First edition. 382pp. Blue cloth-covered boards, gilt titles on spine. Lightly bumped spine heel. Slightly cocked. Pages starting to tan. Internally neat, clean, bright and tight. Dust jacket mirrors book damage, price unclipped. 8vo. Gripping thriller finds the author's formidable detective Emile Cinq-Mars in a dark and sinister world where secrets are complex and profitable and no one is exactly who he or she seems.