Paperback 844: Death Before Bedtime / Edgar Box (Signet 1093)

Paperback 844: Signet 1093 (1st ptg, 1954)

Title: Death Before Bedtime
Author: Edgar Box (Gore Vidal)
Cover artist: [Samuel] Cherry

Estimated value: $15-20


Best things about this cover:

• "If I can't have this hideous table lamp, no one can!" (I'm currently Ob Sessed with the table lamps of crime fiction / film noir / crime TV)
• "Stop right there! Now, tell me … do these heels go with this embroidered bathrobe? Answer me, punk!"
• Nice leg extension. You rarely see such poise in someone scrambling to protect herself from an intruder. Old school.
• Edgar Box is Gore Vidal. I've been meaning to read Vidal's Box stuff for a while. Maybe this Christmas …

Best things about this back cover:

• Hey, his secretary can't help her spinal deformity, you assholes.
• I hope "The woman he kept a secret" is an imaginary friend.
• "The buddy who hated him" is just a great stand-alone phrase.

Page 123~

She flushed, confused. "I … I was mistaken then. I was under the impression you thought Johnson was in some way involved."

Lydia was always the first to volunteer … if Johnson was involved.

~RP

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