Books

London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1941. [Detective novel] FIRST EDITION, first impression. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.252 [4]. With an illustrated map of 'Leathercombe Bay', the scene of the crime. Publisher's orange cloth lettered in black. With the illustrated dust-jacket. No inscriptions, contents clean, page edges show some dustiness. Export copy, sold in Sydney, Australia (discreet bookshop ticket to pastedown). Jacket expertly restored, priced clipped as expected for export; shows well. A very good copy. One of Christie's most famous mystery novels; Belgian detective Hercule Poirot interrupts his vacation on Smugglers' Island to help the local police investigate the murder of an attractive woman. Serves him right really, he should have learned from the works of Enid Blyton that nothing good can come of holidaying somewhere called Smuggler's Island. Basis for the 1982 movie starring Peter Ustinov, Diana Rigg, Maggie Smith and James Mason.

Set on an idyllic island, Christie’s "Evil Under the Sun" follows the masterful Hercule Poirot as he unravels the threads of a murder mystery. The novel starts with the strangulation of the beautiful actress Arlena Marshall. As Poirot dives into the lives of the vacationers, he exposes hidden motives and keeps readers hooked with unexpected plots and a suspense-filled narrative, making it one of the standout entries in Christie's extensive body of work.