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John Creasey - Inspector West

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John Creasey wrote the following titles under the Inspector West series and each hyperlinked title will take you to an entry below for that book. Books without hyperlinks will be entered when they come into stock. If we are out of stock, we will try and provide links to an alternative source.

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Inspector West
1942. Inspector West Takes Charge
1943. Inspector West Leaves Town
A.k.a. Go Away To Murder
1944. Inspector West At Home
1945. Inspector West Regrets
1946. Holiday for Inspector West
1948. Battle for Inspector West
1948. Triumph for Inspector West
A.k.a. The Case Against Paul Raeburn

1949. Inspector West Kicks Off
A.k.a. Sport for Inspector West

1950. Inspector West Alone
1950. Inspector West Cries Wolf
A.k.a. The Creepers

1951. A Case for Inspector West
A.k.a. The Figure in the Dusk

1951. Puzzle for Inspector West
A.k.a. The Dissemblers

1952. Inspector West At Bay
A.k.a. The Blind Spot
1953. A Gun for Inspector West
A.k.a. Give A Man A Gun

1953. Send Inspector West
A.k.a. Send Superintendent West
1954. Beauty for Inspector West
A.k.a. The Beauty Queen Killer

1955. Inspector West Makes Haste
A.k.a. The Gelignite Gang

1955. Two for Inspector West
A.k.a. Murder: One, Two, Three

1956. Parcels for Inspector West
A.k.a. Death of a Postman

1956. A Prince for Inspector West
A.k.a. Death of an Assassin
1957. Accident for Inspector West
A.k.a. Hit and Run

1957. Find Inspector West
A.k.a The Trouble at Saxby's

1958. Murder, London-New York
1958. Strike for Death
A.k.a. The Killing Strike
1959. Death of A Racehorse
1959. The Case of the Innocent Victims
1960. Murder on the Line
1961. Death in Cold Print
1961. The Scene of The Crime
1962. Policeman's Dread
1963. Hang the Little Man
1964. Look Three Ways at Murder
1965. Murder, London-Australia
1966. Murder, London-South Africa
1967. The Executioners
1968. So Young To Burn
1969. Murder, London-Miami
1970. A Part for a Policeman
1971. Alibi
A.k.a. Alibi for Inspector West
1972. A Splinter of Glass
1973. The Theft of Magna Carta
1974. The Extortioners
1978. A Sharp Rise in Crime

See also:
Creasey-home
The Baron
Bruce Murdoch
Department Z
Dr Palfrey series
The Toff

Inspector West on Amazon:



Creasey, John. 'Inspector West Takes Charge', published by Pan Books in 1963 in paperback in a revised edition, 168 pp. Sorry, sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon UK
1963, Pan Books (Revised Edition)
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  • Inspector West Takes Charge [top]
    First published in 1942 in Great Britain
    First published in 1948 by Stanley Paul Ltd
    Edition revised by the author and republished in 1963 by Pan Books Ltd in paperback

Story: Inspector West takes charge in a case that grows more frightening every hour as one victim after another is the target of a ruthless plan for extortion

Extract:
The kitten rubbed against Roger West's legs in the darkness, making him jump and switch on his torch. In the light, two large eyes glowed. Then it stretched, and disappeared.
Roger continued his brisk walk, heels ringing on the pavement, until the white blur of a painted gatepost showed in the starlit darkness. He turned into the gateway, taking out his keys and inserting one by sense of touch. He stepped into the dark hall, kicked against something which shouldn't be there, and went sprawling.
The torch shot from his hand and fell on the carpet, the keys rattled, and as he flung out his hand to save himself he touched the top of an umbrella stand. That crashed too.
A stream of light came from a door on the right of the small square hall. Outlined against it was a woman with dishevelled hair. She wore a dark blue dressing-gown which covered her feet except for the points of red slippers. She stared at Roger accusingly.
'Hallo darling,' he said. 'Not in bed?'
'Just as well,' said 'darling'. 'What have you been up to?'
Roger stood up gingerly.
'I think I've brought you a present,' he said.
'So I should think. It's a quarter to one. Where is it?'
'That's what I'm wondering,' sighed Roger, peering about the semi-darkness. 'What's that just behind you?'
His wife refused to look behind her.
'I knew you had all the other faults but I thought you could hold your beer,' she said. 'Stop joking.' Then suddenly she swung round. 'What's that? Something touched my leg, I know it did!'
'I warned you,' said Roger. 'I know it touched mine, and I knew it meant trouble. Keep quite still now, don't move.' He pulled the skirt of the dressing-gown up slowly, and a dark grey shape flew towards a chair. A plaintive miaow followed.
'A cat!' exclaimed Janet West. 'Why on Earth did you bring a cat home?'

Creasey, John. 'Inspector West Leaves Town', published by Pan Books in 1963, 176pp, paperback. Sorry, sold out, but click image to access our prebuilt search for this title on Amazon!
1963, Pan Books
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  • Inspector West Leaves Town [top]
    A.k.a Go Away To Murder
    First published in 1943 in Great Britain
    Published in 1949 in Great Britain by Stanley Paul
    Published in 1963 in paperback by Pan Books in an edition revised by the author

Story: Vanishing women...kidnapped scientists...multiple murder...and an adversary West and his men knew only too well, but dared not arrest too soon

Extract [page 1]:
Mark Lessing Moves In:
A tall man with a roman nose jumped down from the rear of a removal van, and waved to the girl who opened the door of a small modern house in Bell Street, Fulham. After him, two grey-haired men wearing green-baize aprons climbed with more circumspection to the roadway as the girl walked to the gate of a small drive. In the shadows of the doorway, she had looked attractive: as she came into the bright sunlight of the street, the sun shone on her auburn hair, and made her teeth sparkle.
'And you've had no heart attack yet?' she teased.
'You're so heartless you wouldn't know.' The man joined her, while the driver of the van maneouvred to get the rear of his vehicle square so that he could back up to the front door. Stentorian of voice, the grey-heads gave him directions.
'Janet,' continued the roman-nosed man, 'I've been wondering whether you're making a mistake? Giving way to this generous impulse might do a lot of harm. It isn't too late to send the furniture to a warehouse.'
'Don't be a silly ass, Mark. Neither Roger nor I would let you do anything else.'
'I might have to stay for a long time,' Mark warned her. 'Flats are the devil to get.'
'It's the sensible thing to do. I'll show the men the rooms. You look after your precious china.' Janet half-turned, and then said: 'What's the time?'
'Just after two.'
'Roger was going to be in by half-past one.'
Janet hurried to the house, and Mark Lessing stood aside, while the van snarled its way into the drive. Lessing watched intently, but not all his thoughts were on his collection of china and old porcelain in a packing-case. He was genuinely doubtful about this move. His landlord had needed his flat for a family emergency, and he had contemplated spending weeks, perhaps months, in a club or an hotel. Then Chief Inspector West of Scotland Yard had told him to stop being an ass, and to occupy the two spare rooms in the Bell Street house.

