The Secret Service Girl - J. M. Walsh 1933 - Collins, London - First Edition Rare first edition in the fabulous first edition dust jacket with the silver spine and red lettering of Collins’ ‘Mystery Novel’ series (this style dust jacket was only used by Collins from 1933 to 1934, at which point the lettering was changed to black and the distinctive ‘M’ was dropped). A Colonel Ormiston Secret Service mystery.

‘An urgent call from the Department precipitated those clever Secret Service agents, Colonel Ormiston and his wife Rosalie, into rather a lively patch of trouble at Gibraltar. Rosalie gets on the track of a gang who are suspected of gun-running across the Straits of Morocco. Before too long the startling discovery is made of a daring plot to blow up the famous Rock itself...’
  James Morgan Walsh (1897-1952), was an Australian author who moved to England in 1929. The majority of his works were spy related and written under his own name, however he penned a few Science Fiction works and also wrote as H. Haverstock Hill, Stephen Maddock, George M. White and Jack Carew. He was born in Geelong and educated in Melbourne, and is best known as an extremely prolific writer of crime mysteries, mostly located in England. His first novel, Tap-Tap Island (1921), was first serialised in the Melbourne Leader, his second, The Lost Valley (1921), was a prize-winner in the C.J. De Garis competition; his third was Overdue (1925). After experience in auctioneering and book-selling, Walsh visited England in 1925 to negotiate with publishers, returned to Victoria but left for permanent residence in England in 1929. Walsh also wrote in collaboration with E.J. Blythe and Audrey Baldwin. His first three novels, which are adventure romances, are set in New Guinea and Western Victoria and he also wrote two Australian detective stories, The Man behind the Curtain (1927) and The League of Missing Men (1927).

First edition, published August, 1933. With ‘Copyright, 1933’ to verso of title page, and no further printings noted, plum cloth, dust jacket with silver/red spine and price ‘7’6 NET’ in black. Only other titles listed in book and on dust jacket are
Lady Incognito (October 1932), Spies are Abroad (March 1933) and King’s Messenger (November 1933, listed under New Series).

Reference: Goodreads.

Octavo (book size 19.1x13cm), pp. 252 [4 (publisher's adverts)]. In publisher’s plum cloth, spine lettered in silver. Dust jacket priced ‘7’6 NET’ to spine.
  Condition: Very good to near fine, toning along top edge of cloth and small splits to head of spine, offsetting to endpapers, in very good dust jacket, spine toned, wear to spine ends, corners and folds, light soiling to rear panel.   Ref: 109994   Price: HK$ 3,000