Y'know, this could turn out to be the most annoying post I've ever written. Which really would be saying something.
Anyway, the Ross Thomas book I got at the Book Fair was this:
That's the UK hardback first edition of Voodoo, Ltd., published by Little, Brown and Company in 1993 – originally published in the States by Mysterious Press in 1992. The dustjacket illustrator isn't credited in the book – there's a signature at the bottom of the artwork that could be "Milliner" – but for reasons I'll go into at some unspecified point in the future I do know the patterns on the back cover were created by one Elaine Cox.
Now, in that Ross Thomas post on Thursday, I alluded to one of the two series that Thomas wrote during his career. And if I'd ended up blogging about the Ross Thomas book I thought I'd be blogging about (yep, getting reeeaaaally annoying now), I'd be discussing that series now. But Voodoo Ltd. isn't in that series. It's in the other series, the one starring private investigators Artie Wu and Quincy Durant. In fact it's the third book in that series, following Chinaman's Chance and Out on the Rim – neither of which I have. But seeing as this rather fine copy of Voodoo Ltd. was only two quid, and therefore irresistible, it looks like I'll now be collecting this series of Ross Thomas books too; even though I haven't even started blogging about the other series – the one I originally intended to blog about, and will still blog about, at some point.
It's official: the most annoying post ever. I'm going now.
Cool cover. Better than the American one - I have a nasty ex-library copy of it. This is one of the two Ross Thomas novels I am saving because it makes me sad there are no more to read. (Though re-reading RT is wonderful. I've been re-reading The Money Harvest to prepare a blog post and I am enjoying it nearly as much as the first time around.)
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a game I like to play called 'English or American?' I will hold up a copy of the English edition of a book and then the American edition of the same book and make my wife choose which cover is better. English covers usually win (especially if the book originated from the UK).
I like the sound of that game. I would suggest it to Rachel, but I think she'd hit me in the face. Repeatedly. Probably with a book.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a new variant of the game - will she hit you with the English copy or the American copy? I think we'll call this the Lewes Rules version.
ReplyDeleteIf I buy many more books, I imagine she'll hit me with both, holding one in each hand, and bringing them swiftly together with my head in the middle. I think we'll call this the Lewes Sandwich.
ReplyDelete...Don't give me these ideas!!! How about Rachel's rules. You hold up one in English and one in American I decide on the best cover and then I sell the other one and pocket the cash albeit only £2!!!
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