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Case for Three Detectives
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 5 x 8, 240pp
ISBN: 0-89733-033-1
Price: $10.95
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About the Book
Possibly the most unusual mystery ever written. A murder is committed behind closed doors, in bizarre circumstances. Three amateur detectives take the case: Lord Simon Plimsoll, Monsieur Amer Picon, and Monsignor Smith (in whom discerning readers will note likeness to some familiar literary figures). Each arrives at his own brilliant solution, startling in its originality, ironclad in its logic. Meanwhile Sergeant Beef sits contemptuously in the background. "But," says Sergeant Beef, "I know who done it!"
Reviews
". . . an amusing tour de force. Sgt Beef . . . is immensely shrewd and capable, and he solves his cases by good common sense. . . . Most readers should find them highly attractive."—Newgate Callendar, New York Times Book Review
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Dead Man's Shoes
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 216pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-271-7
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
Everyone knew there'd been a murder, everyone knew who the murderer was, and when this murderer committed suicide by jumping overboard––or was he thrown overboard?––from the cargo boat Saragossa as she sailed to London from the North African and Spanish ports, they thought "Good riddance to bad rubbish," and everyone, the police included, dropped the case. Everyone, that is, except Carolus Deene.
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Death at Hallows End
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 225pp, 5.5 x 8.5
ISBN: 978-0-89733-574-4
Price: $14.00
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About the Book
It was not so much a question of "who-done-it" as of "who-done-what." Respectable solicitors do not disappear every day, but Duncan Humby had vanished into thin air while on his way to prepare a new will for James Grossiter-a will in which the crotchety millionaire intended to dispossess all his relations and his manservant in favor of numerous charities.
The death from a heart attack of Old Grossiter himself was too much of a coincidence for Carolus Deene, who was called upon to find the missing solicitor, and as he made his way to the remote village of Hallows End, where Humby's car has been seen and where Grossiter was staying, he had a strong feeling of sinister evil and danger . . . a feeling that was soon to be translated into horrible fact.
Reviews
"Academy Chicago is justifiably proud of having discovered Leo Bruce. . . . Typical of this British author's polished style are those mysteries solved by Carolus Deene, a haughty history schoolmaster whose ratiocinative instincts quicken in atmospheric settings."—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
". . . even the seasoned mystery reader . . . will recognize Leo Bruce as a master of the genre."—Publishers Weekly
"These books are superb examples of classic British mystery."—Newgate Callendar, New York Times Book Review
"Absolutely deadpan, Bruce roasts every old chestnut, tunes every old saw of the mystery genre."—Library Journal
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Death at St. Asprey's School
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 221pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-094-3
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
There are strange goings-on at St. Asprey's, an expensive boys' preparatory school: footsteps in passages at night . . . strange lights . . . rabbits with battered skulls . . . a face in the window . . . a puppy found in a pool of blood . . . and even worse to come. In a tense, chilling atmosphere Carolus Deene has some spine-tingling experiences before he solves the mystery of these curious and sinister events.
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Death in Albert Park
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 239pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-073-0
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
In a gloomy London suburb, a modern Jack the Ripper stalks at night, killing at random with brutal knife thrusts from behind. Three women fall victim, and the terrorized residents wait to see who will be next. Was it a madman who killed these women, or was there method in these murders? Although the police resent his presence, only Carolus Deene can solve this puzzler.
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Death in the Middle Watch
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Hardcover, 156pp, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
ISBN: 0-89733-523-6
Price: $21.95
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About the Book
Death in the Middle Watch is vintage Leo Bruce, enhanced by the effortless humor that is a hallmark of all Leo Bruce mysteries. This time, Carolus is enjoying himself on a holiday cruise. On the first night aboard the Summer Queen, there is a shout of "Man Overboard!" From that point on to the moment of Deene's unexpected revelations, the reader will find that unique mixture of artless fun and grim terror Bruce devotees savor. The reader will also be glad to welcome once again Mr. Gorringer, Deene's public school Headmaster and Mrs. Stick, Deene's intrepid housekeeper and cook who is always in a state of horror at Deene's involvement in the solution of crimes.
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Death of a Commuter
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 192pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-326-8
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
"Five men occupied their usual places in a first-class carriage, but the sixth place was empty . . ." It is most unusual for the sixth man, Mr Parador, to be late. The five commuters are wondering what happened to him, when a strange-looking man enters the compartment, dressed in black and wearing dark glasses. When he is told that the sixth seat is taken, he replies, in a deep sepulchral voice, "He won't be coming." He is right. Parador does not come, and his companions never see him alive again. And if Carolus Deene had not taken an interest in the case, the coroner's verdict of suicide would not have been questioned.
