The “Un Mystère” series, published in paperback by Presses de la Cité in Paris, includes some of the best post-war mystery fiction.

Most of the books were translated into French from contemporary British and American authors, but the series also included some original French stories. The books all have fabulous cover designs, some completely original to the series, but most using the cover illustrations from the British or US editions, with the addition of creative typography, the series logo, a yellow stripe and the red postage-stamp author-name panel. The logo for the series is an elephant reading a book and the first editions of the early titles use the logo to make decorative endpapers.

There were a total of 769 numbered titles issued from 1949 to 1966, plus 9 titles with roman numerals. More than 30 Peter Cheyney titles appear, most in the original 100 of the series. The first foreign book published in hardback by the Presses de la Cité was Cheyney’s Dark Duel as Duel dans l‘ombre.