Mystery Set in Mexico by a Choctaw Author
The Lazy Lawrence Murders
Notes: A novel set on a train to Mexico featuring Sheriff Peter Bounty. This was Downing's ninth and final mystery, published in the space of eight years.
Downing was a member of the Choctaw Nation, born in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in 1902. He was the first commercially successful Native American and Oklahoman mystery writer. He was particularly interested in Mexico and the Spanish language (he also spoke Choctaw, French, and Italian) and wrote a book on the history of Mexico from the indigenous perspective, The Mexican Earth (1940; republished 1996).
The dust jacket design is signed "B.A." (probably Boris Artzybasheff) is a rather creepy image of straight razors sprouting from the ground like cactus.
Edition + Condition: First edition (stated). A very good copy in the original green cloth and a very good dust jacket with some chipping to the edges, particularly at the top of the spine. The chipping does not affect any text or design elements. Front free endpaper has initials written in pencil.
Publication: New York: Published for the Crime Club by Doubleday, Doran and Co., 1941.
Item No: #362142
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