The Right Madness (2005) Signed First Edition Reference

The Right Madness was published by Viking in 2005 — James Crumley’s final novel and the only book to feature both Milo Milodragovitch and C.W. Sughrue as co-protagonists. The convergence of Crumley’s two detectives — the shambling, drug-addled Milo and the tougher, meaner Sughrue — in a single narrative was an event for Crumley’s devoted readership.

The Book

The novel is set in Meriwether, Montana, where a psychiatrist’s suicide draws both detectives into an investigation involving blackmail, murder, and the dark secrets of the professional class. The two detectives’ contrasting styles create productive friction, and the novel has a valedictory quality — Crumley was seventy when it was published, and the book reads as a farewell to his creations and to the genre he had reinvented.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Viking (Penguin), New York Publication date: 2005 Format: Hardcover in dust jacket

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed first edition, fine/fine: $75–$200
• Inscribed copies: $100–$350
• Unsigned first edition: $15–$35

As Crumley’s final novel, The Right Madness carries the weight of a last testament. Signed copies from his 2005 tour are available but increasingly sought-after since his death in 2008.