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Van Siller : Somber Memory

Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1945

12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. L3 - A first edition (stated) hardcover book in very good condition in good dust jacket that is mylar protected. Dust jacket has wrinkling, chipping, crease, some tears and open tears on the edges, corners and some sides, corners of the flaps clipped, light tanning and shelf wear. Book has some bumped corners, wrinkling on the spine edges, label residue with rubbing and scuffing and previous owner's name stamped on the back fixed endpaper, light tanning and shelf wear. Although not marked in any way, this copy comes from the personal collection of Otto Penzler, legendary editor and founder of the Mysterious Press, an award-winning icon in the genre. Published for The Crime Club by Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc. 7.5"x5", 233 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Van Siller, author of Under a Cloud, again sets his mystery in the dude-ranch country high on the Continental Divide, this time in an off season when a blizzard hems in the few people who are already ensnared by devastating memories and regrets. Eric St. John, owner of the ranch, was haunted by the alcoholically blurred memory of the dark night a year back when a beautiful girl had plunged to her death from the balcony of one of his cabins. A retired Navy doctor was bedeviled by his own past, and his present remained a mystery to his companions. There was one newcomer among the guests, Lenora Hall from New York, who by turns irked and fascinated Eric. She seemed unduly interested in the death of a year ago and had an odd way of being present when odd things happened. While inspecting a ski run, Eric was able to halt another murder but he was not able to prevent a final murder in reverse. Only one person there realized the significance of the line in Oscar Wilde's Ballad of Reading Gaol, that each man kills the things he loves.. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Hardcover. Jacket: Good

First Edition