Five Sinister Characters x 2

1945 Avon Murder Mystery Monthly digest

cover art by Paul Stahr

Avon Book Company, [1946]. Small octavo, pictorial wrappers. Second paperback edition. Avon #88. Published earlier by Avon in 1945 as part of their “Murder Mystery Monthly” series. Collects five stories; “I’ll Be Waiting,” “The King in Yellow,” “Pearls Are a Nuisance,” ” Red Wind,” and “Trouble is My Business.” Light crease to front cover, light stress creases to spine, a near fine copy.

The Simple Art of Murder x 2

June 1972 Ballantine reissue, 1st print

cover art by Tom Adams

1977 Ballantine mass market, 3rd print

includes:

“The Simple Art of Murder” (Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1944)

“Spanish Blood” (Black Mask Magazine, Nov. 1935)

“I’ll Be Waiting” (Saturday Evening Post, Dec. 1939)

“The King in Yellow” (Dime Detective Magazine, Mar. 1938)

“Pearls are a Nuisance” (Dime Detective Magazine, April 1939)

cover art by Whistlin’ Dixie

August 25, 2013

[covers from owner’s own copies]