1944 Dodd Mead hardcover, first edition
author’s first novel, Lew Archer was a few years away
1950 Lion reissue – cover art by E. Walter
1955 Lion reissue with different title
cover art by Clark Hulings
1983 Bantam reissue – cover art by James Marsh
1971 Knopf hardcover, first edition – cover design by Hal Seigel
London: Collins Crime Club, 1971. First UK Edition. The 16th novel in the Lew Archer series.
1979 Bantam reissue – cover art by Mitchell Hooks
1992 Warner reissue – cover art by Gary Kelley
1996 Vintage/Black Lizard reissue
March 1950 Pocket paperback, first printing
cover painting by Harvey Kidder
first in the long-running and deservedly respected Lew Archer series by Kenneth Millar, aka Ross Macdonald. After using his father’s name as the pen name for this novel, he was forced by John D. MacDonald to alter it for future novels, and Ross Macdonald was born.
1959, third printing
cover art by Jerry Allison
1990 Warner edition
cover art by Gary Kelley
[updated 9/6/25 ~ all copies mine]
better image than previously posted
his 3rd novel, a tale of municipal corruption, published two years before his first Lew Archer
1953 Knopf hardcover, 1st edition – cover by Bill English
one of the two non-series that he wrote amongst the Archers
better image than previously posted
cover art by Clark Hulings
cover art by Sam Peffer
May 1959 Pocket paperback, 3rd print
better image than previously posted
1972 Bantam edition, 2nd print
2010 Vintage/Black Lizard reissue
[updated 9/13/25]
SMB Noir 
