blank verso,A contents list/ table with a blank verso,and to the rear,2pp blanks. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional for a book of it's age, particularly because of the polythene's protective dw/dj covering and internally,the book is in an acceptable condition.It is only the faults described that prevent a higher grading for the book. Ngaio Marsh's twenty-first (of 33) novel to feature Roderick Alleyn.Policeman hero of Chief Inspector (later Chief Superintendent - as in this novel) of the C.I.D. (Criminal Investigation Department), Scotland Yard,Metropolitan Police (London). The novel concerns the murder of a West End stage actress during her 50th birthday party,and it continues Marsh's fascination with the theatre and with acting.In a poisonous cloud of spray, the curtain falls on a drama queen. Little did beloved British actress Mary Bellamy know that she would be done in at her own birthday party - choked by a toxic mist from the bottle of "Slaypest," a deadly insecticide. Basking in the glow of her most adoring fans - whom all happened to be her most duplicitous enemies - Mary would make her final performance. When Superintendent Roderick Alleyn arrives,he smells a rat amongst the contemptuous collection of theatre types detained at the party,for this case has the unmistakable scent of murder. .. New Zealand-born author,considered along with Agatha Christie,Margery Allingham and Dorothy L. Sayers,one of the four Queens of Crime,during the 'Golden Age of Detective Fiction'. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,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 the 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+protected dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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