The Night-Blooming Cereus

New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986. BH4 - A first edition (stated with complete numberline) hardcover book SIGNED by Joan Hess and inscribed to Carolyn and Otto (Otto Penzler) on the front free endpaper in very good condition in very good dust jacket that is mylar protected. Dust jacket has some wrinkling on the edges, some scattered scuffing, light scratches and rubbing, light tanning and shelf wear. Book has some bumped corners, some light discoloration and shelf wear. Although not marked in any way, this copy comes from the personal collection of Otto Penzler, legendary editor and founder of the Mysterious Press, an award-winning icon in the genre. A Theo Bloomer Mystery. Joan Hadley is the pseudonym of Joan Hess. 8.5"x5.75", 186 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Theo Bloomer, a retired Connecticut florist with a penchant for visualizing people as plants, is pulled out of his greenhouse by an urgent call from his socially prominent and imperious sister. Her daughter has suddenly abandoned a school tour of Greece an flown to Israel where she is staying on a kibbutz and steadfastly refusing to come home, even if it means missing the first days of school at Vassar. What Theo's niece, the Connecticut arch-Wasp teenager Dorrie Caldicott, can possibly be up to on a kibbutz on the shore of the Dead Sea is totally beyond Theo. But he dutifully catches the next plane and arrives in Israel only to find that Dorrie is adamant - the way only a Caldicott can be: She refuses to leave without her Vassar roommate whom, she fears, has gotten involved with some dangerous character implicated in gun-running and terrorism. Murder follows. With the help of biblical reference and a drawling CIA agent, Theo sorts out motives, adenoidal mimicry, and alibis to arrive at an explanation of the murders on the kibbutz, manages to deliver his niece back to the social rigors of Connecticut society, and rushes home to the night-blooming cereus he had left alone in his greenhouse.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.