And by 1959 Leslie Charteris had come full circle, once again back to choosing and editing mystery stories for paperback collections. The Saint Mystery Library , while a completely new undertaking, surely had its roots dug into Charteris' experiences in the field. Beginning with the fifth book of the Library, Charteris wrote a short introduction that appeared at the onset of each subsequent book, with the very last being the only one more than a page or two. These briefs usually consisted of a few personal words of wisdom about the authors, or stories, the sole exception being an essay about Trinidad and Calypso singers in The Rum and Coca-Cola Murders . Each book in the Library carried a serial number between 118 and 131, but were also given volume numbers on the copyright page, ranging from 1 to 14.
Prices are generally even among all the titles, with fine copies demanding a high premium.
The Ellison story, Find One Cuckaboo , was an original story, and being the first appearance of said story, is highly collectable. Strangely enough, according to Michael L. Cook, in his book Mystery, Detective, and Espionage Magazines , this same Ellison story was rejected by The Saint Mystery Magazine , yet managed to hang on long enough to be considered for publication after all, albeit in a different forum. The publication history of The Saint Mystery Library is interesting due to a certain sequence of events. Firstly, in August 1959 The Saint Mystery Magazine was being published by H.L. Herbert of King-Size Publications, Inc., New York . Strangely enough, instead of having King-Size print his new series of books, Charteris went to Great American Publications, Inc., to get the first two volumes of the Saint Mystery Library published.