Leo Bruce was the pseudonym used by the English author Rupert Croft-Cooke (19011979) for his detective novels in the Sergeant Beef and Carolus Deene series. He also wrote numerous mystery short stories, non-genre novels, poetry, plays and non-fiction including biographies and essays for periodicals. Croft-Cooke was imprisoned due to his homosexuality in 1953, an experience which he wrote about in his book The Verdict of You All (1955).

'A treat from start to finish. The mystery itself was thoroughly satisfying, the solution a clever one, and Deene was an interesting character to encounter for the first time – on the basis of this title, I’d definitely like to read more of his cases. Another winner in the British Library Crime Classics series.' - Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings

Leo Bruce was the pseudonym used by the English author Rupert Croft-Cooke (19011979) for his detective novels in the Sergeant Beef and Carolus Deene series. He also wrote numerous mystery short stories, non-genre novels, poetry, plays and non-fiction including biographies and essays for periodicals. Croft-Cooke was imprisoned due to his homosexuality in 1953, an experience which he wrote about in his book The Verdict of You All (1955).

'A treat from start to finish. The mystery itself was thoroughly satisfying, the solution a clever one, and Deene was an interesting character to encounter for the first time – on the basis of this title, I’d definitely like to read more of his cases. Another winner in the British Library Crime Classics series.' - Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings