The Narracong Riddle: A Judge Peck Mystery
Author: August William Derleth (1909-1971) inscribed
Year: 1940
Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons
Place: New York
Description:
225 pages. Small octavo (7 1/2" x 5 1/2") bound in original publisher's blue cloth with yellow lettering to spine and cover in original pictorial jacket. Inscribed. First edition.
To most of his family, and to the residents of the Wisconsin town in which he had lived so many years, the death of cynical, blasphemous old Van Vliet Narracong was quite natural. He had led a hard life and his exit from it was nothing to arouse conjecture. But his stern old sister thought otherwise and called in Judge Peck, the juridical detective whose uncannily penetrating mind had solved other strange cases of murder. For it was soon apparent that Van Vliet had been murdered--so cleverly that only the most observant eyes could discover the method. There were plenty of people who disliked him but it was Judge Peck's job to find out who hated Van Viet enough to go to the extreme of murder. So Judge Peck probed the secrets of the curious Narracong household, sounded its devious undercurrents, and untangled the strange family relationships that concealed a stranger mystery, and his earlier exploits, will find him even more interesting to watch in his unraveling of the sinister secrets of a proud and secretive family, living in a brooding old mansion that makes a perfect background for a thrilling and mystifying yarn.
Condition:
Inscribed on front end paper. Previous owner's bookplate on front paste down. Jacket spine ends rubbed, some small closed edge tears else a better than very good copy in a very good to fine jacket.
Year: 1940
Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons
Place: New York
Description:
225 pages. Small octavo (7 1/2" x 5 1/2") bound in original publisher's blue cloth with yellow lettering to spine and cover in original pictorial jacket. Inscribed. First edition.
To most of his family, and to the residents of the Wisconsin town in which he had lived so many years, the death of cynical, blasphemous old Van Vliet Narracong was quite natural. He had led a hard life and his exit from it was nothing to arouse conjecture. But his stern old sister thought otherwise and called in Judge Peck, the juridical detective whose uncannily penetrating mind had solved other strange cases of murder. For it was soon apparent that Van Vliet had been murdered--so cleverly that only the most observant eyes could discover the method. There were plenty of people who disliked him but it was Judge Peck's job to find out who hated Van Viet enough to go to the extreme of murder. So Judge Peck probed the secrets of the curious Narracong household, sounded its devious undercurrents, and untangled the strange family relationships that concealed a stranger mystery, and his earlier exploits, will find him even more interesting to watch in his unraveling of the sinister secrets of a proud and secretive family, living in a brooding old mansion that makes a perfect background for a thrilling and mystifying yarn.
Condition:
Inscribed on front end paper. Previous owner's bookplate on front paste down. Jacket spine ends rubbed, some small closed edge tears else a better than very good copy in a very good to fine jacket.
