WALK THE DARK STREETS

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original red cloth blocked and with titles in black to the spine, in the Leo Manso designed dustwrapper. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth bright and fresh with just a little rubbing at the extremities. The contents are clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the very good, rubbed and nicked dustwrapper that has a couple of short closed tears and a few small chips at the spine corners. Not price-clipped ($2.50 to the upper front flap).

The author's Edgar Award nominated first novel. Introducing the homicide detective Sam Birge who would feature in three further novels 'The Stag Party' (1957), 'Death of a Minor Poet' (1984) and 'Resort to Murder' (1986). Of the author and 'Walk the Dark Streets' Raymond Chandler wrote "that single book... will immediately put the writer above and beyond a whole host of writers who have written twenty or thirty books and are extremely well known and successful" (letter to Frederic Dannay, 1951). (Hubin).