The Saint Mystery Library Are Almost All Anthologies
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The Saint Books An overview The two book series indexed here are only indirectly related to each other. In each case the books were issued by the company that was then publishing The Saint Mystery Magazine. However, the magazine had changed hands between the two series, including a year’s hiatus between the two publishers. The two constants over the magazine’s history were the editorial direction of Leslie Charteris and the direct editorship of Hans Stefan Santesson. The publisher of Great American Publications was given as Henry Scharf in issues of The Saint Mystery Magazine. The ownership of Fiction Publishing Company remains a mystery. One would expect it to be revealed by the annual Post Office-mandated Statements of Ownership in the magazine, but this incarnation did not have a second- class mailing permit so they never printed one. The indexing of each series presents its own problems. The Saint Mystery Library are almost all anthologies. The volumes list Leslie Charteris as the editor of the series, which I have stretched to give him credit as editor of the individual volumes. The Saint Novels were all reprints of previously published Saint books, all by Leslie Charteris. Obviously an author Index of the book titles for either series would have only one author: Leslie Charteris. Thus I have dispensed with that level of Author Index and produced a combined Author Index, containing both the book titles and the contents. The book titles are printed in italics. The usual citations for prior publications of the books didn’t fit into this format, so I annotated them into the Numerical Listings instead. Since the same altered format was being used for both series, the decision to index them together was inevitable. I was fortunate in being able to examine all the volumes in both series. I am indebted to Jerry Boyajian for locating the ads for The Saint Novels in his run of The Saint Mystery Magazine, which provide approximate dating for that series. THE SAINT MYSTERY LIBRARY Publisher: Great American Publications, Inc., 270 Madison Avenue, New York 16, NY Distributor: K[able] Format: short - #s 118 - 123 tall - #s 124 -131 Price: 35¢ Most of the books are anthologies, but three late volumes contained only novels. 15 of the stories and one novel were new; the remainder were reprints. Most of the stories had previously appeared in The Saint Mystery Magazine, either as originals or reprints. One is tempted to assume that the new stories were drawn from the magazine’s inventory, but the introduction to #128 mentions that one of its stories was rejected by the magazine but was bought for the anthology series, where it was felt to be a better fit. The books were issued in pairs, from September 1959 to March 1960. The publication dates as given in the Copyright records look screwy, but if correct the earliest ones would coincide with the publication of the first issue of the magazine under Great American. The books are numbered from 118 to 131 on the covers and spines, but are also numbered 1 to 14 on the inside pages; the latter numbers are given in parentheses in the numerical listing. All citations use the numbers on the outside of the books since those are the most conspicuous. All the books contain cover credits. All 14 covers appear in the Bookscans database. Copyright 2011, 2013, 2021 by Kenneth R. Johnson 1 THE SAINT MYSTERY LIBRARY NUMERICAL LISTING 118 (#1) Charteris, Leslie Stairway to Murder Sussman [© 9/29] Aug 1959 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 Stairway to Murder by Rufus King 78 The Very Groovy Corpse by Craig Rice 100 Walk-up to Fear by Maysie Greig 131 Bad and Dangerous by Hal Ellson 151 The Amateur Assassin by Hayden Howard 119 (#2) Charteris, Leslie Witness to Death Sussman [© 9/29] Aug 1959 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 A Package for Mr. Big by Frank Kane 43 Witness to Death by Wenzell Brown 81 For the Good of the City by Arthur Somers Roche 106 City in the Bottle by Hayden Howard 146 I Want It Foolproof by Richard Deming 120 (#3) Charteris, Leslie Murder Set to Music Sussman [© 10/13] Sep 1959 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 Murder Set to Music by Fredric Brown 58 Corpse in a Suit of Armor by Poul Anderson 83 Pill Roller by James E. Gunn 105 Open All Night by Lawrence G. Blochman 148 The Eleven Diplomats by John Jakes 121 (#4) Charteris, Leslie The Frightened Millionaire Ted Coconis [© 10/13] Sep 1959 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 Frightened Millionaire by Craig Rice 60 City of Brass by Edward D. Hoch 149 The Nine Guilty Nannies by John Jakes 122 (#5) Charteris, Leslie Murder Made in Moscow