One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

First published 1940 and by Fontana Books in 1959. This is the second impression, printed June 1961.

Hercule Poirot was just like all od us when it comes to a visit to the dentist. He hated it.
When he left Mr. Morley's surgery the world seemed good. He would not be seeing Morley again for six months,
That afternoon he saw him again - Dead.
In spite of the removal of his two chief suspects Poirot continues to delve below the surface of appearances and uncovers a cunning pploy strewn with traps and false scents.

The Listerdale Mystery

The Listerdale Mystery was first published by Collins for the Crime Club in 1934. It was first issued in Fontana Books in 1961, and further impressions made in 1963 and 1966. This copy is the fourth impression, published in November 1966.

She wrenched open the door of his first-class carriage and jumped in, crying: "Oh! Hide me -please, please hide me!" There is only one place to hide in a railway carriage - under the seat. Immediately an infuriated face appeared at the carriage windown. George looked up enquiringly. "Can I help you?" he asked politely. "My neice! You have her here, you swine - I saw her. I want my neice NOW!"

The Witness for the Prosecution

The Witness for the Prosection was first published in 1948 by Dodd, Mead and Company. Because all of the stories in it were printed in other collections, it was not published in the UK. This edition was first published by Dell in 1956. I'm not sure whethr my copy is from this first impression or not, as there are no obvious dates apart from copyrights. The price on the cover is 25c. The cover artist is William George.

They Do it With Mirrors

They Do it With Mirrors was first published in 1952. It was first issued by fontana in 1955, with subsequent impressions published in 1956, 1957, 1960, 1962 and this, the sixth Fontana impression in December 1962.

Already baffled by a household that included two hundred young delinquents as well as the step-children of Carrie Louise's two previous marriages, Miss Marple accepted with calm the arrival of yet another stepson. But when he is found shot dead, her cool, clear-thinking brain springs into action and she penetrated an artfully contrived smoke screen to expose a totally unexpected murder.

Third Girl

This is the first edition of Third Girl, published in 1977 by Collins for the Crime Club. The cloth is red with gilt lettering, and the dust wrapper is priced at 18/-. The Dust Jacket was designed by Kenneth Farnhill.

It is the 'third girl', Norma Restarick, who is the subject of the new and complex mystery that here engages Hercule Poirot. What is wrong with Norma? She walks in on Poirot at the breakfast table and announces that she 'may have committed a murder' and the walks out again, leaving Poirot to battle his way to the truth.

The Mousetrap

This is a programme from 24 August 1964 at the Ambassadors Theatre.

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side

This is a Book Club edition of The Mirror Crack's from Side to Side published in 1962. Collins Crime Club published the first edition, published in November 1962.

The Hollow

The Hollow was first published in 1946 and first issued in Fontana Books in 1955. Further impressions were printed in 1956, 1957 amd 1958. This copy is the fifth impression in Fontana Books, published in 1961.

'The woman holding the revolver stirred for the first time. She looked around at them all. When she spoke, her voice held what seemed to be pure bewilderment. "John's dead," she said. "John's dead".'

The Hollow was first performed as a play in 1951 at the Fortune Theatre.

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side

First published in 1962 and first issued by Fontana Books in 1965. Further impressions were printed in 1965m 1966 and 1967. This is the fifth impression, printed in April 1968.

Out flew the web and floated wide:
The mirror crack'd from side to side:
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott
ALFRED TENNYSON

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was first published by William Collins & Sons in June 1926. It was first issued in Fontana Books 1957 and reprinted in 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966 and this copy is the seventh impression, printed in 1969.

It was really very hard luck on the murderer...
He'd dotted his 'i's and wiped the dagger; he'd crossed his 't's and left his footprinted: all clean as a whistle, all neatly tied up...
And then the letter arrived - a litter from a dead woman.

