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The Mysterious Mr. Badman: A Yorkshire Bibliomystery by W. F. Harvey EPUB

The note read:

“Will the gentleman who took by mistake a copy of Bunyan’s Life and Death of Mr. Badman, return it as soon as possible, as the book is in demand.”

On holiday in Keldstone visiting his nephew, Jim, blanket manufacturer Athelstan Digby agrees to look after the old bookshop on the ground floor of his lodgings while his hosts are away. On the first day of his tenure, a vicar, a chauffeur and an out-of-town stranger enquire after The Life and Death of Mr. Badman by John Bunyan. When a copy mysteriously arrives at the shop in a bundle of books brought in by a young scamp, and is subsequently stolen, Digby moves to investigate the significance of the book along with his nephew, and the two are soon embroiled in a case in which the stakes have risen from antiquarian book-pinching to ruthless murder.

First published in a limited run in 1934, this exceedingly rare and fast-paced bibliomystery set against the landscapes of Yorkshire is long overdue its return to print.

With an introduction by Martin Edwards

About the Author

William Fryer Harvey (1887–1937) was a writer best known today for his supernatural short stories, including ‘August Heat’ and ‘The Beast with Five Fingers’. After studying at Oxford and Leeds, Harvey served in medical units during the First World War and received injuries during a rescue from a boiler room whilst assigned to the Royal Navy from which he never fully recovered. He lived for many years in Switzerland after the war before returning to Letchworth where he died aged 57. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

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