The Lonely Strangers by Charity Blackstock

First published 1972; cover shown is the 1973 Hodder & Stoughton (UK) hardcover edition.
Jacket art by William Randell.
287p. Historical fiction.

First sentence: When Coll was a small boy, his father took him to Edinburgh.

The Wicked Flee by Anne Hocking

First published 1940; cover shown is the undated probable first edition paperback from Geoffrey Bles (UK) and George Jaboor (AU).

Back cover of the same book, showing a WWII related advertisement. The book is printed on cheap paper and features advertisements on the back cover and both inner covers.
211p. Mystery fiction.

The Pretty Pink Shroud by E. X. Ferrars

First published 1977; cover shown is the 1979 Penguin Books (US) paperback edition.
Cover design by Neil Stuart/cover photograph by Joseph Marvullo.
186p. Mystery fiction.

First sentence: Ingrid woke with a sense of depression.

Teach Yourself Dressmaking by Isabel Horner

Cover shown is the 1939 hardcover edition by English Universities Press (UK).
Cover design by B.P.
232p. Technical non-fiction.

First sentence: "Some women dress - others merely wear a few clothes!" a witty old lady once remarked... the art of dressing is well worth studying.

Dumb as They Come by Mark Corrigan

Cover shown is the 1958 first edition from Angus & Robertson (UK).
224p. Australian crime fiction.

First sentence: The Windy City, they call it.

Poison for Teacher by Nancy Spain

First published in 1949; cover shown is the 1994 Virago Press (UK) paperback edition.
Cover photograph of Nancy Spain by Angus McBean.
280p. Crime/Comedy fiction.

First sentence: "Of all the stinking, boring, belly-aching tunes," shouted Johnny DuVivien passionately, "that one jest about takes anyone's cake!"

'Til Death: An 87th Precinct Mystery by Ed McBain

First published 1959; cover shown is the 1975 Signet Books (US) paperback edition.
165p. Mystery/Series fiction.

First sentence: Detective Steve Carella blinked at the early Sunday morning sunshine, cursed himself for not having closed the blinds the night before, and then rolled over onto his left side.

Fright by Cornell Woolrich

First published in 1950 under the pseudonym of George Hopley.
Cover shown is the 2007 Hard Case Crime (US) paperback edition; cover art by Arthur Suydam.
254p. Crime/Noir fiction.

First sentence: He was twenty-five that year, 1915, and his name was Prescott Marshall.

Where is She Now? by Laurence Meynell

Cover shown is the 1955 first edition by Collins (UK).
192p. Mystery fiction.

First sentence: "I thought it might amuse you to have a shot at it," Arun Dorset said; and the good-looking, dark girl came in with a tray and a cup of tea.

Maigret's Little Joke - Georges Simenon

First published in France in 1957; cover shown is the 1961 Arrow (UK) paperback edition.
160p. Mystery fiction.

First sentence: The little old man with the small goatee beard was again emerging from the shadow of the warehouse, backwards, looking to left and right, with a movement of both hands as if to draw towards himself the heavy lorry whose manoeuvre he was guiding.

The Case of the Straw Man by Doris Miles Disney

First published in 1951; cover shown is the 1958 first UK edition by W. Foulsham & Co.
Cover artist unknown.
192p. Mystery fiction.

First sentence: At five minutes to five Lucy Graham closed her typewriter and cleared her desk.

Boys Will Be Boys by E. S. Turner

The Story of Sweeney Todd, Deadwood Dick, Sexton Blake, Billy Bunter, Dick Barton et al.
First published 1948; cover shown is the 1976 Penguin Books (UK) paperback edition.
Cover by John Gorham/Danny Posner/Hassall.
304p. Non-fiction/Reference.

First sentence: Charles Addams, the macabre-minded artist of The New Yorker, has a sketch of a sinister-looking building which bears a notice: 'Beware of the Thing'.