The Murder on the Links

The Murder on the Links was first published by John Lane, the Bodley Head Ltd (before Collins started publishing Christie's titles). Pan published this edition in 1960, with seven more printings between 1961 and 1965. This copy is from the ninth printing in 1967 and was priced at 3/6 on the back cover.

One millionaire dies...

'One can see by his face that he was stabbed in the bac' said Poirot.

But the strangest feature of the case was where they found the body - in an open grave!

Hercule Poirot had answered an appeal for help - but he was too late!

The Secret of Chimneys

First published in 1925 and in Pan books in 1956, There were nine further printings between 1957 and 1962. This edition was the eleventh printing in 1963.

The cover art is signed 'w francis phillipps'

Stolen letters, a foreign envoy shot at one of England's historic houses; detectives British, French, American; secret passages, a fabulous jewel, a mysterious rose emblem,; an organisation called the Comrades of the Red Hand; an international jewel thief - could anyone want more ingredients for a light-hearted thriller?

Seven Dials Mystery

First published in 1929 and first issued in Fontana Books in 1954. This is the fourth impression, printed September 1967.

The young man dying in the road who hadn't been run over...
The letter that said: 'Forget about the Seven Dials business. I thought it was a joke. But it isn't.'
White flowers arranged on the coverlet, reflecting the whiteness of a dead young face....
Seven clocks ticking in the mantlepiece - ticking loudly, ominously...
Number seven raising his hand very slowly to his head, fumbling with the fastening of the mask...

Sparkling Cyanide

First published in 1945 and this copy first issued by Fontana Books in 1960.

Six people sit round a table laid for seven. Six nervous people waiting in fear for something to happen. Each one vividly remembered the scene at that same table exactly one year previously - the night the seventh had sprawled dead on the table...

Taken at the Flood

First published 1948. This is the first issue by Fontana, published 1961.

Gordon Cloade was killed in an air-raid. Having made no will his vast fortune passed to his wife Rosaleen.
But five other people had been promised a share in that fortune - five people who desperately needed the money. Now it could only become theirs if Rosaleen died,
Five people had a motive for murdering Rosaleen. Death came, but it was not Rosaleen who died.

Ten Little Niggers

First published in 1939, and this copy is the first issue in Fontana books, dated 1963.

10 people are invited to a fabulous mansion on Nigger Island off the coast of Devon. Though they all have something in their past which they wish to hide, they arrive hopefully and cheerfully on a glorious summer evening...But soon a series of extraordinary events take place...the island is suddenly bathed in a most sinister light...panic grips the visitors one by one.

Ten Little Niggers

First published in 1939 and first issued in Fontana paperbacks in 1963. The second impression was published in April 1964, and this copy is the third impression published March 1966.

Ten people are invited to a lonely house on Nigger Island, off the coast of Devon, by a host who fails to appear - and each of these ten English people has something to hide. It's a glorious summer evening when they arrive yet they all sense something odd about the island, something sinister.

Ten Little Niggers was renamed And Then There Were None, and there was a film made named Ten Little Indians. There was also a play made, which took one of these three names at various times in it's production.

The Body in the Library

First published in 1942, and this edition was printed by Pan in 1959. This copy is the second printing, also from 1959.

Nearer and nearer to the bed the intruder stole...a finger and thumb ready to pick up a fold of skin, in the other hand the hypodermic was ready.

But suddenly, from the shadows, an iron grasp seized the hand that held the needle.

An unemotional voice, the voice of the law, said :No you don;t. I want that needle!"

The light switched on and from his pillows Conway Jefferson looked grimly at the murderer of Ruby Keene.

A Caribbean Mystery

First published in 1964 and first issued in Fontana Books in 1966. This copy is the second impression, printed June 1967.

At Bertram's Hotel

First published in 1965, and this copy was the first issue by Fontana in 1968.

It is Miss Marple's destiny to stumble accross violence and mystery. Her brief London holiday at Bertram's Hotel soon presents her with a most complex and baffling puzzle.