BAYLEY, Viola (author). Marcia Lane FOSTER (illustrator). Corsican Adventure. London; J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. 1957.

8vo.; original navy blue cloth gilt, in pictorial dustwrapper; pp. [viii], 9-160; with black and white illustrations throughout, including some full-page; a near fine copy, inscription free, in a near fine, unclipped dustwrapper (11s. 6d.) with small rubbing to forecorners and a touch of fading to spine; elusive in the jacket.

First edition. A thrilling mystery in Bayley’s “Adventure Series” set against an authentic Corsican backdrop, with lots of local colour. It is preceded by “Paris Adventure”; “Lebanon Adventur” and “Kashmir Adventure”.  The Marriott family take a holiday on the island and find themselves involved in an adventure with the French Sûreté.

Viola Bayley (1911-1997) from Rye, Sussex,when in her early twenties, travelled to Lahore to visit an uncle who was a high court Judge and met and married Vernon Thomas Bayley (CMG, OBE) of the Indian Police.  Her love of travel and her experiences as an expatriate gave her a great understanding of foreign regions, which contributed to this, her best-known series, which numbered fifteen in total, including “Caribbean Adventure”; “Adriatic Adventure”; “Jersey Adventure” and “Welsh Adventure”.