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Collectors Notes

  • Printing numbers generally run 5% over to under projections. The exact number of first edition hardbacks printed is 1200 in the UK and 1500 in the US.
  • 50 copies from the UK first print run are part of an exclusive Limited Edition which has been stamped, signed, lined, dated and numbered by the author. The stamp features a likeness of protagonist Jack Haldean in his Spyker car. It was designed by the author.
  • 50 copies from the UK first print run have been double signed by the author and illustrator, lined, numbered, dated and have 5 variants of doodles (Abi-plane, a smoking revolver, a knife dripping with berlud, a crystal ball and a row of playing cards with a fortune teller theme).

Current prices for first printings in fine condition are as follows: The exclusive Limited Edition stamped copies can be had from around £39.99, a Doodled hardback copy from £44.99, a signed hardback copy from £18.99, and unsigned hardbacks from £12.53. So, there is still chance to get a collectable book at a great price.

A Fete Worse than Death is a fantastic book. I'm looking forward to the next installment. Check out the website and join the Jack Haldean forum: Plus, if you get the correct answers to the quiz questions below, you will be entered into a competition to win a framed signed publicity postcard and a Royal Flying Corps cap badge which Jack Haldean might have worn. Submit your answers to Dolores Gordon-Smith at her website. The winner will be announced by Editor-in-Chief Craig Stark on July 15th.

Quiz questions

NOTE: Some of the answers can be found only on the website.]

  1. Jack Haldean, the hero of A Fete Worse Than Death, drives a Spyker. In which country were Spykers manufactured?

  2. Which magazine does Jack write for?

  3. Hesperus, Sussex, is the country house where a lot of the action of A Fete Worse Than Death takes place. What does the word Hesperus mean?

  4. Who is the police officer in charge of the case known as The Affair At Torrington Place?

  5. What is the title of the second Jack Haldean book to be published in 2008?

  6. Tie breaker question. The prize will go to whoever provides (in the author's opinion!) the best recipe for a cocktail, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic.

The name of the winner and the winning cocktail will be posted on the website after the competition closes.

So, be warned, if you read this book your partners will be in for a tough time. You will expect nothing but the best manners and behaviour. A new wardrobe of clothes (or suits), meals in the best restaurants, and at the very least a butler and an upstairs maid.

Good luck, chaps!

 

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