1970, Lythway Press, hbk

1971, Macmillan, pbk

Creasey, John. 'Inspector West at Home', published in 1965 by Pan Books in paperback, 192pp. Sorry, out of stock, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon
1965, Pan Books
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Story: Frame-up! Chief Inspector Roger 'Handsome' West opened his front door to Superintendent Abbott. "I think you know why I've called," said Abbott. He drew a folded slip of paper from his coat. It was an official search warrant... . To save his career from being ruined and his name blackened, West plunges into a mystery that involves murder, international conspiracy-and corruption at the yard!

Extract [1st page]: Superintendent Abbott inserted his tall figure and expressionless face into the narrow opening of the door of the Chief Inspector's office on B Floor at New Scotland Yard. Abbott seemed never to enter a door in natural fashion, but to slide in as if he were anxious to be unobserved.
When Roger West, who was in the office with Chief Inspector Eddie Day, looked up and saw the vacant face of the Superintendent, his heart dropped. He had schemed to take this particular day off, because it was his wife's birthday, but he had been pessimistic until, when he had arrived an hour before, he had found a note from Abbott telling him to give details of one or two reports and go off. It was a dull, grey day, with early April making a passable imitation of late November; lights were burning over the desks furthest from the windows.
At the Yard, they called Abbott the Apostle of Gloom, for he was invariably the bearer of evil tidings, which perhaps accounted for his cold, vacuous expression.
Eddie Day looked up, pushed his chair back, and grinned. Eddie was not handsome, and when he grinned he showed most of his prominent front teeth.
'Oh, West,' said Abbott. 'Will you be at home this afternoon?'
Roger looked puzzled. 'I expect so, yes.'
'Can you make sure that you will be in?'
I had thought of doing a show with my wife, but that wouldn't be until this evening.' Abbott was not a man with whom it was wise to take liberties. 'You're not going to bring me back, are you?'
'I just wanted to be sure where I could find you,' Abott promptly effaced himself, closing the door without a sound.
'What a ruddy nerve!' Eddie declared. 'Trying to put you in a fix so's you don't know what to do. I'll tell you what, Handsome, take Janet out and let Abbott get someone else to chase round after him.' Eddie, who was a shrewd officer and at his particular job-the detection of forgery-head and shoulders above anyone else at the Yard, sitll looked and talked like a detective-sergeant newly promoted from a beat. 'Cold as a fish, that's what I always think the Apostle is.' Then he frowned at Roger's expression. 'Say, what's biting you, Handsome? You look as if you've eaten something that don't agree with you.'
'It's nothing,' said Roger. 'He might have given me one day without wanting me on tap.' He locked his desk and took his hat and mackintosh from a hat-stand. 'Head him off for me if you can, Eddie.'
'Trust me,' said Eddie. 'I won't let you down. Give my love to Janet!'
His laughter echoed in Roger's ears as he went out, and walked thoughtfully along the passage.

Creasey, John. 'Triumph for Inspector West', published by Pan Books, 1961 reprint of the 1958 Hodder & Stoughton edition, 192pp. Sorry, this particular edition has sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon
1961, Pan Books, pbk, sold out Creasey, John. 'The Case Against Paul Raeburn', published by Lancer Books, NY, 1963, paperback, 176pp. Sorry, this particular edition has sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon
1963, Lancer Books, pbk - sold out

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Story: What did Paul Raeburn want? Money? He was a multi-millionaire ten times over. Power? He owned the most powerful newspapers in London, and was reaching out for more. Women? There wasn't a woman alive he couldn't charm or buy. No, he didn't want any of the things ordinary men want. He wanted FEAR. Even if he had to kill a human being every week to get it. Why not? He could get away with it. As a matter of fact, he was getting away with it....

Paul Raeburn, millionnaire swindler and publisher, drove a Rolls Royce over a man's head. That was Raeburn's style-brutal, simple, direct. Scotland Yard's "Handsome" West set the entire London force to collecting evidence. That was his style-methodical, swift, tireless. It had always worked before. This time, though, something went very wrong. Raeburn went free, and more people kept on dying. In unmistakable ways. They were brutal, simple and direct.

Extract [page 1]:
The powerful car moved swiftly and quietly along the road which led across Clapham Common. The beams of its headlights caught the grass and trees, making them a vivid green. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning, and the driver had not seen a soul since he had turned on to the Common road. He was humming under his breath.
Suddenly a man appeared.
The driver saw him dart forward, and took his foot off the accelerator. The man stopped in the middle of the road, his feet wide apart, his hands held above his head. The driver trod heavily on the brake and the car jolted to a standstill. As he did so, the man who had caused the emergency came quickly towards the car, and opened the door.
"Well, well," he said in a sneering voice, "if it isn't Mr Raeburn. The great Paul Raeburn himself! How's it going, Mr Raeburn?"
In the light from the dashboard, his face showed thin and pale. His hands, gripping the side of the door, were white. Despite the sneer, his nervousness was unmistakable.
The driver showed no signs of nerves. "Who are you, and what's this all about?" he demanded.

