James Nelson [Ed.]; et al — The Complete Murder Sampler

London, Macdonald, 1950 . Cloth. The first UK edition of James Nelson's collected murder mystery stories from a variety of authors, including Leslie Charteris and W. Somerset Maugham. The first UK edition, with the first US edition being published in 1946. This intriguing collection of short stories presents fifteen murder mystery tales from fifteen prominent authors of the detective and crime fiction. Edited by James Nelson, this sampler aims to cover the main varieties of mystery story-telling. At the time of initial publication, historian of detective fiction Mr Howard Haycraft labelled the collection as "an appetising and well-planned refresher course in the enjoyment of crime". With stories by distinguished authors including W. Somerset Maugham, G. K. Chesterton, H. P. Lovelace, John Buchan, and many more. Bound in the publisher's original cloth, with the original, price-clipped dust wrapper. Externally, excellent, with the odd mark to the cloth. Dust wrapper is very smart, with edge wear and the odd closed tear. Sunning to the spine of the wrap and light marking to the rear. Internally, firmly bound with bright, clean pages. Near Fine . Ill.: None. Near Fine/Very Good Indeed.