Take thee a sharp knife

Numbered and limited edition of 300.

The story starts with Professor Stubbs visiting a night-club where a man is stabbed at his table, though it seems impossible that anyone present could have committed the murder. After much work and a considerable number of misadventures the Professor tracks down the murderer and his method, with the able assistance of Max Boyle and under the watchful eye of the law, Chief Inspector Bishop.

Written by Ruthven Todd under the pen-name of R. T. Campbell, this is the first publication of Take Thee a Sharp Knife since its original appearance in 1946. It has been generously annotated by Forbes Gibb, setting it in its context of war-time London, and relating it to contemporary events in Todd’s own life. Peter Main also provides a fascinating and well-researched introductory chapter describing the background to the Stubbs novels, including the four ‘lost’ novels which were written but never published.

As a bonus, you will also find here the first-ever publication of ‘When the Bad Bleed’, an unfinished preliminary version of Take Thee a Sharp Knife, the manuscript of which was recently discovered in Syracuse University Library.