Martin Beck

Its bucketed down with rain all day so the Blip is a tale of obsessive book collecting. The series shown was written in the 1960s and 70s . They are notable for inspiring other morose detectives - Wallander and Rebus come to mind, as well as having been written by a duo This 2006 edition spells MARTINBECK on the spines, as you can see; the name of the lead detective. I got  "Martin" for just £2.40 on Ebay ie just 40p per copy but of course I needed "Beck" for my bookshelf. Getting the right version with a letter on the spine for my collection proved more tricky. Oxfam Book shop in Kendal has been the recipient of at least 3 different editions of Book 7 which did not have B on the spine.  Abebooks.co.uk came to my rescue because you can specify the exact edition you are searching for - if it matters to you, which of course it did. I've lost track of how much I spent tracking down the correct editions of BECK, certainly a lot more than 40p per copy. The initial bargain turned out to be quite an expensive exercise but never mind, the charity shops have benefitted and I wonder what my collection is worth now?  And I've just finished reading Book 10 so the project is complete.