Case 12
- Mystery and detective
Valerie Grayland. The dead men of Eden. London: Robert Hale; Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs, 1962.
Valerie Merle Grayland was an author from Thames who wrote a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including four mysteries featuring a Māori detective. These novels were jointly published by Whitcombe & Tombs and Hale of London, who were responsible for the jacket designs. Two bear the signature of George Chrichard, whose lurid artwork adorns the covers of numerous British mysteries.
Valerie Grayland. The dead men of Eden. London: Robert Hale; Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs, 1962.
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Valerie Grayland. Night of the reaper. London: Robert Hale; Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs, 1963.
Valerie Merle Grayland was an author from Thames who wrote a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including four mysteries featuring a Māori detective. These novels were jointly published by Whitcombe & Tombs and Hale of London, who were responsible for the jacket designs. Two bear the signature of George Chrichard, whose lurid artwork adorns the covers of numerous British mysteries.
Valerie Grayland. Night of the reaper. London: Robert Hale; Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs, 1963.
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Valerie Grayland. Jest of darkness. London: Robert Hale; Christchurch: Whitcombe & Tombs, 1965.
The jacket design of Jest of darkness is by Michael Hoare, whose distinct style adorns several Hale publications of that period.
Valerie Grayland. Jest of darkness. London: Robert Hale; Christchurch: Whitcombe & Tombs, 1965.
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Mary Scott and Joyce West. Such nice people. Hamilton: Paul's Book Arcade, 1962.
The novelist, teacher, and librarian Mary Scott (1888-1979) was a prolific and widely read author, active from the 1930s to 1970s. Best known for her light romantic comedies, Scott in later life wrote five detective stories jointly with Joyce West, published by Paul’s in the early 1960s. Joyce West (1908-1985) was a New Zealand novelist and children’s writer best known for Drovers Road (1953).
Gordon Slatter. A gun in my hand. Christchurch: Pegasus Press, 1959.
Gordon Slatter (1922-1995) was a Christchurch-born author and teacher whose writings included military topics and rugby. A unique novel with a rich Kiwi gusto, A gun in my hand tells of a disillusioned war veteran’s return to Christchurch, whilst satirizing many less than wholesome aspects of postwar New Zealand life.
The jacket design by Jacob Koster (1927-2021) depicts a figure casually waiting but “menaced by slashing narrow lines and the hard red type of the title. The bold, angular typeface, and sparse dynamic are reminiscent of 1950s movie titling”.
--Hamish Thompson. Coverup: the art of the book cover in New Zealand. Auckland: Godwit, 2007.
