Live and Let Die

First published in 1954, this James Bond novel sends the British agent to New York, Harlem, Florida, and Jamaica to break a gold-smuggling and intelligence operation run by Mr Big, a crime lord who claims voodoo authority and works with Soviet handlers. Bond is aided by the American Felix Leiter and by Solitaire, a woman kept by Mr Big for her supposed gift of second sight. The plot moves through nightclubs, a train south, mines, and a coral island, and turns on pirate treasure and a network of fear among the communities Fleming depicts. It is a Cold War thriller, not a detective puzzle.

Three-quarter bound in red buckram with front board covered by a printed collage design of wartime photographs. Red endleaves. Dark brown slipcase.