Creasey, John. 'Inspector West Kicks Off', published by Pan Books in 1965, 176pp, no ISBN. Condition: good with some very slight rubbing to cover edges and mild tanning to internal pages (browning effect from ageing). Price: £3.25, not including p&p (which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers, more for overseas customers)
1965, Pan Books, pbk
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  • Inspector West Kicks Off [top]
    A.k.a Sport for Inspector West
    First published in 1949 in Great Britain in hardback by Hodder and Stoughton
    Published in 1964 in Great Britain by Pan Books in paperback
    Reprinted in 1965 in Great Britain by Pan Books in paperback, 176pp, No ISBN

Story: Every thread in the Randall murder case led back to the thefts from Perrimans', the chain of food stores... . More surprising to Inspector West was the discovery that nearly everyone in the case supported the same football club...

Characters:
Chief Inspector Roger West ('Handsome')
Janet West (Roger West's wife)
Detective Sergeant Goodwin of Scotland Yard

Chief Inspector Eddie Day
Sir Guy Chatworth ('Chatty', Assistant Police Commissioner)
Superintendent Adams (Divisional Headquarters)
Sergeant Peel (of Scotland Yard)
Detective-Sergeant Harrison
Cumber (police surgeon)
Merrick (police surgeon's assistant)
Louis the Commissionaire
Mark Lessing
Guy Randall
Coleman
Jeremiah Scott
Michael Scott
Samuel Perriman
Emmanuel Perriman
Sybil Lennox (Guy Randall, the stiff's, fiancée)
Mrs Clarke (Sybil's landlady on Brill Street
Arthur Kirby (gunman?)
Relf (Wignall's garage)
Rose (Kirby's girl)
Reverend Cartwright
I. Deverall (sales director of Tucktos Printing)
Greenwall (solicitor)
Mark Lessing
James Wilson (director of Crown Printing & Manufacturing Co. Ltd)
Tommy Clayton
Tim Holloway
Sandy McKay
Bill Sloan
Frank Osborne

Creasey, John. 'Inspector West Alone', published in 1964 by Four Square publishers (New English Library), 160pp. Good condition, but with failure to the binding at page 28 with the book still held together by the cover. Overall a very decent copy with light signs of ageing (such as tanning to internal pages). Price: £1.25, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers and more for overseas customers)
1964, Four Square, pbk
In stock, click to buy

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  • Inspector West Alone [top]
    First published in 1950 in Great Britain in hardcover
    Reprinted in 1957 and 1958
    Published in 1961 in Great Britain by Four Square
    Reprinted twice in 1962 in Great Britain by Four Square
    Reprinted in 1964 in Great Britain by Four Square

Story: 'I am Inspector West of Scotland Yard. This can't be happening to me.' But it was. His face was covered with scratches. His suit was torn and blood-stained. Near him lay a young girl...dead. Her face was battered in with an axe-West's fingerprints on the handle. 'I am Inspector West of Scotland Yard... .' But his wallet proved he was another man. Even his clothing was not his own. As a frame-up, it was nearly perfect. Once you accepted the possibility that someone had wanted to lure him there and have him accused of murder, then the rest followed easily enough. Everything had been laid on, even the call to the police. They had been summoned so that he, Roger West, youngest C.I. at the Yard, could be found in the empty house with a dead girl.

Surely he had only to convince the police that he was West, and the situation would switch in his favour. And it should have been so simple. He only had to find someone who recognized him...

Extract [from page 1]:
Even now, it didn't occur to Roger West that there had been anything faked about the message. He was just afraid in case Janet had run into trouble.
You could spend your life walking into trouble with your eyes wide open and feel hardly a tremor. When you began to wonder whether your wife was in danger, you had a sick feeling of dread; assuming that you were in love with your wife, of course.
Roger stood outside the back door.
It was locked, like the front door and like all the windows. It was a small, lonely house, and he hadn't heard of the place until two hours ago. There was a rotting hurdle fence round the large garden, and the light was just good enough to show the distorted shapes of trees. Grass grew knee high on what had once been lawns The gravel drive was covered with weeds.
There wasn't a light anywhere.
A chilly wind blew onto his back, coming across the open moorland and hilly country of Surrey. Low clouds threatened rain.
Except for the wind, there was no sound

Creasey, John. 'Inspector West Cries Wolf' published in 1966 by Pan books in paperback, 224pp. Good condition with previous owner's name just inside cover and mild tanning to internal pages (browning effect from ageing). Price:£2.25, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers, more for overseas buyers)
1966, Pan Books, pbk
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  • Inspector West Cries Wolf [top]
    A.k.a The Creepers
    First published in 1950 in Great Britain by Evans Brothers in hardback
    First published in 1954 in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton
    Reprinted in 1966 in Great Britain by Pan Books

Story: Robbery. Wholesale and meticulously planned. Not just one break-in a night, but twenty or thirty, and each one performed by a man with a wolf's head branded on his left palm... The work of a highly-organised criminal syndicate, directed by the mysterious LOBO... Rubber-soled thugs who would stop at nothing-not even at threatening a policeman's wife and family-as 'Handsome' West of the Yard found when he lifted the telephone at home and heard a woman's lilting voice...

Extract [page 1]:
The Bell Rang harshly through the darkness.
Roger West heard nothing as he lay on his back, sleeping, snoring faintly.
His wife woke with a start, heard the jangling, discordant note, said: 'Oh, no!' and struggled up on her pillow, then leaned across her husband and groped for the telephone. She touched the shiny surface of the instrument, lifted it, and let it drop. The ringing stopped; the telephone fell heavily to the floor. The sound of a voice came from it, distorted and in-human. 'Hallo. Hallo. Hallo.' Janet pushed the bedclothes back and scrambled out. The bed creaked. Through the window she could see the glow of a lamp in the main road: there were no street lamps alight in Bell Street. She stretched out her hand to touch the bedpost, moving her bare feet cautiously, while Roger made a gulping noise and turned over.
'Hallo. Hallo. Roger. Roger-what the devil's the matter. Roger!'
'Oh, be quite,' Janet whispered absurdly
She could make out the shape of the bed and the table against the cream-coloured walls. She bent down and groped about the carpet until she touched the telephone. Kneeling, she picked up the receiver and said softly into the earpiece: 'What is it?'
The man at the other end spoke to someone near him.
'I don't like this. Someone's lifted the receiver, but there's no answer.'
A pause; and then the man spoke again.
'Surely Lobo can't have-'

