{"product_id":"lay-her-among-the-lilies-james-hadley-chase-1st-edition","title":"Lay Her Among the Lilies, James Hadley Chase — 1st Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublication:\u003c\/b\u003e London, Robert Hale Limited, 1950\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormatting:\u003c\/b\u003e 8vo, pp. 255, [1].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Report:\u003c\/b\u003e Very Good. The original black cloth binding remains firm, sharp, and remarkably clean, retaining bright gilt lettering to the spine and a crisp gilt silhouette on the front board. The spine ends show only minor bumping, with no significant rubbing to the boards. Internally, the binding is tight and square. The pages exhibit the typical, uniform age-toning expected of post-war paper stock, but remain clean and free from foxing or notable blemishes. The original decorative endpapers featuring the map of Orchid City are bright and unmarked by prior owners. The original, unclipped dust jacket (priced 9'6 net) presents attractively but shows moderate wear, including minor chipping to the spine head and tail, slight creasing along the top edge, and rubbing to the folds and rear panel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCatalogue Note:\u003c\/b\u003e This is a true UK first edition, first printing. The book retains its original, unclipped dust jacket featuring cover art by Taylor, which remains notably scarce on the open market in any condition. The distinctive endpapers, which plot a fictionalised map of the narrative's setting, Orchid City, are a charming feature exclusive to this original Hale publication.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a highly sought-after mid-century noir by James Hadley Chase, early printings in their original jackets are increasingly uncommon, particularly with the underlying cloth binding preserved in such pristine condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVic Malloy, the tough-talking head of Universal Services in Orchid City, receives a letter from heiress Janet Crosby enclosing a $500 retainer to investigate the blackmail of her wayward sister, Maureen. There’s just one catch: the letter lay forgotten in a raincoat pocket for fourteen months, and on the exact day it was written, the healthy young heiress supposedly died of heart failure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Vic finally begins digging into the Crosby family's tangled affairs, he quickly discovers that Maureen is set to inherit Janet's entire fortune, provided she can avoid a public scandal. But the deeper Vic probes, the more he finds himself shadowed by strong-arm thugs and entangled in a web of deceit, where a simple background check rapidly descends into a non-stop barrage of murder, mayhem, and sudden violence.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadhursts Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54577123590483,"sku":"5054","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/1469\/6787\/files\/20260809_194637.jpg?v=1786617187","url":"https:\/\/broadhurstsbooks.com\/products\/lay-her-among-the-lilies-james-hadley-chase-1st-edition","provider":"Broadhursts Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}