The Spanish Cape Mystery: A Problem in Deduction

New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company. Near Fine in Near Fine dj. 1935. First Edition. Hardcover. (with a Triangle Books (reissue) dust jacket) [a nice clean copy with no significant wear, just a one-time owner's name plus date & place of purchase and a brief comment (all in ink) on the half-title page; the jacket is also in beautiful condition, with only some very minor edgewear, all the more remarkable because Triangle Books editions were not known for their production quality]. (illustrated endpaper map) First edition of the ninth Ellery Queen novel (actually the tenth EQ book if you count the 1934 short-story collection "The Adventures of Ellery Queen"), in which a one-eyed giant kidnaps a young heiress and her uncle. This was the final novel in Queen's first period, all books of which shared the "Challenge to the Reader" feature, henceforth abandoned (as were the "Problem in Deduction" subtitles); it was also the first of his works to be adapted for a film (in 1935, with Donald Cook in the role of Ellery). The mismatched jacket (which was on the book as we received it) is probably from a relatively early (pre-1940) Triangle reprint, which retains the same artwork as the first edition jacket (later Triangle printings used different art). (A facsimile of the actual first edition jacket is available (not from us), however, should you wish to dress it up a bit more properly.) .