Creasey, John. 'The Figure in the Dusk' (a.k.a A Case for Inspector West), published by Perennial Library (Harper & Row), 1987, 252pp, ISBN 0060808918. Price:£4.15, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK customers & more for overseas buyers)
Perennial Library, 1987, pbk
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  • A Case For Inspector West [top]
    A.k.a. The Figure in the Dusk (see picture to left)
    First published in 1951 in Great Britain by Evans (hardcover)
    First published in the US in 1952 by Harper & Brothers (hardcover)
    Reprinted in 1954 in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton in paperback
    Published in 1960 by Pan Books Ltd in paperback
    Reprinted by Pan in 1961 in paperback
    First Perennial Library Edition published in 1987 in paperback (ISBN: 0060808918)

Story: Pattern for Murder. An expensive car. A Lonely Road. A Man with a Gun

The hours went by and Muriel waited with mounting anxiety...a widow-though she didn't know it. Then into the house, using her husband's keys, came the man with the gun...

After that it was a case for Inspector West-a case in which a murderer again and again followed the same deadly pattern!
[from the Pan edition, 1961]

The domestic tranquility enjoyed by Inspector West, his wife, Janet, and their two lively, small sons is being disrupted by a mysterious figure in the dusk who has the disconcerting habit of stopping cars driven by solitary, prosperous businessmen and murdering their occupants.
The first driver to have met the figure was Wilfred Arlen. He left a lovely widow, Muriel, and a young son. It is Muriel, waiting anxiously for her husband's homecoming, who phones the man she loves and is told by him to stop worrying, to wait a little longer before calling the police. As she waits, a masked stranger enters her house using her husband's keys, and knocks her out with the butt of a gun. After that, the police come.
It is a clouded case, for West cannot get the straight truth from the people he is trying to protect. And it doesn't help matters when his chief assistant falls in love with a material witness, while everyone else is busy lying and the murder is moving dangerously ahead of the game.
[from the Perennial Library edition, 1987]

Older Editions (click for Amazon UK listing):
Creasey, John. 'A Case for Inspector West', published in 1960 in paperback by Pan Books, 192pp. Price: £3.25, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK customers, more for overseas buyers) Creasey, John. 'A Case for Inspector West', published in 1954 by Hodder & Stoughton, 192pp, paperback. Good condition with some mild tanning to internal pages (browning effect from ageing). Nice condition overall. Price: £3.55, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers and more for overseas customers)
1961, Pan Books, pbk 1954, Hodder and Stoughton, pbk
Creasey, John. 'Puzzle for Inspector West', published in 1963 by Pan Books, 192pp. Sorry, sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon UK!
1963, Pan Books, pbk
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  • Puzzle for Inspector West [top]
    A.k.a The Dissemblers
    First published in 1951 in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton in hardcover
    Published in 1963 in Great Britain by Pan Books in paperback

Story: Chief Inspector 'Handsome' West has arrested James Liddell on a charge of murder. The case seems cut-and-dried, but West has his doubts. Then into London, flies Francesca, Liddell's daughter, a beautiful frightened girl, hiding a guilty secret... As West threads his way through the puzzle, seeking both motive and murderer, he faces a situation as ugly as any in the annals of crime!

Extract [page 1]:
Chief Inspector Roger West of New Scotland Yard stepped into the large room, and Detective Sergeant Peel followed him. They left the door open, and Detective Officer Burnaby placed his big frame half in and half out of the room.
A pale-faced man looked up from his desk, which was slantwise across one corner. Behind his grey head, wine-red curtains hung in deep folds. It was a lovely room, quiet-but not peaceful, then.
A middle-aged woman, still beautiful, sat in a winged armchair in front of the blazing log fire; and shivered. Her eyes were huge, there were dark patches beneath them, and her cheeks were chalk white. Lipstick slashed the pallor, scarlet varnish tipped the nails of long, white hands.
Roger West stepped to the desk.
The woman cried "No!" in a strangled voice
"You are James Mortimer Liddel?" West said
The man's voice was deep and firm.
"Yes."
"It is my duty to charge you with the murder of Lancelot Hay," West said, "and I must warn you that anything you say may be used in evidence." He moved round the desk and rested his hand lightly on the older man's shoulder. "I have to ask you to come with me, Mr Liddel."
Liddel made no move.
"It isn't true," gasped the woman, "it isn't true!" She sprang to her feet. "I tell you it isn't true; you're crazy to arrest him! You must be mad!" She took two quick steps towards West, and Peel moved nearer her. Her eyes blazed, but she could hardly get the words out. "You mustn't take him away!"
"I'm sorry, Mrs Liddel." West sounded as if he meant that, it wasn't just a formality.

Creasey, John. 'A Gun for Inspector West', published by Pan Books in 1963, 192pp. Sorry, sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon UK!
1963, Pan Books, pbk
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Story: Reign of Terror! Tension ran high at the Yard-these attacks on the police weren't just isolated incidents, they were part of an organised and sinister plan. Who was behind this gang of brutal, ruthless thugs? Whose was this relentless, avenging hatred?

Extract [page 1]:
"Has he a gun?" asked West.
"Not sure, sir," the sergeant behind him said.
"Well, be careful."
"Yes, sir."
The voices whispered in the darkness. The two men-West of Scotland Yard and a uniformed sergeant-were together at one end of an alley which ran between two warehouses. High brick walls were on either side, cobbles underfoot. At the far end of the alley, the water of the Thames lapped against wharves, small boats and an ocean-going vessel registered at Rotterdam.
There should have been a light along there, fastened to a wall bracket. Instead, there was darkness.
More policemen were going a long way round towards the far end of the alley, hoping to cut off the crook they knew to be near. At this end, coming from the mean streets of the East End towards the docks, were West and his sergeant; Detective Officers in plain-clothes were just behind them. The hunted man was in the alley, perhaps armed with a gun.
West, a yard ahead of the others, put his foot in a puddle. The splash sounded very loud. West stood stock still, and the sergeant bumped into him.
West went forward again, very cautiously. The lapping waves of the Thames seemed part of the silence. Above, heavy clouds scudded, but there was no wind here. No stars shone. The docks were deserted but for a few night-watchmen.
A killer had come along this lane, and the killer had to be captured.
West could hear the sergeant's laboured breathing; fancied that he could hear the movement of the two constables behind them. Like the lapping waves, they seemed part of the hush. West's heart beat fast; the unknown darkness was a frightening thin. Dark silence...

