THE DOORBELL RANG

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original quarter black cloth and red paper covered boards with titles in red and white to the spine, in the Bill English designed dustwrapper. Top edge black. A near fine copy, the binding square, firm and bright. The contents are clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the lightly rubbed and creased original dustwrapper that has a 1 cm closed tear to the top edge of the front panel, another to the top edge of the rear panel, and an indentation to the front panel. Not price-clipped ($3.50 to the upper front flap).

Published in October 1965. The first UK edition, published by Collins, The Crime Club followed in 1966. The twenty-eighth Nero Wolfe novel and one that sparked controversy upon its publication for its critical portrayal of the FBI. The reaction reflected a broader shift in American public opinion during the 1960s, as confidence in the Bureau declined. This erosion of trust was shaped by several factors, including Robert F. Kennedy's repeated clashes with FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, Hoover's outspoken criticism of Martin Luther King Jr., and investigative journalist Fred J. Cook's exposé The FBI Nobody Knows (1964), which directly inspired The Doorbell Rang. (Hubin).