Cost Price

Cost Price was published in 1949 by Putnam as part of the celebrated Chandos series by British author Dornford Yates. The novel serves as a direct sequel to the 1947 work Adelaide Hawksley and continues the high-stakes adventures of Richard Chandos, a recurring protagonist in Yates's canon of adventure and thrillers. This post-war release emerged during a period when Yates, writing from his exile in Southern Rhodesia, maintained a dedicated readership who appreciated his distinctively ornate prose style and focus on upper-class escapism.

The design of the Putnam edition reflects the traditional aesthetic of mid-century British commercial fiction, often favoring elegant, minimalist dust jackets that highlighted the author's stature as a staple of the interwar and post-war circulating library circuit. While Yates was famously protective of his literary reputation and maintained a complex relationship with his critics, his work remained a reliable cultural fixture throughout the 1940s. The reception of Cost Price was consistent with his established brand, appealing primarily to a loyal audience familiar with the refined, often nostalgic world of the Chandos circle.