Rare signed first edition/ first printing of The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr. VG/ VG in clipped dust jacket (Viking, 1990).   

Stated first without number line on copyright page as required. Boldly signed by the author on the title page.

A very good copy with remainder mark on bottom. Blue paper paper boards, silver gilt to spine. Clean and bright, corners sharp, no bumps. Text block creamy white. No internal markings, 273 pp. 

The jacket is clipped (common with this edition). Most were clipped pre-release and affixed with publisher sticker, which has left residue trace. Else bright and glossy with no fading. No chipping or rubbing. Now protected in mylar (see photos).

A scarce signed copy of the author's second book in the famed Berlin Noir trilogy, which introduced reluctant investigator Bernie Gunther, who tries to carve out his own justice in pre-war Germany. This book, set in 1938, pits Gunther against the emerging Nazi threat when he is enlisted by his former colleagues in KRIPO who were exposed for framing an innocent Jew for a cold -blooded murder.

Kerr wrote 14 books in the series, which takes Gunther from the 1930s and into the Cold War. The books are complex morality tales rooted in the structure and tradition of hardboiled crime novels. 

True first editions of Kerr's first three books are highly sought after by collectors and signed copies are becoming increasingly hard to find.