Sinister Madonna

New York: Bookfinger, 1977. First Use hardcover. Near Fine, w/o dustwrapper as issued. Facsimile of 1956 London first. Limited to 1,000. Sumuru's last macabre thriller. Rohmer created Sumuru after sales for Fu Manchu books fell off, and after receiving criticism from people offended by the Yellow Peril aspect of his arch fiend (though to give Rohmer credit, Fu Manchu has heroic characteristics, and the reader roots for him, never for Scotland Yard; in later books he even fights the fascists and the commies, being increasingly heroic regardless of the twisted nature of his super-genius). The criticism is why he tried to keep Sumuru's racial characteristics unspecific. But then film versions of Fu Manchu stories rekindled public demand for Fu Manchu, thus Rohmer returned to writing about his best-known character, with such commercial success that there would never be a sixth Sumuru adventure, alas. The Bookfinger limited editions were issued without dustwrappers in plain black cloth, and constitute the American First Editions Hardcover, though there were earlier paperback editions in the US (some with variant titles), and the true firsts are the impossibly rare hardcovers in England.


Genre: Mystery