 |
Floor Plan |  |
The Dennis Wheatley 'Museum' - Researching the Occult
Follow ups ... 'Crime Dossiers'
The ribbon copy of the original typescript of
'Murder Off Miami' complete with an
otherwise unrecorded cover illustration
This copy turned up at a London bookseller's some years ago
A unique copy of the finished product
Click on the image to enlarge
Shortly after DW wrote 'The Eunuch of Stamboul', his friend Joe Links asked him "Dennis, have you ever thought of writing an illustrated murder story ?"
Thus the 'Crime Dossiers' were born.
Each was a realistic dossier, produced at some expense, with 'real' police reports, witness statements and clues - bits of hair, bloodstained material and so on.
Readers could go through them, decide who was the culprit, and then break a seal on the back of the dossier, and find out if they were right.
Hutchinsons were far from enthusiastic, and even Hatchards would only take six copies. Queen Mary came in and bought the lot.
The first dossier, 'Murder off Miami' was published in 1936 and was followed by three others - 'Who Killed Robert Prentice' (1937), 'The Malinsay Massacre' (1938) and 'Herewith the Clues' (1939).
By the final dossier however the formula was getting tired, and no more were to be produced, although they were reprinted in the 1970s and 80s and various copycats also emerged.
The Crime Dossiers are discussed in further detail elsewhere on the website - to go to the relevant section, click here.
References : 'Drink and Ink' pp 139-141145,146,151-2,157.
Phil Baker pp 357-9,365.
| Provenance: | Private Collection |
