*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Just one book in this week’s update, but it’s a rare gem! From 2001, the very limited edition of Anthony Skene’s Monsieur Zenith, the Albino, published by Savoy Books, a chunky VF/NM hardback with a VF/NM dust-jacket. Although Zenith started out as a nemesis for Sexton Blake, and indeed went on to become his most famous opponent, he evolved into stories in his own right, published in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Monsieur Zenith has more than a passing resemblance to Sherlock Holmes, being a prodigious user of opiates, a master of disguise and a virtuoso violinist. Although Zenith operates on the wrong side of the law, he is morally on the side of justice, for all his amoral posturing. Savoy’s presentation here makes the volume nothing less than a paean to weird pulp in all its crazed glory. Not only is the original text incredibly obscure — the publishers are aware of only three extant copies of the 1936 edition — but Savoy have also included original Zenith illustrations, including a number of covers from the likes of Detective Weekly and Union Jack, as well as new illustrations, an exhaustively researched introduction by Jack Adrian and a fascinating foreword by Michael Moorcock in which he cites Zenith as the inspiration for his own creation Elric. A beautiful thing at £60. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD