Cyanide and Sin

Visualizing Crime in 50s America

by Will Straw

PPP Editions, Andrew Roth, New York. 2006. Oversized paperback. 190 pages. B&W and color illustrations throughout.

A pictorial history of the Detective magazine. Only 3,000 copies were printed. I believe they may have only been distributed through The Strand Bookstore in New York (that's where I got my copy).

It's a very unique book. The stiff paper cover is plain yellow with no writing on the outside of the book at all. The dust jacket is actually a large poster (a compilation of hundreds of detective magazine covers) that has been triple-folded in such a way that it wraps the cover.

There's a 15-page history of the rise of the detective magazine during the 1950's. The rest of the book is taken up with detective magazine covers, many illustrations full-page.