Creasey, John. 'A Beauty for Inspector West', published by Pan Books in 1957 in pbk, 192pp. The page just inside cover missing (no loss of text); and pages 103-106 are loose, but still present & readable. The cover round the bottom of the spine is a bit ripped and the internal pages of the book are mildly tanned with age. Overall this is a perfectly decent, and wholly readable copy. Price: £1.25, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers, more for overseas customers)
1957, Pan Books
In stock, click to buy!
Creasey, John. 'A Beauty for Inspector West', paperback, 3rd reprint, 1971, 192pp. Good condition with some mild tanning to internal pages (browning effect from ageing). Price: £1.65, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers, slightly more for overseas buyers)
1971, Pan Books
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  • A Beauty for Inspector West [top]
    A.k.a The Beauty Queen Killer
    First published in 1954 in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton in hardcover
    Reprinted in paperback in 1956 in Great Britain by Pan Books, 192pp.
    Paperback reprinted 1957 and 1971, ISBN 0330026046

Story: Hunt for Beauty Queens' Killer-Three Strangled. Why were twelve lovely girls made targets for violent death? Just because they were regional beauty queens? or because somebody wanted one special girl to be chosen Miss Britain? The survivors posed plenty of problems for Roger West. Where and when might they be attacked? and, if a girl escaped, must she be the one for whom the murders were committed?

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Creasey, John. 'Inspector West Makes Haste', published in 1957 by Pan Books in paperback, 192pp. Sorry, sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon!
1957, Pan Books
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Story: The alarm bell clangs at Jefferson's Two policemen rush to the great store. A terrified night watchman tells them that his companion has been murdered, the safe blown open. It's the Gelignite Gang again! Summoned from his bed by "The Yard", Inspector West begins a dangerous case that is to test his skill and grit to the limit

Extract [page 1]:
The scraping noise was almost the only sound; that and hushed breathing. One of the three men kept catching his breath, as if he were stifling a sneeze. Each had a set task, each carried it out. The biggest, wearing a dark brown overcoat, stood by the door of the safe, pushing the gelignite into the keyhole. The other two piled stacks of paper, records of the big business house, round the walls, to muffle the sound of the explosion. That was all.
The biggest man glanced over his shoulder, and jerked his head. The smallest went across to him, rubber-soled shoes barely squeaking on the cement floor.
"Yeh?"
"See if Billy's okay."
"Okay." The smallest man trotted back to the door, which was open just wide enough for him to get through. In a few minutes, when Billy had given the all clear, the door would be closed, more piles of papers stacked against it, and the safe would be blown. That was the moment to pray for. Just now, there was too much time to think, to wonder what would happen if the cops...

 
Creasey, John. 'Two for Inspector West', published by Pan Books in paperback, 1969, 192pp, ISBN 0330022334. Sorry, sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon
1969, Pan Books, pbk
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Story: Two Seaside Murders. Roger West couldn't forget the sight or the smell of the second corpse he had seen in a sleepy Sussex town... . He was after a killer, and they didn't come any worse than Lefty... . A killer without a conscience, who thought only a frightened girl stood between him and a hoard of stolen money... .

Extract [page 1]:
"Oh, darling," Daphne Mallow said, "aren't you coming to bed?"
Michael, her husband, leaned back in his arm-chair, a comfortable arm-chair made on modern lines, upholstered with a vivid red tapestry, which showed up strikingly against the off-white carpet and the off-white walls. For a small house, this was as modern as one could be. It belonged, inside at least, ot the top of some mighty building in New York, or Stockholm, anywhere except in the English countryside. but it had "something", and it was comfortable.
It was even paid for.
"Darling," Daphne insisted, "aren't you?"
Michael just grinned.
She shook her head, very slowly, with pretended exasperation. It wasn't all pretence, perhaps, but the reality of it didn't go very deep. She loved looking at him as he was now-completely relaxed, long legs stretched out, wiry hair untidy with that attractive wave, almost the first thing about him which she had noticed.
Sometimes she had a sneaking kind of guilty thought: he was too good looking.
Could any girl be blamed for falling for him? And could he be blamed, if--?
He pursed his lips in the shape of a kiss, and his eyes still mocked hers. His were blue, hers grey. This was the way he would often make her get up, move to him, kiss him. But she couldn't be sure that was what he wanted.
It wasn't.
He moved his lips, very slowly, and formed the word "No" with great deliberation. "I am not coming to bed."

Creasey, John. 'Parcels for Inspector West', published by Pan Books, 1973, 160pp, ISBN 0330237683. Sorry, sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon
1973, Pan Books, pbk Creasey, John. 'Death of A Postman' published by Berkley Medallion Books in 1965 in paperback, 160pp. Sorry, sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon. Or try the Abebooks and Ebay searches
1965, Berkley Medallion Books
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  • Death of A Postman [top]
    A.k.a Parcels for Inspector West
    First published in 1956 in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton
    Reprinted in 1962, 1963 , 1964, and 1973 in Great Britain by Pan Books Ltd in paperback, 160pp, ISBN 0330237683
    Reprinted in 1965 in the US by Berkley Medallion Books in paperback

Story: Gay, Ghastly Holiday... . Scotland Yard's Inspector West, by the very nature of his being hates crime and brutality. In this particular holiday season, he gets an overdose of both. Just before Christmas, Tom Bryant, a quiet, hardworking London mail clerk is most brutally murdered and the Christmas parcel rush at River Way sorting office brought a grisly delivery of the dismembered body. Devoted as Bryant was to his wife and five children, the WHY of his death is a complete baffler. But Roger West, his skill and superb training reinforced by compassion for Bryant's family Roger West cheated death to find the key to a series of crimes-the missing master-key to all London Post Office vans...

