POISON IN JEST

Hamish Hamilton, London, 1977, First Edition/Printing thus; A Fingerprint Book.  ISBN 0-241-89718-1.  Hardcover, 192 pages.  Very good; teal boards with gilt lettering and fingerprint on spine.  Corners and spine ends are lightly bumped; binding sound with a slight lean; light foxing on outer page block.  Dust jacket with price intact shows some rubs and scratches, a bit of edge wear, some fox spots at upper and lower edges of inner flap folds; no tears.  Bit of soil on one page; remainder of interior clean and unmarked.  ‘… intrigues the reader with a totally new detective, Rossiter, … has credentials from Scotland Yard, but cannot keep a job anywhere.  He solves the Quayle murders, however, by means of an empty paint bucket, a view from the window, and an absentminded drawing in a book. … Shut into his library with his books and manuscripts, Judge Quayle lived in terror until he drank the poison glass of brandy.  Any member of the household in this ghostly place beside the mountains might have been guilty.  There were four clues written in the yellow book, and a listener overheard Doctor Twills outline the subtlest way to commit murder.’ (from front flap)