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FRENCH, PAUL: : MIDNIGHT IN PEKING: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China

LONDON.PENGUIN BOOKS,2012.

ISBN 9780143121008.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.Originally and first published in Australia by Viking,an imprint of Penguin Group (Australia) in 2011.A simultaneous issue in UK and US - this edn.This edn is also a revised edn.] FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn and no price- clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt, montage'd monchrome photographic illustrated front panel of dw/dj,with red+ black and white with silver-gilt edging letters,rear panel with white+red lettered critics' reviews; with negligible shelf- wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Book has a slight lean/spine roll.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners, appears unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original black cloth boards with a bright,crisp,stamped red fluorescent gilt Chinese-dragon motif to front board and similar bright,crisp, stamped gilt lettering to spine/backstrip, a red headband and immaculate coloured city-scape (Peking) map illustrated endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,xpp+3- 260pp [paginated] includes contents list/table,22 chapters,16pp contemporary b/w+colour scenic and biographical photographs in 1 block,between pp116/7, acknowledgements and sources and photograph credits; plus [unpaginated] half-title page with author's potted biography and repeated b/w Chinese-dragon motif to it's verso,title page,a dedication,epigrams(3),title separator page,and a prose extract. On a frigid morning in January 1937,the mutilated body of a British schoolgirl is discovered at the base of the Fox Tower. Who could commit such a crime? Peking in 1937 is a heady mix of privilege and scandal,opulence and opium dens,rumour and superstition.The Japanese are encircling the city,and the discovery of Pamela Werner's body sends a shiver through an already nervous Peking.Is it the work of a madman? One of the ruthless Japanese soldiers now surrounding the city? Or perhaps the dreaded fox spirits? Ws it a case of mistaken identity? Two detectives,British detective Dennis and Chinese detective Han,team up to solve the case,battling time and the meddling of their respective bureaucracies.Han and Dennis track down a host of potential suspects,each one more unsavoury and suspicious than the last,and try to unravel Pamela's last days.As the pressure from their superiors,the press,and public opinion mounts,they find themselves drawn deeper into the Peking underworld as the city skids closer to outright occupation. Can they find the killer in time,before the Japanese invade? Historian Paul French spent seven years researching this dramatic true story in archives in both China and the United Kingdom.Front-page news around the world when the story was first reported, 'Midnight in Peking' at last uncovers the truth behind this notorious murder,and offers a rare glimpse of the last days of colonial Peking. Since April 2013,again in March 2015,and in this year too,the UK Post Office has altered it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering it's prices,weight allowances,dimensions and lowered it's qualifying compensation rates too! So,please contact seller,because of the weight/value of this item for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

US,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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