Chapters:
1. The Party
2. The Fiancée
3. Hotting Up
4. Micky Bryant
5. Hammer
6. Eyewitnesses
7. Pattern of Events
8. The Bryants' Place
9. May
10. Night
11. Morning
12. Parcels
13. A Message for Micky
14. Offer to Micky
15. Night Plans
16. Fight to Death
17. Mad Morning
18. The Robberies
19. Carmichael's Home
20. The Love of Carmichael

Creasey, John. 'Accident for Inspector West' published in paperback in 1967 by Pan Books, 192pp. Sorry, sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon
1967, Pan Books
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  • Accident for Inspector West [top]
    A.k.a Hit and Run
    First published in 1957 (1st Edition) in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton
    First published in 1967 in Great Britain by Pan Books
    Reprinted in 1967 in Great Britain by Pan Books
Story: A vicious and corrupt organisation use arson, blackmail, kidnapping and murder to protect their lucrative traffic in dangerous drugs. It was, reflected Chief Inspector West, A Hell of a Case

Extract [page 1]:The first crime was committed four years and the second six months before anyone began to suspect any crime at all-except in the most general sense of the word. True, it was actually used several times, both when the body was discovered and at the inquest, but that was in the sense which few took really seriously. Most meant "crime" in the sense that they would mean "it's a crying shame".
Chief Inspector West of the Yard, who was later to investigate the whole series, read about the second crime in the Evening Globe, the only paper of any size which reported it in any detail. He read about it casually as of any hit-and-run accident, and when his wife said, "Oh, do put that paper down and get on with your dinner," he obeyed, and did not give the affair another serious thought.
At least, not then.
The second crime had been committed that very morning.
Like this:

Eunice Marsden was torn between the desire to catch the earliest bus possible and reach Oxford Street in time for the New Year's sales, and taking Meg to school, which was on the way, before going to the West End. The best of the buys would be gone by then, but so would the worst of the fray. She was leaning towards the second, weaker course, when Mrs. Bray arrived early.
Mrs Bray was comparatively new to the Marsden household, and Eunice was dangerously near the stage of persuading herself that at last she had a "treasure". Her experience with dailies had convinced her that most of them chattered only to deceive, and she was reluctant even to admit the possibility of a find to her husband. Mrs. Bray's arrival at half-past eight, although she was not due until nine o' clock, seemed to put the seal on her sterling worth, and it made up Eunice Marsden's mind.

The daily woman turned into the gate of the small, detached house near Kingston-on-Thames, small and rather plump, fifty or so, wearing a grey coat, a grey felt hat and a woollen muffler tight about her neck, to keep out the piercing cold. Her eyes were watering in the wind as she walked briskly along the crazy-paving path towards the front door, and Meg, who was a kind of human radar, came tearing down the stairs form her room

Creasey, John. 'Find Inspector West', published in 1966 in paperback by Hodder and Stoughton. Sorry, sold out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon
1966, Hodder and Stoughton
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  • Find Inspector West [top]
    A.k.a. The Trouble at Saxby's
    First published in October 1957 in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton
    Published in 1961 in paperback in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton
    Reprinted in 1966 in paperback in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton, 192pp, No ISBN. Original UK retail price: 3/6 (3 shillings and sixpence); Australia (6/-) 60c; New Zealand 4/6; South Africa 45c

Story: To Roger West, the brutal death of an attractive girl with a bad reputation in a scruffy back room meant more than murder. He had to move fast, not just to nail the killer, but to clear his name with a boss who didn't like his methods. So when he finds his chief suspect innocent and a plot riddled with blackmail and forgery, he is forced to act coldly and ruthlessly-his way

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Creasey, John. 'Battle for Inspector West', published by Pan Books in 1964, 128pp. Good condition with a bit of scuffing to the bottom of the spine and some light tanning to internal pages. Price:£2.25, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard p&p charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers & more for overseas customers)
1964, Pan Books
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Story: It began with a honeymoon-but soon became a hellish nightmare. A blackmailed millionaire, murder, a kidnapped bride threatened with the horrors of the international vice racket-and an utterly evil master-mind from whose clutches no-one seemed safe

Extract [1st page]:
The Bride, a radiant vision in white, had gone into St. Margaret's, and her bridesmaids had disappeared after her; all that remained visible was the crowd of sightseers.
A man that stood near the door of the church, his eyes lowered, his expression humble. He was poorly but neatly dressed. His head was bare now, although he had worn a hat, pulled low over his eyes, when the bride and bridegroom and their party had gone inside the church.
The man's face was thin and pale, his hair turning grey. He had wrinkles at his eyes and mouth.
Almost immediately opposite him, mixing with the crowd, was an upstanding man with squared shoulders in a neat brown suit. He had a large face with broad features and a pair of shrewd penetrating eyes. Every now and again, he glanced at the grey-haired man, only to look away as soon as the other glanced towards him.
He was detective-Sergeant Jameson, of Scotland Yard, and he was puzzled. Then his face cleared suddenly. He looked away from the humble man, and caught the eye of a Detective-Officer who stood in the crowd on the other side of the path. The D O read the message in Jameson's eyes, pushed his way through the crowd, and joined him. Two or three of the old-stagers in this game of watching weddings nudged one another, recognizing these men as detectives. But no one heard what Jameson said except the D O.
'That little chap, at the front, Peel-see him?'
'Yes,' said Peel, who was also large and tall and broad-featured; the two might have been brothers.
'That's Arthur Morley,' Jameson whispered. 'I just remembered him. Sentenced to death for the murder of his wife twelve or thirteen years ago. Sentence commuted-he's only been out a month or two. Keep an eye on him.'
'Wonder what he's doing here?' said Peel.
Jameson said dryly: 'Wouldn't you like to see your own daughter married?'
Now the first notes of Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March' came from the church, there was a stir among the crowd, and the man whom Jameson had recognized put on his hat and pulled it low over his eyes. Jameson, who was always on the look-out for trouble, thought that none was really likely here; if Morely were planning to make a scene, he wouldn't hide his face. It wasn't surprising that he did not want to be recognized. He looked a nice, old chap, although 'old' was hardly justified; Morely wasn't yet fifty.

