The Gorgeous Ghoul

Book Description

New York: Knopf, 1941. First Edition. Very good lightly used copy with a few tiny tears to the cloth at the top of the spine in a used and worn dust jacket with some dust soiling to the spine and rear panel, shallow chipping to the head of the spine and some general edge wear. This detective novel marks the second appearance of the character Hannah Van Doren, the first female hardboiled detective in American literature. As Babcock depicts her: “You wouldn’t guess it from looking at her - because she had the face of an angel - but Hannah Van Doren thrived on murder.” The timing of Ms. Van Doren’s debut on the literary scene is interesting, as it comes at the beginning of World War II when many women were assuming the professional roles that had been left behind by the departed soldiers.

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