Mon 22 Feb 2010
SARA PARETSKY – Deadlock. Dial Press, hardcover, 1984. Paperback reprints include: Ballantine, 1984 (shown); Dell, 1992.
If I had the hardcover First Edition of this book, the second adventure of PI V. I. Warshawski, I imagine it’d be worth a fortune. (I might have had a review copy at one time, but if I did, it’s gone now. Easy come, easy go.)
Vic finds the murderer of her cousin Boom Boom, the hockey player, in this one. Injured and out of the game, Boom Boom had stumbled across some funny things going on in the Great Lakes grain-shipping business, his new career, and then he met what everybody else has called a fatal accident.
Vic’s investigation is as boring as most PI work probably is. It’s a tribute to Paretsky’ s writing ability that the case she cracks didn’t put me immediately to sleep. Grain-shipping is not the most fascinating topic in the world.
A lot of deaths take place in this book, some incidental, some intentional. Coming from Michigan originally myself, I appreciated the big blowup at the Soo Locks more than someone who hasn’t, I imagine. (That’s a lovely pun built into the title, by the way!)
This is not a puzzle type of a mystery, when it comes down to it. The killer(s) are reasonably obvious — it’s just getting the goods on him/her/them that’s the hard part.
[UPDATE] 02-22-10. All in all, I believe I overestimated the long-run value of this book as a First Edition. Of course, I can blame it on the Internet, which has flattened the value of many books which would otherwise be considered hard-to-find and valuable, if only there weren’t dozens of copies available and easily found. In “Very Good” condition, a First Edition copy of Deadlock can be obtained for $40, while one in “Fine” shape might set you back $65.
Nothing to retire on, in other words.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Re the devalued first edition I know what you mean. You don’t even want to know what the Internet did to my first UK signed DOCTOR NO in dust wrapper, value.
Ouch!
The other side of the coin being some things are still priced far out of reason. I don’t think I have ever seen Talbot Mundy’s THE MYSTERY OF KHUFU’S TOMB for less than $100 (though it is now available as a free download on-line).
Still, the book market has never been sane.
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:25 pm
I’ve been doing some research on this. Second books by a popular and collectible author are never as pricey as the first one, which always came out when no one had heard of whoever it was who wrote it.
So I checked out the First Editions of INDEMNITY ONLY (Dial Press, 1972) on ABE. One in Fair condition goes for $30, one in VG Plus for $500, and one in Near Fine for $1200. Various signed copies in varying conditions are available at prices in between.
But no, so far as I can tell, I never had a copy of this one.
— Steve
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:10 pm
What happens with a book like this is very often most readers don’t get on the bandwagon until at least the second or third book, probably first encountering the writer in paperback, thus the first edition of the first book has greater value. Then obviously condition and scarcity come in to it.
I have a pair of books by James Branch Cabel that are only in very good condition and lightly foxed, but worth about $400 a piece, yet a first edition signed book by P.C. Wren (author of BEAU GESTE) in dust wrapper and fine condition that is only worth about $50 —- assuming you could find a buyer. And yet all three are relatively obscure — of course the tipped in plate by Howard Pyle help the Cabel’s worth.
I mentioned that KHUFU’s TOMB usually going for $100 but once picked up a first edition of Mundy’s KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES in dust wrapper in fine condition at a library sale for $1 and it’s only worth around $25 to $50. Nice profit, but still.
And it wasn’t that many years ago you could pick up a first edition of HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES in fine condition for only $1000 or so.
In fact, why one book or another is so valuable is hard to define. A first signed edtion of CASINO ROYALE is scarcer than a first DOCTOR NO (the latter a best seller) but the first DOCTOR NO is worth more, despite it not having one of the iconic Richard Chopping covers.
I once knew a guy trying to sell a ‘signed’ MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN — unaware Fleming died before it was ever issued.
