Guilty Or Not Guilty. Dublin: Talbot Press, (1929). First Edition. Pp vi, 206.Maroon cloth boards lettered in black in publisher’s tan dust jacket. A fine bright copy.

Matthias McDonnell Bodkin (1850-1933) was an Irish nationalist politician and MP and Anti-Parnellite representative for North Roscommon. A prominent journalist he was called to the Irish Bar in 1877. He was the author of many popular books, including ‘Famous Irish Trials’ (1918).

Bodkin was a significant figure in early detective fiction, best known for creating Paul Beck, one of the first “scientific” detectives in literature (predating Sherlock Holmes in some respects), and Dora Myrl, a female detective protagonist.

His legal background lent authenticity to his courtroom and crime narratives.