Celebrating 100 British Library Crime Classics published, this title is dedicated to the book trade, moving between various London bookshops, with humorous and astute observations about booksellers and rare book collectors.

“Some dealers and collectors have no conscience whatever. Do you know, Sergeant, there are men and even women who would cheerfully kill me to get what I have found today?”

An honest policeman, Sergeant Wigan, escorts a drunk man home one night to keep him out of trouble and, seeing his fine book collection, slowly falls in to the gentle art of book collecting. Just as the friendship is blossoming, the policeman’s book-collecting friend is murdered. To solve the mystery of why the victim was killed, and which of his rare books was taken, Wigan dives into the world of ‘runners’ and book collectors, where avid agents will gladly cut you for a first edition and then offer you a lift home afterwards.