[a nice clean book, light shelfwear, spine just a bit turned; jacket moderately faded along spine, otherwise colorful and attractive with minor wear only]. Quite uncommon murder mystery about a killing that occurs on opening night of a Broadway play and "involves, before its solution, the most important figures in the whole production -- the rich producer, equally famous in New York and Hollywood, the titled and fabulously clever author, the beautiful star herself, and all the lesser members of the cast and backstage crew." According to the jacket blurb, the author came "from a family that has been prominently associated with the New York stage for years," and that her book benefits from "her obvious familiarity with her subject, coupled with a rare talent for crisp, pungent dialogue." True enough on the family connection: her mother was the noted theatrical set and costume designer (and lover of Thomas Wolfe) Aline Bernstein, who designed dozens of stage productions between 1916 and 1951. This was the second of Edla's two mystery novels; the other, "A Well-born Corpse," had been published the year before. (The jacket illustration by Alajalov had previously been used on the cover of the February 10, 1940 issue of The New Yorker.)
Title: Murder Without Make-up
Edition: First Edition
Illustrator: Illustrated by (dj) Alajalov
Location Published: New York, Random House: (c.1940)
Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj
Categories: Fiction: Mystery/Detective
Seller ID: 22673
Keywords: fiction: mystery/detective broadway theatre