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Laurence Meynell Bibliography

UK - US First Edition Books

The following Laurence W Meynell bibliography contains the criminous titles
We are always interesting in buying pre 1942 books, UK first editions in dust jacket
If you have anything you may consider selling books wanted

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Title Publisher Date Issue Points - Notes
Bluefeather Harrap 1928 US: 1928 Appleton
Death's Eye Harrap 1929 US: 1929 Appleton
as The Shadow and the Stone
Camouflage Harrap 1930 US: 1930 Lippincott
as Mystery at Newton Ferry
Asking for Trouble Ward Lock 1931  
Consummate Rose Hutchinson 1931  
Storm Against the Wall Hutchinson 1931 US: 1931 Lippincott
The House on the Cliff Hutchinson 1932 US: 1932 Lippincott
Paid in Full Harrap 1933 US: 1933 Lippincott
as Paid in Full
Watch the Wall Harrap 1933 US: 1934 Lippincott
as The Gentlemen Go By
Odds on Bluefeather Harrap 1934 US: 1935 Lippincott
Third Time Unlucky ! Harrap 1935  
On the Night of the 18th Nicholson 1936 US: 1936 Harper
The Door in the Wall Watson 1937 Dust jacket 7/6. Artwork by Bip Pares
US: 1937 Harper
The House in the Hills Nicholson 1937 Dust jacket 7/6. Artwork by Bip Pares
US: 1938 Harper
The Dandy Nicholson 1938  
The Hut Watson 1938  
His Aunt Came Late Nicholson 1939  
And Be a Villain Watson 1939 Red/black. DW 7/6. Artwork by Bruce Roberts
The Creaking Chair Collins 1941  
The Dark Square Rest Same 1941  
Strange Landing   1946  
The Evil Hour   1947 Purple cloth, silver titles. Jacket 8/6
The Bright Face of Danger   1948  
The Echo in the Cave Collins 1949  
The Lady on Platform One   1950  
Party of Eight   1950  
The Man No One Knew   1951  
The Frightened Man   1952  
Danger Round the Corner Collins 1952  
Too Clever by Half   1953  
Give Me the Knife   1954  
Where Is She Now ?   1955  
Saturday Out   1956 US: 1962 Walker
The Breaking Point   1957  
One Step from Murder   1958  
The Abandoned Doll Collins 1960 Purple cloth, silver titles. Dust jacket 10/6
The House in Marsh Road   1960  
The Pit in the Garden   1961  
Virgin Luck   1963 US: 1964 Simon Schuster
Sleep of the Unjust Collins 1963  
More Deadly Than the Male Collins 1964  
Double Fault Collins 1965  
Die by the Book Collins 1966  
The Suspect Scientist Hamish Hamilton 1966 Dust jacket artwork by Roger Payne
The Mauve Front Door Collins 1967  
Death of a Philanderer Collins 1968 US: 1969 Doubleday
Of Malicious Intent Collins 1969  
The Shelter Robert Hale 1970  
The Curious Crime of Miss Julia Blossom Macmillan 1970  
The End of the Long Hot Summer Robert Hale 1972  
Death by Arrangement Macmillan 1972 US: 1972 McKay
A Little Matter of Arson Macmillan 1972  
A View from the Terrace Robert Hale 1972  
The Fatal Flaw Macmillan 1973 US: 1978 Stein
The Thirteen Trumpeters Macmillan 1973 US: 1978 Stein Day
The Fortunate Miss East Robert Hale 1973 US: 1974 Coward McCann
The Woman in Number Five Robert Hale 1974 US: 1975 Coward McCann
as as Burlington Square
The Fairly Innocent Little Man Macmillan 1974 US: 1977 Stein Day
The Footpath Robert Hale 1975  
Don't Stop for Hooky Hefferman Macmillan 1975 US: 1977 Stein
Hooky and the Crock of Gold Macmillan 1975  
The Lost Half Hour Macmillan 1976 US: 1977 Stein
Hooky Gets the Wooden Spoon Macmillan 1977 US: 1977 Stein
Papersnake Macmillan 1978  
Hooky and the Villainous Chauffeur Macmillan 1979  
Hooky and the Prancing Horse Macmillan 1980  
Hooky Goes to Blazes Macmillan 1981  
The Secret of the Pit Macmillan 1982  
Silver Guilt Macmillan 1983  
 The Open Door Macmillan 1984  

Laurence Meynell Books for Sale

Laurence Meynell Author Biography - Further Information
Laurence Meynell, born 1899, was incredibly prolific. This bibliography only includes the mystery fiction titles. Thee are at least as many again but of a non-criminous nature. His main series characters are George Stanhope Berkeley and Hooky Hefferman.


A Brief Appraisal

Laurence Meynell, a prolific writer in many fields of fiction and non-fiction, may be said to have emerged properly as a crime writer only late in his career with ,4 View from the Terrace (1972). In the years since he has produced a regular flow of books which may be divided into two distinct sorts. There are the books that have no running hero but generally have some somewhat outre circumstance as their mainspring, and there is the series of charming and salty books that feature "Hooky" Hefferman, a character so well conceived that he lifts the works in which he appears into a class of their own. It is in these books that the typical Meynell tone of voice, which shows intermittently elsewhere when it is appropriate, comes into its own. Hooky is a man of the bars, and the Meynell voice is a voice heard in bars. But it must be understood what "a man of the bars" is. He is not a bar-fly, someone who can scarcely leave a bar. who cadges drinks and company. He is not, by a long chalk, a drunk. Though he likes drink and is somewhat of a connoisseur of it—Hooky usually drinks a Pimm's No. 1 himself—it is not for the drink alone that he finds bars attractive. It is for the conversation, that special brand of conversation confined to bars. Conversation in clubs and common rooms may sometimes be as worldly and sometimes more witty, but bar conversation is unique. So Hooky is most at home in the right sort of bar, and Meynell's characteristic voice is much the voice of bartalk. salty, man-of-the-world, sexy but not dirty, tolerant, with its standards. As to the time that Hooky does not spend in bars, he makes a living, rather a precarious one, as a classy private inquiry agent, having worked once on the edges of journalism

Classic Crime Fiction

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