Patrick Wayland — Double Defector

New York, The Crime Club by Doubleday and Company, 1964 . First edition. Cloth. A very scarce first edition of this exciting Crime Club thriller, following the lives of agents of a privately funded, top secret organization. The very scarce first US edition of this thrilling adventure novel from Patrick Wayland. In the publisher's original price unclipped dust wrapper.Set in Washington D.C. and Montreal, this novel follows two special operatives. One defects to the enemy side, and the other must stop him before microfilms containing sensitive information can be given to Moscow.With the former owner's inscription of 'Audrey Bouverie' to the front free endpaper. Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie was an extravagant socialite and renowned beauty of the Edwardian period. Impeccably connected, Pleydell-Bouverie was also the illegitimate granddaughter of King Edward VII, and rumoured to be a lover of King Edward VIII. A sparkling figure of fashionable society, her friends included Nancy Mitford, Coco Chanel, Winston Churchill, and Fred Astaire. This work is from the sale of Pleydell-Bouverie"s library at Julians Park, Hertfordshire. She purchased the home in 1940, redesigning the interior and amassing an impressive library, featuring many examples of her own bookbinding. In the publisher's original cloth binding, with price unclipped dust wrapper. Light areas of fading to back strip, with minor shelf wear to spine head and tail. Light spots to fore edge of text block. Former owner's inscription to front free endpaper. Closed tear to tail of dust wrapper front wrap. Light spotting to rear wrap. Internally, firmly bound. Pages clean and bright. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: None. Very Good Indeed/Very Good Indeed.