{"product_id":"the-toff-and-the-great-illusion-john-creasey-1st-us-edition","title":"The Toff and the Great Illusion, John Creasey — 1st US Edition","description":"\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"2\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublication:\u003c\/strong\u003e New York, Walker and Company, 1967\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"3\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormatting\u003c\/strong\u003e: 8vo, pp. 190.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"4\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition Report\u003c\/strong\u003e: Near Fine. The book itself remains in excellent, highly presentable condition. The dark blue cloth boards are exceptionally clean with sharp corners, completely devoid of typical shelf-wear, while the contrasting light blue stamping to the spine remains bright and unoxidised. The binding is remarkably tight and square, suggesting the book has been scarcely read. Internally, the pages are crisp and unmarked, with the only notable imperfection being a touch of light, uniform age-toning to the page block edges. The original dust jacket is vibrant and fully intact, suffering only from mild handling wear; there is some light rubbing and minor soiling to the white rear panel, alongside faint edge-wear and shallow creasing along the top edge and spine head.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"5\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCatalogue Note\u003c\/strong\u003e: This is the First US Edition of John Creasey's mystery, originally published in the UK in 1944 and subsequently brought to the American market by Walker and Company in 1967 as part of their 'A Walker Mystery' series. The eye-catching, mid-century modernist dust jacket design, featuring a green parrot juxtaposed with a silenced pistol bearing the Toff's signature top hat and monocle motif, perfectly encapsulates the era's espionage and detective aesthetic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"6\"\u003eThe front pastedown features a charming, vintage bookseller’s ticket from \"Pickwick Bookshops, Topanga Plaza Branch, Canoga Park,\" adding a pleasing layer of mid-century Californian provenance to the volume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"7\"\u003eTrue first American printings of this title in their original dust jackets are notably scarce on the open market today, with the overwhelming majority of surviving and circulating copies being later mass-market paperback reprints. This represents an uncommonly crisp survivor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"8\"\u003eIn \u003ci data-path-to-node=\"8\" data-index-in-node=\"10\"\u003eThe Toff and the Great Illusion\u003c\/i\u003e, the suave and resourceful amateur sleuth Richard Rollison—better known to the criminal underworld and Scotland Yard alike as 'The Toff'—finds himself plunged into a confounding labyrinth of deception and murder. As the bodies pile up and the motives blur, Rollison must navigate a treacherous web of illusions where nothing and no one is quite what they seem. Brimming with Creasey’s signature blend of high-stakes tension, rapid-fire pacing, and aristocratic charm, this classic mystery tests the Toff's wits against an adversary who turns reality itself into a lethal weapon.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadhursts Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54354079416659,"sku":"4667","price":60.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/1469\/6787\/files\/20260717_181649.jpg?v=1784549085","url":"https:\/\/broadhurstsbooks.com\/products\/the-toff-and-the-great-illusion-john-creasey-1st-us-edition","provider":"Broadhursts Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}