Creasey, John. 'Murder London, New York' published in 1974, 2nd printing, paperback, 192 pages. Good condition with some light tanning to internal pages & a couple of small initials (of previous owner?) written in small on the ffep (front-facing end page). Overall this is a very decent & nice copy. Price: £1.65, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers, slightly more for overseas customers)
1974, Coronet, pbk
In stock, click to buy for £1.99, not including post and packing
Creasey, John. 'Murder, London-New York', published by Pan Books in 1966 in paperback, 192pp. Sorry, Sold Out, but click image to access prebuilt search for this title on Amazon
1966, Pan, pbk
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  • Murder, London-New York [top]
    First published in 1958 in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton Ltd
    Printed in 1962 in paperback by Coronet, 192pp
    Reprinted in 1966 in paperback by Pan, 192pp
    Reprinted in 1972 in paperback by Coronet, 192pp, ISBN 0340178469
    Reprinted in 1974 in paperback by Coronet, 192pp
Story: London: A beautiful girl is found dead, her face slashed. NY: An old man is brutally killed the same way. Two parallel crimes and 'Handsome' West of Scotland Yard and Lieutenant Goodison of NY's homicide branch are pitted against each other. Is the culprit a clever criminal or a brutal psychopath? -which was the murderer? When Margaret Roy was found dead, it was as if someone had savaged beauty for savagery's sake by slashing her lovely face. Then an attempt to kill her sister was followed by a vicious attack on Margaret's portraits. It was a difficult case for newly-promoted Superintendent Roger West-and it became even more complicated when the chief suspect flew off to New York. For all too soon there was another slashed victim lying dead...
Creasey, John. 'Death of a Racehorse', published by Coronet in paperback in 1975, 192pp, ISBN 0340194774. Good condition copy with some light rubbing to cover edges and light tanning to internal pages (browning effect from ageing). Price:£1.75, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge, currently £2.75 for UK buyers and more for overseas customers
1975, Coronet
In stock, click to buy for £1.99, not including post and packing
Creasey, John. 'Death of a Racehorse' published in 1968 in Great Britain by Pan Books, 192pp. Condition:Good condition with just a little tanning to internal pages (browning effect from ageing) and some very light creasing to the back cover. Price: £1.85, not including post and packing, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.80 for UK buyers, more for overseas customers)
1968, Pan, pbk

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  • Death of a Racehorse [top]
    First published in 1959 (First Edition) in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton
    Published in 1962 in Great Britain by Coronet in paperback
    Published in 1968 in Great Britain by Pan Books
    Reprinted in 1975 by Coronet in paperback, 192pp, ISBN 0340194774

Story: 'I'll kill that horse," Lady Foley said, quite loudly. But it was another horse that died. Not her son Lionel Shoestring, but the very valuable Silver Monarch. And the killer didn't hesitate to murder a man who go in the way. So Superintendent West was faced with a particularly difficult case. Why had Silver Monarch been so senselessly slaughtered? Had the killer made a mistake? And, above all, who was the killer?

Extract:
Cartwright looked in at Shoestring, who was standing with his rump close to the door, head down, asleep. Cartwright studied those fine quarters, and nodded as if to confirm everything he had told Jenkins about the horse.
A big bay, a promising hunter, was next to Shoestring, and next to the hunter was Silver Monarch. Cartwright approached this box with the kind of veneration felt by everyone associated with the horse; here was another Tulyar, another name to worship. He opened the top half of the door quietly, peering in and expecting to see the grey standing back to him, still in sleep.
He saw the horse on it side, and was so astonished that he stood gaping.
Then he heard a movement at the side of the box, and as he glanced round, saw a man with his right arm raised, and a weapon in his hand. "No!" he gasped "No-"
The man struck savagely at his head.

Creasey, John. 'Murder On The Line', published by Pan Books in 1968, in paperback, 192pp, ISBN 033002129X. Good condition copy, with some light tanning to internal pages (browning effect from ageing). Price:£1.85, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers, more for overseas customers)
1968, Pan Books
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  • Murder on the Line [top]
    First published in 1960 (First Edition) in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton
    Published in 1968 in Great Britain by Pan Books, 188pp, ISBN 033002129X

Story: Blood stains the tracks when a ruthless criminal network make British Railways their target...their aim, nationwide theft...their weapons, bribery, corruption and murder... There's non-stop excitement as 'Handsome' West of the Yard seeks a cold-blooded killer among the men with too much money...

Extract [1st page]:
'Sure you'll be all right dear?' Maude Hallam asked.
'Of course I will, I was here long enough on my own before I took the final step into matrimony, wasn't I?' her husband answered, and gave her a hug and a kiss which made her breathless. 'You go and enjoy the pictures with your mum, and have a good breakfast tomorrow before you come to get my dinner. I'll want a big one, mind.'
'The biggest ever,' Maude said. 'That's a promise. Dave, leave the washing up for me, won't you?'
'You bet your life I will!'
They laughed for no particular reason, as they often did because they were both young and happy. Dave Hallam, who was very tall, ducked beneath the doorway of the cottage as he followed Maude out. She stood only a little higher than his shoulder, not only short but plump, with fat strong legs and fat strong arms and the clear skin of health hardened by country life. She was dark-haired and brown-eyed and had a little snub of a nose. Hallam was painfully thin, and his nose and chin were so pointed that people were fascinated when they saw him for the first time.
He looked hardly strong enough to pull the levers of the small signal box which was in sight of the cottage, standing just on one side of the long gleaming railway line which stretched through the wooded land until it curved out of sight among pine and fir trees.
The narrow, winding country road which crossed the line here hardly seemed to warrant a level crossing, but especially in the summer the road was very busy, and even the line was busier than most people realized, being part of a loop line between Southampton and several large seaside resorts farther west. The signals controlled by this box were at the other end of the loop; there were four handles in all.
'I think I can hear the bike,' Maude said...

