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Tuesday, August 17, 2021

The Pretty Sinister Influence, or News on Reprints & Reissues

Lots of news on my overwhelming influence in getting books back into print.  OK, that's an exaggeration.  But suggestion and influence seem to commingle these days.

First. the Bruce Graeme Project of reissuing the Theodore Terhune mystery books continues with the release of the third title from Moonstone Press: A Case for Solomon.

It's been on sale since the beginning of this month at various internet sites in the UK and should be available from the US based Amazon very soon. At Book Depository the listing for this book does not have Bruce Graeme's name as the author, but instead has mine as the author of the introduction. Oops! But my often bruised ego doesn't mind that at all.

The rest of the Terhune mysteries will follow in quick succession:
Work for the Hangman in September, Ten Trails to Tyburn in October, A Case of Books in November, And A Bottle of Rum in December.

A few months ago Stark House sent me a copy of their latest Black Gat paperback reprint of Tears for Jessie Hewitt by Edna Sherry. I was surprised and happy to see this back in print. Back in 2019 I reviewed Sherry’s novel and had good things to say about it. For those of you who like noir fiction it comes recommended. A snippet from my blog post appears inside the book as the last laudatory blurb. You can read my full review on Tears for Jessie Hewitt here.  

Out of curiosity I wanted to what else Greg Shepherd had reprinted in his Black Gat imprint. These are single, smaller books in old-fashioned 4.25" x 7" size rather than his 2-for-1 volumes in larger trade paperback size. Imagine my delight when I saw this:

Yet another book I raved about on this blog.  And there's a portion of my rave right on the front cover! If you want to read the rest of the review for So Young, So Wicked click here.

Saving the best news for last.  The long awaited reprint of Pray for the Dawn by Eric Harding will soon be out from our good friends at Ramble House.  As soon as I get my copy I'll be sure to let everyone know it’s available for purchase.  In quirky style so suited for Ramble House Pray for the Dawn will have an Afterword by Yours Truly rather than a foreword.  With an afterword I was able to talk about all sorts of surprise elements in the book without worrying about ruining the story for anyone. 

Expect book giveaways and fun contests to win copies when the Moonstone and Ramble House books are ready for sale.

9 comments:

  1. Well done John. I am impressed with these re-prints and especially look forward to Eric Harding's, Pray for Dawn. Your previous review left me thinking this was an excellent book that I would never have the chance to read. Thank you.

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  2. I echo Scott's enthusiasm for the forthcoming Pray for the Dawn reprint -- many thanks, John, for your work in helping this come about. one day in the future, all these obscure titles will be easily accessible, and our descendents will wonder at our simple, savage ways that kept so many books out of reach for so long.

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    1. Pray For The Dawn by Eric Harding is now on the Ramble House website and I ordered my copy today. Looking forward to reading this. Thanks to John for making this happen. Never thought I would get to read this book.

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    2. Yes, I know. Gavin sent me an email about its release a few days ago. I’ll be giving away a couple of copies in a few days. Enjoy the book! It’s got more than a few surprises.

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  3. Always nice to read an update post as it can be hard to keep up with all the new reprints, though that is a nice problem to have. I didn't enjoy The House with Crooked Walls as much as Seven Clues in Search of a Crime, but I am hopeful Case for Solomon will be more in the camp of the first book than the second. I noticed Moonstone Press are also reprinting a book by D. Erskine Muir which sounds interesting.
    I enjoyed Sudden Fear by Edna Sherry - that definitely deserves a reprint. Brilliant inverted mystery/cat and mouse mystery of sorts.

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  4. I've read the first two Terhune books. Amazingly different from each other but I loved them both.

    I have a Jonathan Craig book in my To Be read pile at the moment. I'll have to consider pushing it a bit closer to the top of the pile.

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  5. Thanks for the update. I've been reading some of the Roger Ormerod books, I agree Still Life with Pistol is good but note quite as good as the first novel in the Patton series. Ormerod paints his character in a lovely way (in the second he misses one character and by the end I can understand why but it's still lessens the book.). He does have a gentle sense of humour that highlights his and our understanding of people, yes his plots can be over complicated (he does make a little fun of it in this novel.) in the old school sense but set in the 1980s but the way he slowly reveals things in his tales is his strength, it feels natural and gives us the same chance as ex-Inspector Patton. I've now read the third in the series and enjoyed that as well. He is very easy to read in a good way and is always entertaining, thank you for pointing his work out. Wayne.

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  6. Just caught up with this good news, John. Well done!

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