Book Details

• Binding: Hardcover

• Condition: Fine

• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

• Signed: Signed by Author

Description London: Doubleday, 2011. First edition, first printing. Hardback. A flawless, investment-quality copy of the ninth instalment in the celebrated Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery series.

• Signature: Signed by Christopher Fowler directly on the title page without dedication.

• Print Line: Full number line 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1, confirming a true first printing.

• Book Condition: Fine. Tight, square, and unread. Sharp corners and crisp spine ends. Clean black cloth boards with flawless red lettering. Page edges are bright and free from toning or spotting.

• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. Vibrant, crisp jacket with absolutely no shelf wear, creasing, or edge crinkling. Fully unclipped, preserving the original UK retail price of £16.99. Protected in a clear, archival-quality removable sleeve.

Summary

When a theatre impresario's infant son is murdered in a locked nursery during a West End opening-night party-”leaving no blood, only a grotesque Mr Punch puppet-”the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called to investigate. Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May must interrogate a room full of suspicious theatrical characters, including a crooked producer and a minister's daughter. Despite intense political pressure from the Home Office to close the case, the octogenarian duo delves into the history of London stagecraft and dark puppet origins to catch a theatrical killer before a second impossible death occurs.