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Death on Allhallowe'en
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 176pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-292-X
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
Carolus Deene is summoned to a small Kentish village where the presence of a possible coven of witches lends an eerie aura to the presumed "accidental" death of a young local boy a year ago on Hallowe'en. Before his work is completed, Carolus Deene has the answers to this and two other deaths.
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Death With Blue Ribbon
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 176pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-345-4
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
Carolus Deene becomes involved in his latest adventure when a famous restaurateur is threatened by a protection racketeer and a well-known writer of cookbooks is murdered under extraordinary circumstances.
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Die All, Die Merrily
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 192pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-253-9
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
Richard Hoysden's body is discovered in his country flat, apparently a suicide. Missing from the room is a tape of Hoysden's last moments in which he confesses to the murder of a young woman. Lady Drombone, a Member of Parliament and the young man's aunt, hires Carolus to find the tape and help suppress it. He himself insists on reconstructing the confusing circumstances in order to solve the baffling crime.
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Furious Old Women
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 191pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-084-6
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
Mysterious doings in a churchyard. A Catalogue of Crime calls this "probably Bruce's wittiest and best-plotted novel to date. A very ingenious idea . . . a fine surprise in the last moments. The humor and wit are of a high order."
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Jack on the Gallows Tree
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 189pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-072-2
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
Within an hour or two the dead bodies of two elderly ladies are discovered in the vicinity of Buddington-on-the-Hill; both had been strangled. Each is found lying full-length, clasping in her hand the stem of a Madonna lily. The work of a maniac? Two murderers working together? It's up to Carolus Deene to find out.
Reviews
"Enough clever little twists to puzzle even the seasoned mystery reader who will recognize Leo Bruce as a master of the genre."—Publishers Weekly
"Absolutely deadpan, Bruce [produces] a mystery that's on the one hand a clever whodunit in the Christie tradition and on the other a hilarious parody."—Library Journal
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Murder in Miniature:
The Uncollected Short Stories of Leo Bruce
Intro. by B.A. Pike
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paper, 256pp, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, 28 Illus.
ISBN: 0-89733-559-7 / 978-0-89733-559-1
Price: $15.95
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About the Book
Master crime writer Leo Bruce wrote the majority of these tales for the London Evening Standard newspaper, where they appeared between 1950 and 1956. As a writer of the classic detective novel, Bruce is unquestionably in the front rank. These stories complete the oeuvre of a major detective novelist, in which we see Bruce’s gift for entertaining dialogue. He teases, tangles and contrives with cunning. Even the slightest of the stories is deft and telling, skillfully narrated with economy and point. The best are worthy additions to the canon, elegant, clever and satisfying.
There are twenty-eight stories in this book, only two of which were previously collected: ten feature Sergeant Beef, eight feature Sergeant Grebe, and ten have no series character. They add to our knowledge of Sergeant Beef, one of the most colorful of fictional detectives (and one whose full-length cases are too few in number); we are also introduced to an unexpected second detective, the astute and and resourceful policeman Sergeant Grebe; and they offer a last chance to encounter anew their author’s characteristic wit and ingenuity. Few writers so adroitly avoid the formulaic quality of crime writing by the variety and vitality of their characters.
Reviews
"The stories are all witty and often perverse."—Washington Post
"Puzzle fiends who enjoy banging their heads against a good riddle should enjoy [this book] . . . As cunning as they are economical, these brisk little narratives illustrate clever ways to shed a spouse and ingenious methods for the premature collection of an inheritance."—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
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Our Jubilee Is Death
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 189pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-229-6
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
Walking on the sand before breakfast, Carolus Deene's cousin Fay, who was staying on the Suffolk coast, had come upon the head of Lilliane Bomberger, the celebrated and universally detested novelist. The body was buried in the sand with only the head protruding; at least one tide had washed over it. Before this frustrating case ends, three murders are committed. This is vintage Bruce, mixing thrills and chills with unique humor.
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Such Is Death
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback, 192pp, 4 1/4 x 7
ISBN: 0-89733-160-5
Price: $7.95
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About the Book
Someone very, very clever planned this murder. The place: a remote shelter on the promenade at Selby-on-Sea; the occasion: a stormy evening in late November; the victim: somebody ready-made for a crack-of-doom from a coal hammer. However, the murderer had not counted on the clever, tenacious mind of Carolus Deene.
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