Vincent Starrett fut un fervent collectionneur de livres, un auteur, un bibliographe et un éminent spécialiste de Sherlock Holmes. Il fut reconnu comme faisant partie de la « renaissance littéraire » de Chicago. Sa production prolifique comprend plus de 50 livres couvrant des essais, de la critique, de la fiction, de la biographie, de la poésie et de la bibliographie. La voix unique de Starrett et ses profonds intérêts littéraires en font une figure captivante pour les lecteurs comme pour les collectionneurs.
Long considered one of the benchmark works of Holmesian scholarship, this richly informative biography of the great fictional detective was first published in 1933. Dr. Julian Wolff, revered Commissionaire of the Baker Street Irregulars, call this "the greatest book about Sherlock Holmes ever written".
When a New York banker is discovered dead from an apparent morphine overdose in a Chicago hotel, the circumstances surrounding his untimely end are suspicious to say the least. The dead man had switched rooms the night before with a stranger he met and drank with in the hotel bar. And before that, he’d registered under a fake name at the hotel, told his drinking companion a fake story about his visit to the Windy City, and seemingly made no effort to contact the actress, performing in a local show, to whom he was married. All of which is more than enough to raise eyebrows among those who discovered the body.Enter theatre critic and amateur sleuth Riley Blackwood, a friend of the hotel’s owner, who endeavors to untangle this puzzling tale as discreetly as possible. But when another detective working the case, whose patron is unknown, is thrown from a yacht deck during a party by an equally unknown assailant, the investigation makes a splash among Chicago society. And then several of the possible suspects skip town, leaving Blackwood struggling to determine their guilt or innocence—and their whereabouts.Reissued for the first time in over eighty years, The Great Hotel Murder is a devilishly complex whodunnit with a classical aristocratic setting, sure to please Golden Age mystery fans of all stripes. In 1935, the story was adapted for a film of the same name.
First edition, an advance copy in paper wrappers that resemble the dust jacket on the book. Literary theft, authors with prison records, the fine art of forgery are all covered in this easy to read book. Wrappers chipped on spine. x , 360 pages. stiff paper wrappers, dust jacket.. 8vo..