COLD EARTH. [Author SIGNED copy.**]

UK,8vo HB+protected dw/dj,author SIGNED,1st edn. [Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2.] NMINT/NMINT. No owner inscrptn but author's handwritten, black ink felt-tip pen signature - without dedication - to title page and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp, clean,matt,scenic landscape colour photographic illustrated dw/dj front,spine and rear panels with author's capitalised,embossed,matt white-lettered name and capitalised,embossed,gilt-lettered title to front of dw/dj,a gilt-bordered roundel with blocked, capitalised,black-lettered credit for major BBC Drama 'Shetland' with actor's name and the actor's colour portrait photograph to it's centre towards the front's, lower corner.Spine/backstrip with thumbnail detail of front's photograph and similarly coloured+lettered as the front's,but flat printed,author name+title,and publisher's capitalised,black-lettered name and black illustrated colophon to foot of same,rear panel of dw/dj with a white-lettered strapline,4 critics' green+ white-lettered reviews to similar front's colour photograph.Negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners - no nicks ,tears or splits present - dw/dj in a protective sleeve.Top+fore-edges bright,crisp and clean with no ageing/toning,no foxing/spotting or other blemish; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - unread other than my own collation. Publisher's bright crisp,unblemished,sharp-cornered, original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt-lettered spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED,1st edn,1-386pp [paginated] includes 48 chapters; plus [unpaginated] half-title,author SIGNED title page,a dedication,Acknowledgements,and to the rear as last pages,publisher's 2pp b/w advertisements for author's two series' titles of 'SHETLAND' and 'VERA' with b/w photographs of books' covers - 6 for Shetland excluding this listing,and 7 for VERA. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional and particularly internally,is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation. It really is an exceptional,exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of detracting faults. The 3rd book/title in the 'Four Elements Quartet' of 'Dead Water' (2013),'Thin Air' (20140),and 'Wild Fire' (2018) and the 7th chronologically in the 'Shetland' series. The tide of earth had deposited debris,thrown it up on its way through the croft.Perez saw a bed head,a couple of plastic garden chairs that must have been stored in the lean-to.And something else,bright against the grey wall and the black soil.A splash of red.Brighter than blood. In the dark days of a Shetland winter,torrential rain triggers a landslide that crosses the road and sweeps down to the sea. At the burial of his old friend Magnus Tait, DI Jimmy Perez watches the flood of mud and peaty water smash through a croft house in its path.Everyone thinks the croft is uninhabited,but in the wreckage he finds the body of a dark-haired woman wearing a red silk dress.In his mind,she shares his Mediterranean ancestry and soon he becomes obsessed with traing her identity. Then it emerges that she was already dead before the landslide hit the house.Perez feels bound by duty - and something more powerful - to find outwho she was,and how she died.Within the house,the only clue is a wooden box that contains two photos,one of two small children and one of an elderly couple.And a handwritten letter,which begins: My dearest Alis . . . Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **