9th Penguin impression, published Aug 1937.

Even the Bellona Club’s most devoted members would never call it lively. Its atmosphere is that of a morgue—or, at best, a funeral parlor—and on Armistice Day the gloom is only heightened. Veterans of the Great War gather at the Bellona not to hash over old victories, but to stare into their whiskies and complain about old injuries, shrinking pensions, and the lingering effects of shell shock. Though he acts jolly, Lord Peter Wimsey finds the holiday grim. And this Armistice Day, death has come to join the festivities.

The aged General Fentiman—a hero of the Crimean War—expires sitting up in his favorite chair. Across town, his sister dies on the same day, throwing the General’s half-million-pound inheritance into turmoil. As the nation celebrates and suspicions run riot, Lord Peter must discover what kind of soldier would have the nerve to murder a general.

Condition grading: Good. Damage to bottom edge of front cover and first few pages. Some wear to spine ends. Some marks to front cover. Binding tight. The photographs form part of the description.

Penguin reprint, published 1938.

Captain Hastings has been invalided out of the Great War and goes to convalesce at Styles Court, the family home of his great friend, John Cavendish. By an extraordinary coincidence, billeted in the village is a brilliant little retired detective with an egg-shaped head, who made a considerable impression on the Captain when he was in Belgium. Styles is not a happy household and in the blistering summer heat, tensions mount. Even so, the tragic murder which occurs is not expected…

Condition grading: Very Good. Bright covers. Minor damage to spine ends. Light foxing to front cover. Binding tight. The photographs form part of the description.

Penguin reprint, published 1946.

Alastair Bing's guests gather around his dining table at Chaynings, a charming country manor. But one seat, belonging to the legendary explorer Everard Mountjoy, remains empty. When the other guests search the house, a body is discovered in a bath, drowned. The body is that of a woman, but could the corpse in fact be Mountjoy? A peculiar and sinister sequence of events has only just begun...

Condition grading: Fair. Creases to front cover. Light grubbiness to rear cover. Pencil number to front cover. Minor damage to spine ends. Binding tight. The photographs form part of the description.

Penguin reprint, published 1938.

When Anthony Gillingham decides to make a visit to an old friend, he stumbles upon a lot more than he bargained for. He finds himself in the middle of a murder scene, right as a body is discovered. When he realises that there are a lot of details that don't quite add up, he takes it upon himself to embrace the role of detective, with his very own Watson (or in this case, his old friend, Bill Beverley). 

Condition grading: Good. Covers have been laminated. Minor damage to spine ends. Pen name, scuff and date to title page. Bright covers. Binding tight. The photographs form part of the description.

Penguin 1st Edition, published 1947.

The Gilt Kid details the exploits of the titular (anti)hero, a street-hardened young spiv who believes that ‘only saps work’, a philosophy that inevitably leads him into a life of crime. Newly released from prison, he variously meets with fellow criminals, gets drunk, consorts with prostitutes and, in the dramatic centrepiece of the novel, takes part in a daring robbery. Author James Curtis brilliantly captures the excitement of 1930s London as he delves into the sleazy glamour of the underworld web, a tangle of low-level criminals, prostitutes and chancers.

Condition grading: Very Good. Owner address sticker to inside front cover. Light foxing to both covers. Binding tight. The photographs form part of the description.

Penguin 1st Edition, published 1943.

Eleven short stories with a Scottish setting. The first, The Coasts of Normandy by George Blake, is the story of a tragedy which befell the narrator’s childhood friend and its effect on the child’s mother as reflected through the prism of a chance encounter with a stranger many years later on the coast of Normandy.

Condition grading: Good Minus. Wear to bottom left section of front cover. Very light creases to top right section of front cover. Light foxing to both covers. Wear to spine. Binding tight. The photographs form part of the description.

Penguin 1st Edition, published 1948.

Roger Ackroyd was a man who knew too much. He knew the woman he loved had poisoned her first husband. He knew someone was blackmailing her – and now he knew she had taken her own life with a drug overdose. Soon the evening post would let him know who the mystery blackmailer was. But Ackroyd was dead before he’d finished reading it – stabbed through the neck where he sat in the study.

Condition grading: Good Minus. Foxing to both covers. Some wear to edges of tanned spine. Light circular crease to top right corner of front cover. Binding tight. The photographs form part of the description.

Penguin 1st Edition, published 1948.

Poirot had been present when Jane bragged of her plan to ‘get rid of’ her estranged husband. Now the monstrous man was dead. And yet the great Belgian detective couldn’t help feeling that he was being taken for a ride. After all, how could Jane have stabbed Lord Edgware to death in his library at exactly the same time she was seen dining with friends? And what could be her motive now that the aristocrat had finally granted her a divorce?

Condition grading: Good. Some wear to grubby spine. Small light stain to rear cover. Very light foxing in some places on front cover. Binding tight. The photographs form part of the description.