THE BLESSINGTON METHOD AND OTHER STRANGE TALES

New York: Random House, 1964. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. The author's second collection of short fiction. Ten dark suspense stories including the title story, a 1956 Edgar winner. Despite his achievements as a crime novelist, Ellis is best known for his three dozen or so short stories, beginning with his macabre classic "The Specialty of the House" (collected in his MYSTERY STORIES [1957]). Writing in THE TIMES, Marcel Berlins called Ellin "the unsurpassed master of the short story in crime fiction." Two of the stories collected here were adapted for TV. Hubin (1994), p. 263. A near fine copy in very good dust jacket with some light wear, a few small chips, and some internal tape reinforcement to extremities. (#83876) (Inventory #: 83876)