Books with philately in the plot

I picked up a murder mystery at a charity bookstall and was interesting to find it had philately as quite a crucial part of the plot.

The main character's father is a philatelist... and receives a warning of a dead bird with a Penny Black stuck on its beak. And it develops from there.

Main character is a precocious eleven-year-old with a love of chemistry. You'd better like your mysteries arch and dark!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Ooh! Sounds cool... I've read Hit and Run by Lawrence Block, about a stamp-collecting professional assassin... nice to know there's something else for me to read...

Block's book opens with "Keller drew his pair of tongs from his breast pocket and carefully lifted a stamp from its glassine envelope."

Ahhhh, a purist!

Edited By Carmen on 08/12/2011 12:47:02

Block's done a whole series on his stamp collecting hitman, and is a collector himself. (And a jolly nice bloke).

The author of Sweetness... is Canadian, you'll be pleased to hear, Carmen.

Very cool, Julia! I'll definitely go looking for those.