Footsteps in the Dark 1927 by Lyon Mearson ~ Gothic Mystery ~ dust jacket by George W. Gage ~ Macaulay Company

Title: Footsteps in the Dark

Author: Lyon Mearson

Description: Black cloth boards with yellow stamped lettering. Head of spine and corners lightly pushed. Interior is clean and unmarked. Dust jacket has light chipping at spine ends and some mild edge wear; light damp stain at foot of spine; in an archival mylar sleeve. 319 pages. Scarce.

''In the heart of New York City is a house adorned with oriental magnificence and which broods with all of the Occult East's fantasy and terror. A fiendishly subtle murder ... a cellar stacked with gold ... and the resourceful Mr. Mearson plunges his readers into a network of intrigue...'' - from the front flap.

''Readers who delight in feeling the cold shivers slipping up and down their vertebrae, who thoroughly enjoy tales that are erie and unnatural will find in Lyon Mearson's latest thriller all that their hearts desire. Footsteps in the dark, voices in the empty air, doors that lock themselves, shadows that play hide and seek, bodies that disappear and then return to their caskets, chess men that perform on the board without the guidance of human hands, mysterious rappings--the whole catalogue of tricks unreal and unworldly are trotted out. Set in the heart of New York City, the author has treated his characters to all the thrills of the so-called occult cast with a few modern ones thrown in. There is a puzzling murder among other crimes, and, of course, a love story.'' - Illinois State Journal, Aug. 21, 1927.

In 1923, Lyon Mearson (1888-1966) succeeded former President Theodore Roosevelt as the editor of Metropolitan magazine and in the 1930s was the editor of both True Story and True Experiences magazines. He was the author eight novels, several short stories, and two Broadway plays.

Jacket illustration by George W. Gage (1887-1957), an American illustrator whose work notably appeared on the covers of The Saturday Evening Post and Argosy Magazine.


Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Near Fine
Jacket Condition: Very Good

Publisher: The Macaulay Company
Place: New York
Year: 1927

Keywords: George W. Gage, mystery, New York City, gothic,