Julian Symonds - "A Three-Pipe Problem" - A Sherlock Holmes Pastiche - 1975 First Edition - Harper & Row - Hardcover with Dust Jacket 

Author: Julian Symonds 
Title: A Three-Pipe Problem 
Publisher: Harper & Row
Date of Publication: 1975
Place of Publication: United States
Edition: First Edition 
Format: Hardcover with Dust Jacket. Dust jacket protected by library quality paper backed plastic sleeve.  
Condition: In very good condition. Book intact. Binding tight. Book square, No tears, annotations, markings, bent corners throughout the book. Some foxing to the edges of pages. No yellowing of pages. Dust jacket intact with no tears, rubbing or chips but with some shelving marks on the front and rear. The rear of the dust jacket also has some residual glue marks.  
Details: Yellow colored hard covers with blue cloth binding around the spine. Front and rear covers blank. Title, author and publisher details on the spine in silver lettering. Graphic design dust jacket with illustrative drawing on the front and reviews of Julian Symonds writings on the rear. Title and author details on the front of the dust jacket. Author, title and publisher details on the spine of the dust jacket. 

Julian Symons (1912-1994) was a British  crime writer and poet. Symons also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. Symons won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America and, in 1982, received the Grand Master Award. Symons served as the president of the Detection Club from 1976 till 1985. Symons wrote two modern-day Sherlock Holmes pastiches, as well as one set in the 1920s.

Symon's construct of this story is interesting. An actor playing Sherlock Holmes in a television series, Sheridan Haynes, decides he has the skills to solve a series of murders dubbed "The Karate Killings", that has stumped Scotland Yard and announces he can solve the crimes using Holme's deductive methods. The detective in charge of the case, Chief Superintendent Roger Devenish, is dismissive of Haynes announcement and states that he does not need the assistance of a Holmes want-to-be, but if Haynes feels he can find the murderer then he is welcome to try. Just don't get in the way of the official investigation. Devenish is a blustery type, similar to Doyle's Inspector Lestrade, and regards the announcement as a publicity stunt. Haynes proceeds with his investigation but, as the story progresses, the reader begins to question his mental stability as Haynes due to his seeming over-identification with the character he plays. Along the way Haynes finds his own Dr. Watson and rounds up his own group of Baker Street Irregulars to help him. It was an amusing story and completely fun read.

This copy of "A Three-Pipe Problem" was a pre-publication review copy and the book includes a note from Harper & Row Publishers to Literary Editors (See photographs).  

If you like British old-school mysteries, or have a love of Sherlock Holmes, I recommend this book. Symonds writing is on full display in this novel as for almost the entire book I suspected an entirely different character as the murderer, and totally missed the genuine clues Symons laid down as the story progresses. .

This book is highly regarded amongst Sherlockians and readers of mystery fiction. A number of leading mystery writers have cited it as one of the books that inspired them to become writers of the genre.  

Quite a few hardcover and paperback editions of this book still around. Price points vary.

$10 discount for local pick-up.