The Project Gutenberg EBook of Murder in the Gunroom, by Henry Beam Piper

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Title: Murder in the Gunroom

Author: Henry Beam Piper

Release Date: February 26, 2006 [EBook #17866]
Last updated: January 27, 2009

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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MURDER IN THE GUNROOM

By H. BEAM PIPER

NEW YORK
_Alfred A. Knopf_ 1953
FIRST EDITION

TO _Colonel Henry W. Shoemaker_ an old and valued friend, who was
promised this dedication, with an entirely different novel in mind,
twenty-two years ago.

PREFACE

_The Lane Fleming collection of early pistols and revolvers was one of
the best in the country. When Fleming was found dead on the floor of
his locked gunroom, a Confederate-made Colt-type percussion .36 revolver
in his hand, the coroner's verdict was "death by accident." But Gladys
Fleming had her doubts. Enough at any rate to engage Colonel Jefferson
Davis Rand--better known just as Jeff--private detective and a
pistol-collector himself, to catalogue, appraise, and negotiate the
sale of her late husband's collection.

There were a number of people who had wanted the collection. The
question was: had anyone wanted it badly enough to kill Fleming? And if
so, how had he done it? Here is a mystery, told against the fascinating
background of old guns and gun-collecting, which is rapid-fire without
being hysterical, exciting without losing its contact with reason, and
which introduces a personable and intelligent new private detective. It
is a story that will keep your nerves on a hair trigger even if you don't
know the difference between a cased pair of Paterson .34's and a Texas
.40 with a ramming-lever._

CHAPTER 1

It was hard to judge Jeff Rand's age from his appearance; he was
certainly over thirty and considerably under fifty. He looked hard and
fit, like a man who could be a serviceable friend