Luszcz [© 11/10] Oct 1959 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 Introduction by Leslie Charteris 9 Murder Made in Moscow by Baynard Kendrick 77 Sign of the Thunderbolt by Lawrence G. Blochman 102 Adventure of the Little Hangman by August Derleth 126 The Legation Cigar by Carl Jacobi 139 Lunatic's Dictionary by Leticia V. Ramos 149 The Honest Fakirs by John Jakes 123 (#6) Charteris,Leslie Murder in the Family Bob Ritta [© 11/10] Oct 1959 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 Introduction by Leslie Charteris 9 Murder in the Family by Craig Rice 81 Beast of Prey by Talmage Powell 115 Ceremony Slightly Delayed by B. Traven 140 The Raised Dollars by Jonathan Trumbull 145 The Dead Dodos by John Jakes 154 A Filipino "FBI” by H. S. Singh Copyright 2011, 2013, 2021 by Kenneth R. Johnson 2 124 (#7) Charteris, Leslie Death Stops at a Tourist Camp Guiseppi Bellanca [© 12/15] Dec 1959 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 Introduction by Leslie Charteris 9 Death Stops at a Tourist Camp by Leslie Ford 80 Hula Homicide by Will Oursler 94 The Big Deal by Stewart Sterling 131 I Came to Kill by Irving E. Cox 125 (#8) Blochman, Lawrence G. Red Snow at Darjeeling Sid Miller [© 12/15] Dec 1959 (novel, mag, 1937, with an Introduction by Leslie Charteris) 126 (#9) Charteris, Leslie Executioner's Signature Frank Kalin [© 1/12] Jan 1960 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 Introduction by Leslie Charteris 9 The Executioner's Signature by George Fielding Eliot 67 Vengeance by John Stephens 82 Miss Clarissa and the Grand Duchess by Ivar Thorne 88 Flame at Twilight by Edward D. Hoch 150 Bud of Paradise by Ranjee Shahani 127 (#10) Brown, Wenzell Murder Seeks an Agent Bellanca [© 1/12] Jan 1960 (novel, Five Star Mystery, 1945, with an Introduction by Leslie Charteris) 128 (#11) Charteris, Leslie Let Her Kill Herself Frank Kalin [© 2/11] Feb 1960 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 Introduction by Leslie Charteris 9 Let Her Kill Herself by Rufus King 67 Find One Cuckaboo by Harlan Ellison 82 This Above All by Leighla Whipper 88 Ten Lost Bombs by John Jakes 150 Dry Dust by Judith Merril 129 (#12) Rice, Craig Innocent Bystander Sid Miller [© 2/19] Feb 1960 (novel, Simon & Schuster, 1949, with an Introduction by Leslie Charteris) 130 (#13) Charteris, Leslie Death Walks in Marble Halls Leonard Goldberg Mar 1960 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 Introduction by Leslie Charteris 9 Premiere of Murder by Fredric Brown 41 Death Walks in Marble Halls by Lawrence G. Blochman 111 Mimic Murder by Cornell Woolrich 140 Night of Gaiety by Robert Andrea 146 The Seven New Saints by John Jakes 131 (#14) Charteris, Leslie The Rum and Coca-Cola Murders Larry Gordon Mar 1960 (Anthology, first and only edition.) Contents: 7 Introduction by Leslie Charteris 15 The Rum and Coca Cola Murders by Wenzell Brown 145 Calypsonian by Samuel Selvon Copyright 2011, 2013, 2021 by Kenneth R. Johnson 3 SAINT NOVEL Publisher: Fiction Publishing Company, (30 East 42nd St.), New York 17, NY Distributor: K[able] Format: tall Price: 50¢ The full street address only appears in the occasional back pages ads. The Introductions noted are all new, making apologies for the antiquated style of the early books and explaining/defending certain cultural attitudes of the 1920's. The texts are assumed to be complete, although nothing was so stated on the books themselves; I have not bothered to check them. Although the books are all undated, approximate months of issuance can be inferred from ads in The Saint Mystery Magazine. They were clearly issued in pairs, between (approximately) January 1964 and March 1965. The dates in the numerical list below have been annotated with the cover date of the issue in which the volume is first advertised as "now on sale.” The issues dated through July 1964 were published one month earlier than their cover dates, after which the cover dates were "advanced" by an additional month. There were no issues dated September or November 1964 or February 1965. All the covers are photographs, stills of Roger Moore from The Saint TV series that was then airing. I have not bothered to note them in the Artist Index. All 14 covers appear in the Bookscans database. NUMERICAL LISTING 101 Charteris, Leslie The Saint Steps in n.d. (novel, Doubleday, Doran (CC), 1943) 102 Charteris, Leslie The Saint Sees It Through n.d. (novel, Doubleday (CC), 1946) 103 Charteris, Leslie The Saint Closes the Case [Apr 1964] n.d. (The Last Hero, novel, Doubleday, Doran (CC), 1931, with a new Author's Foreword) 104 Charteris, Leslie The Avenging Saint [Apr 1964] n.d. (novel, Doubleday, Doran (CC), 1931, with a new Author's Foreword) 105 Charteris, Leslie The Saint's Getaway [May 1964] n.d.