An author says he is ecstatic after a set of his rare books which he had believed stolen from a display at Felixstowe Library were returned.
It is not known whether the nine first edition signed copies were taken mistakenly, by a genuine reader or a thief.
Raymond Foster, who writes westerns under the name of Jack Giles, said either way he was thrilled to have his books back.
He said: “I am ecstatic, and so relieved.
“It is fantastic to have them back.
“I had hoped they had been taken by someone who perhaps simply wanted to read them, and if so that is great, because getting them back was all that mattered.
“But I had feared it was a thief who knew the true worth of the books, perhaps had even looked on the internet and seen how much my first editions sell for, and that they had been taken because someone knew the value. They would have been irreplaceable.
“I am concerned though that in a public place such as this there was no CCTV to protect the displays.”
The books were part of a display by members of the Felixstowe Scribblers group at the library in Crescent Road as part of the Felixstowe Book Festival. They went missing during the event and were returned anonymously.
Alison Wheeler, general manager of Suffolk Libraries, said CCTV was only put in to libraries where there was a significant risk of theft and some libraries did have cameras.
However, thefts were rare and at Felixstowe there had been no previous incidents of theft in the past year.
She said library users were generally honest people and installing CCTV would not be cost effective.
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