{"product_id":"hed-rather-be-dead-paperback","title":"He'd Rather Be Dead: Volume 9 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eGeorge Bellairs\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe mayor of a seaside town is murdered, and a London police detective must sort through motives both political and personal . . .\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Thanks to its mayor, Sir Gideon Ware, the quiet harbor town of Westcombe has turned into a crowded and rather garish seaside destination where visitors can come to escape the stress of wartime. When Ware collapses at a lavish luncheon, felled by strychnine, Inspector Littlejohn must travel from London to solve the seemingly inexplicable murder. Ware was surrounded by local bigwigs at his table--but that's just the beginning of the suspect list, as Littlejohn untangles the rivalries, resentments, and corrupt dealings that permeate this picturesque but troubled community . . . \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for the Inspector Littlejohn mysteries\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Assured prose, well-drawn characters, and the atmosphere of 1940s wartime England . . . well worth the reader's time.\" --\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Everything is quite comparable in tone to a really good Simenon.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Dryly ceremonious wit [that] shines from the very first page.\" --\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eGeorge Bellairs was the pseudonym of Harold Blundell (1902-1985), an English crime author best known for the creation of Detective-Inspector Thomas Littlejohn. Born in Heywood, near Lancashire, Blundell introduced his famous detective in his first novel, \u003ci\u003eLittlejohn on Leave\u003c\/i\u003e (1941). A low-key Scotland Yard investigator whose adventures were told in the Golden Age style of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, Littlejohn went on to appear in more than fifty novels, including \u003ci\u003eThe Crime at Halfpenny Bridge\u003c\/i\u003e (1946), \u003ci\u003eOutrage on Gallows Hill \u003c\/i\u003e(1949), and \u003ci\u003eThe Case of the Headless Jesuit\u003c\/i\u003e (1950). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In the 1950s Bellairs relocated to the Isle of Man, a remote island in the Irish Sea, and began writing full time. He continued writing Thomas Littlejohn novels for the rest of his life, taking occasional breaks to write standalone novels, concluding the series with \u003ci\u003eAn Old Man Dies\u003c\/i\u003e (1980). \u003cbr\u003e\n        \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 240\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.5 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 14, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42113006993543,"sku":"9781504092692","price":24.17,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/8817829b9a6620f22614c00a8fac2345.webp?v=1732485659","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/hed-rather-be-dead-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}