{"product_id":"2026200014171-secondhand-the-notched-hairpin","title":"The Notched Hairpin","description":"\u003cp\u003eEdition: First UK ed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Fair\u003cbr\u003eJacket: N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePages: Tanning and foxing\u003cbr\u003eMarkings: Previous owner\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA master of subtle deduction and razor-sharp reasoning, Gerald Heard's fictional detective Mr. Donahue — a thinly veiled homage to Sherlock Holmes — returns in The Notched Hairpin, a collection of mystery stories that presents the brilliant, bee-keeping recluse at his most fiendishly clever. Set against a backdrop of mid-twentieth-century England, the cases within chronicle a series of seemingly impenetrable puzzles, each hinging on a single, overlooked physical clue — in this instance, the peculiarly notched hairpin of the title — that unravels an entire web of deception.\n\nHeard, best known as a polymath and spiritual philosopher, brings an extraordinary intellectual rigour to the crime fiction genre, constructing plots of near-geometric precision while imbuing each tale with a quiet, atmospheric tension. His prose is cool and observational, rewarding the attentive reader with layered clues and a sense of deeply satisfying logical resolution. For devotees of the Golden Age detective tradition and admirers of the cerebral mystery, this volume stands as a testament to Heard's remarkable, if underappreciated, gifts as a storyteller — leaving one to wonder just what other secrets his detective has yet to uncover.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49160999534811,"sku":"2026200014171-SECONDHAND","price":80.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/db1878bf-16a7-4868-8c07-8374713df628.png?v=1787188766","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200014171-secondhand-the-notched-hairpin","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}