Death of a Bookseller

by Bernard J. Farmer, Martin Edwards (Introduction)

Overview

"Those who treasure books won't want to miss this." — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"A welcome pleasure for fans of classic British mysteries." — Kirkus Reviews

An honest policeman, Sergeant Wigan, escorts a drunk man home one night to keep him out of trouble and, seeing his fine book collection, slowly falls in to the gentle art of book collecting. Just as the friendship is blossoming, the policeman's book-collecting friend is murdered.

To solve the mystery of why the victim was killed, and which of his rare books was taken, Wigan dives into the world of 'runners' and book collectors, where avid agents will gladly cut you for a first edition and then offer you a lift home afterwards. This adventurous mystery, which combines exuberant characters with a wonderfully realised depiction of the second-hand book market, is sure to delight bibliophiles and classic crime enthusiasts alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728267722
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	03/07/2023
Series:	British Library Crime Classics
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

BERNARD J. FARMER (1902–1964) was a British writer whose books included a series of police-focused crime fiction novels, mystery tales for children, and nonfiction works exploring his passions for rowing and book collecting. Following the Second World War, Farmer joined the Metropolitan Police and gained experience which lent authenticity to his detective stories.

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/30/2023

First published in 1956, this outstanding biblio-mystery from Farmer (1902–1964) opens with a chance encounter on a Middlesex road between Sgt. Jack Wigan, a policeman, and Michael Fisk, a rare book seller. The inebriated Fisk has been celebrating the find of a lifetime: John Keats’s own inscribed copy of his poem Endymion. Fisk disabuses the sergeant of the idea that book collecting is a placid occupation, observing, “There are men and even women who would cheerfully kill me to get what I have found today.” The two become friends, and Fisk instructs Wigan, who’s looking for a new hobby, on the fine points of book collecting. Then Wigan arrives at Fisk’s house one day to discover that he has been fatally stabbed in his library, a blood-spattered book about raising the dead beside him; the Keats volume has disappeared. Wigan plunges into investigating the murder, exploring whether the occult tome’s presence next to the corpse was just coincidence. Farmer vividly evokes the rare book trade without sidetracking the central question of whodunit. Those who treasure books won’t want to miss this reissue in the British Library Crime Classics series. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"this outstanding biblio-mystery…vividly evokes the rare book trade without sidetracking the central question of whodunit. Those who treasure books won’t want to miss this." — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"A persistent Middlesex police officer plunges into the surprisingly cutthroat world of bookselling in this savory reprint first published in 1956… a welcome pleasure for fans of classic British mysteries." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2022-12-24
A persistent Middlesex police officer plunges into the surprisingly cutthroat world of bookselling in this savory reprint first published in 1956.

Ever since helping him home after a night spent drinking too much, Sgt. Jack Wigan has become a friend of Michael Fisk, who’s repaid the favor by teaching him a good deal about the trade in valuable old books. The lessons and the friendship end abruptly when Fisk is stabbed to death in his flat. The most prominent clue is one that’s gone missing: a copy of Keats’ Endymion that the poet had inscribed to himself in celebration. A run-in Wigan has with Fred Hampton, a rival book runner who’s always on the lookout for titles he can sell to collectors, makes him wonder if Hampton, whose violent temper is well known among other book runners, from “Charlie Boy” North to beautiful, brutal Ruth Brent, got carried away and killed Fisk. Seconded to DI J. Saggs of the Brabant CID, he helps assemble the evidence for an airtight case against Hampton. Even after Hampton’s conviction, however, Wigan has doubts about whether he’s really guilty, and his misgivings grow as the date of the execution looms. Enlisting North as his paid helper, he casts a wider net his superiors clearly don’t approve of and soon discovers unsavory behavior among so many runners that it’s a good thing their fellowship has had 70 years to recover from Farmer’s canny imprecations.

Not a unique treasure but a welcome pleasure for fans of classic British mysteries.

Kirkus Reviews