On the Spot by Edgar Wallace Early Reprint John Long 1935. Small name inscription to fep, no foxing or browning. Light spotting to covers, near VG in G+ dust jacket.

In the neon-lit underbelly of Prohibition-era Chicago, Tony Perelli reigns as a ruthless gang lord, orchestrating bootleg empires and bloody turf wars from his opulent penthouse. When a rival mob's assassination attempt leaves his lieutenant dead, Perelli's iron grip tightens, ensnaring his devoted moll, Minnie, and ambitious enforcer, Con O'Hara, in a vortex of betrayal and vengeance. As federal agents close in and loyalties fracture, Wallace's 1931 play crackles with machine-gun dialogue, operatic betrayals, and moral ambiguity, transforming the Windy City's gangland mythos into a taut, theatrical symphony of crime, passion, and inevitable downfall.

On the Spot mesmerizes collectors as a scarce jewel in Wallace's prolific canon, its stage origins and Al Capone inspiration lending it outsized notoriety in pulp drama annals. Readers thrill to its razor-sharp vernacular and Perelli's magnetic menace, echoing Dashiell Hammett's gritty noir or W.R. Burnett's mob sagas. Its cultural punch lies in mythologizing 1920s organized crime and the era's tabloid frenzy, captivating crime fiction aficionados. Collectors hunt its rarity among Wallace's works, while readers devour the pulse-pounding intrigue and vivid Chicagoan tableau, crowning it a dynamite essential for devotees of gangster lore and dramatic thrillers.