Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer first edition 1956

First UK edition : William Heinemann, London : 1956
 
8vo., black publisher's boards with publisher's device embossed in grey to lower board, lettered in green and yellow along backstrip, with device to centre and publisher's name to foot; housed in the iconic unclipped period dust wrapper (12s 6d net), featuring a book dealer in front of some shelves with a dagger in his chest; a very good copy of a scarce work, The book priced 4/6 in biro to the front free endpaper; slight offsetting; marginal even toning throughout; in the very good toned dust wrapper which has the publisher's price crossed through in the same blue biro; a little creased to edges; lower panel browned; with chips and some minor loss to spine tips and lower panel; one small closed tear to upper. 
 
First edition. Farmer's second murder mystery following Death at the Cascades, this time set in the world of rare books. When Police Sergeant Wigan escorts a drunk man (Mike Fisk) home, he learns about the man's collection , and his recent purchase of a signed first edition of Keats' Endymion. The two become friends, but when Fisk is found murdered with some of his prized books missing, Wigan is asked to join the case. 
 
The C.I.D believe they have found their man, but Wigan has other ideas. In order to solve the murder, he delves into a private investigation which embroils him in the strange byways of the rare book trade, and into the world of 'runners' and collectors, "where avid agents will gladly cut you for a first edition and then offer you a life home afterwards".
 
Farmer was himself a rare book collector, and, following the Second World War, he joined the Metropolitan Police, gaining experience which led authentically into his detective novels. In 1950 he published The Gentle Art of Book Collecting, drawing on his knowledge and experience and providing "much interesting information on such topics as: why an author is collected, how to tell a first edition, cleaning and caring for books, chapters on incunabula, old bibles and rarities of the future..." 
 
A book that is becoming increasingly scarce in the wrapper.