"The small man standing on the narrow ledge stared fixedly forward with eyes made wide and blank by terror." At 2pm on a Monday in 1966, Ned Balfour wakes in Corsica beside a beautiful woman. In the same instant, back in London, fellow art dealer and Dachau survivor Sam Weiss falls ten stories to his death. Ned refuses to believe that Sam's death was intentional, and his investigation thrusts him into the deceit and fraudulence of the art world, where he unmasks more than one respectable face. First published in 1967, this ...
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"The small man standing on the narrow ledge stared fixedly forward with eyes made wide and blank by terror." At 2pm on a Monday in 1966, Ned Balfour wakes in Corsica beside a beautiful woman. In the same instant, back in London, fellow art dealer and Dachau survivor Sam Weiss falls ten stories to his death. Ned refuses to believe that Sam's death was intentional, and his investigation thrusts him into the deceit and fraudulence of the art world, where he unmasks more than one respectable face. First published in 1967, this thrilling tale of vertigo, suspicion and infidelity is a long-forgotten classic with an intriguing plot twist.
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Add this copy of The Last Best Friend. Atlantic Large Print to cart. $74.11, very good condition, Sold by Burwood Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wickham Market, SUFFOLK, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1990 by Chivers Press; South Yarmouth, Mass., Curley Publishing, Inc..
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Seller's Description:
First Edition Thus. Hardback. 8vo. pp. [x], 237. Original publisher's red pictorial boards lettered red, white and black. Presentation copy: 'for the Bowden sisters with love from George Sims [name stamped]. Sims did not hold with signing his books and often used a stamp instead. Lengthy handwritten note by Sims on front free endpaper in which he explains how a newspaper cutting he read about a Jewish family's art collection being stolen by the Nazis and which ended up being owned by a mysterious millionaire became the basis for this book. Two loosely inserted letters written on headed notepaper from Peacocks, Hurst, Berkshire, RG10 0DR dated 16 Jan [No year], and 3 June 95, the first addressed to 'Dear both' [Jill-Anne and Nancy Bowden] consists of about 240 words in which Sims says he is a great believer in Vitamin C, he mentions his book 'Deadhand', 'one of the novels on which I sold a film option (none of them have actually been made into a movie) and the promoter acted out a scene in my little flat at 46 Woodstock Mews just behind the National Hospital, Marylebone. I found his acting embarassing [sic] but wish I still had the flat. ' Sims then mentions an article about Charlotte Mew and quotes a few lines from one of her poems. The second letter addressed to Jill-Anne [Bowden] consists of about 150 words in which he refers to his 'non-writing/reading phase' and says he doesn't think it's due to the heart pills. He then refers to a piece on Julian Symons he has written for an anthology in America. Jill Anne and Nancy Bowden both worked at Cyril Beaumont's Bookshop at 75 Charing Cross Road. George Sims (1923 &endash; 1999) was an antiquarian bookseller and writer. A very good bright copy. 0745196365 Very good indeed.
