Rupert Croft-Cooke
1903-1979
Pseudonym: Leo Bruce
 

Rupert Croft-Cooke was born in Edenbridge, Kent. He was educated at Tonbridge School and Wellington College. He lived in France, Argentina, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. From 1929 to 1931, he was an antiquarian bookseller. In the Second World War he joined the intelligence corps and was posted to Bombay. After the war, he became a book critic for The Sketch. In 1953, he stood trial on a charge of homosexuality and he had to spend six months in prison. In 1954, he left England and eventually settled in Tangiers, Morocco. He is the creator of:
1. 'William Beef', a Cockney police sergeant and later private investigator (under the pseudonym 'Leo Bruce').
2. 'Carolus Deene', an amateur sleuth and history master at Queen's School, Newminster (under the pseudonym 'Leo Bruce')
 

Titles and year of publication:  

 'William Beef' Novels (as 'Leo Bruce')
 1) Case for Three Detectives  1936
 2) Case Without a Corpse  1937
 3) Case with Four Clowns  1939
 4) Case with No Conclusion  1939
 5) Case with Ropes and Rings  1940
 6) Case for Sergeant Beef  1947
 7) Neck and Neck  1951
 8) Cold Blood  1952
 'Carolus Deene' Novels (as 'Leo Bruce')
 1) At Death's Door  1955
 2) Dead for a Ducat  1956
 3) Death of Cold  1956
 4) Dead Man's Shoes  1958
 5) A Louse for the Hangman  1958
 6) Our Jubilee Is Death  1959
 7) Furious Old Women  1960
 8) Jack on the Gallows Tree  1960
 9) A Bone and a Hank of Hair  1961
10) Die All, Die Merrily  1961
11) Nothing Like Blood  1962
12) Crack of Doom (US Title: Such Is Death [1963])  1963
13) Death in Albert Park  1964
14) Death at Hallow's End  1965
15) Death on the Black Sands  1966
16) Death at St. Asprey's School  1967
17) Death of a Commuter  1967
18) Death on Romney Marsh  1968
19) Death with Blue Ribbon  1969
20) Death on Allhallowe'en  1970
21) Death by the Lake  1971
22) Death in the Middle Watch  1974
23) Death of a Bovver Boy  1974
 Other Novels
 1) Release the Lions  1933
 2) Pharaoh and His Waggons and Other Stories (short stories)  1937
 3) A Football for the Brigadier and Other Stories (short stories)  1950
 4) Seven Thunders  1956
 5) Thief  1960
 6) Clash by Night  1962
 7) Paper Albatross  1965
 8) Three in a Cell  1968
 9) Nasty Piece of Work  1973
 As 'Leo Bruce'
 1) Murder in Miniature and Other Stories (short stories)  1993

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