Hachette releases retro revival series of bestselling thrillers

The yellow jackets, famously called yellowbacks, were originally published by Hodder & Stoughton in two main series with series run dates of 1923-39 and 1949-57. The first release list of 175 titles has already hit the stands, allowing readers to rediscover and experience these timeless masterpieces of popular literature.

The current reissue, which encapsulates the golden era of crime fiction by bringing back the bestsellers, features some perennial favourites and many rarities — either lost or not easily available — and others that are collectible as omnibuses or complete volumes.

Printed by Manipal Technologies, the series has been printed on-demand, except for nine titles, which are printed in offset.    

Thomas Abraham, managing director of Hachette India, “This I believe is the largest ever single-release imprint revival with almost 200 titles that will trace the history of detective fiction going through all the key genres from classic crime to hard-boiled to noir to supernatural and occult detectives. It also covers the sub-genres and tropes like locked door mysteries, blind detectives, women detectives, railway detectives and more.”

The titles that made it to the curated series include The Old Man in the Corner, The Complete Raffles, The Mysterious Mickey Finn, Carnacki, Grey Mask, The Case with Nine Solutions, Murder by Matchlight, Crime Unlimited, The Wheel Spins and The Spiral Staircase.

While the original yellowbacks had both hardback and paperback versions with the latter still carrying the imprint yellow jacket, the new reissue pays tribute to both using an amalgam of elements from both editions.

“They also retain the distinctive size of the original pocket mass market paperback and follow the three main category variations — the thrillers (crime, detective, westerns, mystery, and adventure) had blue lettering for the author’s name, while romance and softer general fiction had red; and other categories like humour had green,” read the description of the revival series.