Most of my first editions are accidental in that I generally don’t collect firsts. But it is always amusing — and a little sad — when a friend who doesn’t know much about books brings out a book club edition of some best seller and asks you how much it is worth, or you go in an antique store and see someone asking $50 for a book you could buy at the Goodwill for 99 cents.
It’s even worse in the comic book field. I long ago gave up trying to profit on either hobby unless like that fellow down in Florica I find a copy of Poe’s TAMMERLANE for $5 in a hock shop.
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Before I retired, other employees often would bring in books to show me and ask if they were valuable, etc. Without exception, over the many years, every single book was just about worthless because of the conditon or the fact it was a book club edition, etc. Non-collectors really do not understand about the importance of condition, dust jacket, first edition, etc. It would have been funny if it was not so annoying. You know how real estate sales people always say, “location, location, location”? I was always saying, “conditon, condition, condition”. But it fell on deaf ears.
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:43 pm
When I was checking out the prices on ABE for Paretsky’s first book, I checked the boxes for Hardcover and First Edition, but some Book Club Editions managed to sneak through and turned up in the results anyway.
You’d think booksellers would know better, but I don’t think the “First Book Club Edition” for INDEMNITY ONLY is worth $33.50.
Of course, if their description — which I assume is accurate — nabs a paying customer, is that all that matters?
The other thing that non-collectors do not understand is that the age of a book is not a critical factor in its value, even if it’s in great condition. No demand, no value.
— Steve
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Trying to explain any collectible market to an outsider is always hard — it’s not always that easy for those who are supposed to be in the know.
My Mother-in-law was something of an expert in collecting carnival glass, she did appraisals of estates and was well recognized by collectors, but then she decided to make some extra collecting Barbie dolls.
As you can imagine that didn’t work out well.
The best advice has always been to collect something you love, and then you are less likely to be disappointed or get taken. Even if you sometimes pay more than something is worth chances are it will be worth it to you, and you are more apt to do the research and know what you are doing.
In the seventies I bought four paper sacks worth of comics from a second hand book store for $40 and sold the contents for a ridiculous mark up, but it doesn’t happen very often. Today when you take your prize up to the counter at the second hand bookshop the owner goes on the Net to see what it is worth.
Sort of kills the fun — not to mention the zeal.
Still, if book collecting wasn’t interesting we wouldn’t have all those great bookstore mysteries. We may be the only collectors who inspired our own sub genre of literature.
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:38 am
Speaking of collecting books, every book collector should watch QUIET PLEASE: MURDER(1942), starring George Sanders. He plays a villain who steals valuable first editions and makes forged copies for resale to other collectors. Most of the film takes place in a library among the rare books.
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:31 am
Walker
Yes! Great film. Plus the cast included Richard Denning as a private eye who specializes in rare books, Gail Patrick as Sanders less than trustworthy partner, and Sidney Blackmer and Kurt Katch as a pair of Nazi front men investing their stolen funds.
It’s very loosely based on Lawrence Blochman’s novella DEATH WALKS THE MARBLE HALLS, which was reprinted by Dell in one of those 10 cent paperback editions they did in the late forties.
The McGuffin in the film is a Richard Burbridge folio Shakespeare Sanders stole from the libary, forged, and than Patrick sold to Nazi agent Blackmer. Now Blackmer wants his money, and they all end up in the library at night during a blackout — Blackmer is murdered, Sanders pretends to be a cop — and Denning is caught between Sanders and his hoods and vengeance minded Katch and a hunt for the real Burbridge hidden in the library.
John Larkin, who also did THE BERMUDA MYSTERY wrote and directed. It’s a great little mystery that ought to be available on DVD.
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Copies of QUIET PLEASE MURDER do exist, but only on a collector-to-collector basis. It used to play on late-night TV, but that was a while ago, and I don’t believe it’s ever shown up on TCM. I did see it offered by a dealer at PulpFest last year.
In any case, I have a copy and I really ought to watch it. Does me no good at all otherwise.
June 20th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
[…] Comments: I reviewed Deadlock back here a few months ago. I reported on the book at hand, but I think Maryell does an even better job in […]