Creasey, John. 'The Scene of the Crime' published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1963 in paperback, 192pp. Condition: acceptable to good clean copy, with fragiile cover, particularly round the spine (edges held together by sellotape). Overall a very decent wholly readable copy. Price:£2.25, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge, currently £2.75 for UK buyers, slightly more for overseas customers
1963, Hodder & Stoughton
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  • The Scene of the Crime [top]
    First published in 1961 (first edition) in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton in hardcover
    First published in 1963 in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton in paperback, 192pp

Story: It's a fine thing to have a lot of money for a beautiful wife, but not when it leads a man to strangling, robbery and Superintendent Roger West!

Extract [page 1]: When Alice came towards him, eyes glowing, great eagerness and love in her, John Payne felt the first twinge of conscience, the first hint of shame. He crushed them. She had thrown herself at his head from the beginning, and but for her the crime would never have been planned. Curiously, for the first time he saw how attractive she was in her demure way; perhaps that was because she was touched with radiance and excitement. She was twenty-three, and looked younger. She had quite nice legs and arms, but hardly any figure; with her hair cut short, as she liked to wear it, and in trousers, she was more like a youth than a young woman. She walked well, and clutched her handbag tightly.
It was ludicrous for her to think that she might ever lure him away from Gwen. She knew Gwen slightly; and anyone who met his wife must be aware of her surging vitality, must surely know that there was hardly a woman who could hold a man against her. Yet he was sure that Alice had fooled herself. An occasional meal, a drink together, a few evenings in the back row of a suburban cinema, two evenings at her flatlet and-promises. She had needed nothing else to convince herself that he was in love with her.
Poor, simple Alice.
It was a clear winter evening, with the stars out, and the street lamplight shone to give her an added sparkle. Payne was standing in the doorway of a shop near the cinema, and she was looking out for him, but had not yet seen him. When he stepped forward, her eyes lit up. She looked quite beautiful.
"Darling!" she breathed, in that whispering way she had acquired because of the furtiveness of their meetings. "I've got it!"
"Wonderful," Payne breathed. "Wonderful!" He drew her into the shop doorway, and she came in eagerly. He slid his arm right round her and pressed her close to him, then sought her lips, and kissed her with a simulation of passion which had always deceived her. When he drew back, she was gasping a little and the light sparkled star-like in her eyes. "Alice," Payne whispered, "you're beautiful-even more beautiful tonight."
"You're the most handsome man in the world," she whispered back.
She meant it-as years ago, Gwen had meant it. Now his hair was greying a little, but he dressed well; at forty-seven he had no stomach to speak of, could still play squash, racquets or tennis vigorously, and had the hard, chiselled look of the outdoor man.
"Did you have any trouble?" Payne asked?
"Not really." She was beginning to open her handbag already. She was never too demanding, was satisfied with surprisingly little. She took out a small, sealed package, about the size of a packet of twenty cigarettes, and handed it to him. "There it is." ...

Creasey, John. 'Policeman's Dread', published by Pan Books in 1965, 192pp. Good condition with some light tanning to internal pages (browning effect from ageing). Cover round the bottom of the spine is a bit scuffed. Price:£3, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently £2.75 for UK buyers and more for overseas customers)
1965, Pan Books
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  • Policeman's Dread [top]
    First published in 1962 (first edition) in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton
    Published in 1965 by Pan Books Ltd, 192pp, in paperback

Story: It all began when C.I.D. officers were behaving like frightened jellyfish in the witness box. What evil forces were operating? How could tough, experience policemen be reduced to pathetic compliance and by whom? Superintendent Roger West was ordered to find out. Dogged by suspicion among his colleagues, frustrated by the cold-blooded murder of men who knew too much, chilled by attacks on his own life, West pressed on with the task.

Extract [page 1]:
Detective Constable Birwitz, of the 31 Division of the Metropolitan Police, Criminal Investigation Branch, heard his wife humming as she started preparing breakfast, and heard the postman whistling as he approached the front door. Birwitz was giving his shoes a final polish, sitting on the arm of a chair so that he could glance right, and see Meg; or left and see the passage, which led to the front door. This was a bungalow on the border of the Division; new and pleasant, if small.
A shadow appeared against the frosted glass panels of the front door.
Meg called:'One egg or two, Witz?'
She twisted round and looked at him, and sight of her seemed to hurt. She wasn't exactly a beauty, but there wasn't a woman in the world with a more provocative figure and when she turned like that, jumper straining against her breasts, she was magnificent. The early sunlight, catching a corner of the kitchen window, shone on her corn-coloured hair, and turned it golden.
'Did you hear me?' she called
The metallic sound of the letter-box being pushed open came at the same time.
'I heard,' said Birwitz. 'Trying to starve me to death?'
'Two eggs,' said Meg, and turned back to the gas stove.
Even standing with her back to him, she was a temptation.
Those legs; those curves from her waist to her hips, accentuated by the narrow scarlet tape of her apron and the big bow in which she had tied it. One loop of the bow fell exactly dead centre.
Letters appeared-one,two,three. Thank God there was more than one, Birwitz thought.

Creasey, John. 'The Extortioners', first published in 1974 in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton in hardcover with dustjacket, 192pp, ISBN 0340178116. Condition: Very good with unclipped dustjacket. Clean & well looked-after. Price: �16.00, not including p&p, which is Amazon's standard charge (currently �2.75 for UK buyers, more for overseas customers
1974. Hodder and Stoughton
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  • The Extortioners [top]
    First published in 1974 in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton in hardcover with dustjacket, 192pp, ISBN 0340178116. Original UK retail price £1.95 net.
    Jacket design by Kaye Bellman

Story: A man who leads a double life is not necessarily wicked, and he is only susceptible to blackmail if he lets himself be. If he keeps his head and acts courageously he can go to Detective-Inspector West of the Yard and get help, not reproaches. Professor Clayton is such a man. He is married respectably and happily, yet there is another woman in his life, and a teenage son who has just shatteringly learned that his 'uncle' is his father. But what is the aim of the savage campaign of blackmail which seems to have brought other, less courageous men, to suicide? West has to wage battle with a vicious motorcycle gang, and protect himself and those who have the secret key, before the truth is revealed

 
 
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