Rupert Croft-Cooke

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Rupert Croft-Cooke (born June 30, 1903 in Edenbridge , Kent , England , † June 10, 1979 ), also known under his pseudonym Leo Bruce, was one of the most prolific English writers of his time. He wrote countless newspaper and magazine articles and more than 125 books. Croft-Cooke dealt with a wide variety of topics, which is why his bibliography includes political commentaries as well as non-fiction, several autobiographies, plays and romance novels. However, he celebrated his greatest successes in the crime genre. He has published thirty detective novels and thrillers. He wrote two series of detective novels under the pseudonym Leo Bruce. The first, begun in 1936, was based on the adventures of the regularly underrated private detective Sergeant Beef and his assistant and chronicler, Mr. Townsend. His second hero was introduced in 1952: Carolus Deane, a funny and urbane gentleman who is completely different from the type of Sergeant Beef.

Life

Rupert Croft-Cooke attended Tonbridge School and then Wellington College. At the age of 17 he was already working as a private tutor in Paris . He spent two years in Buenos Aires , where he founded La Estrella magazine . He returned to London in 1925 and began a career as a freelance journalist and writer. His work has appeared in the literary journals New Writing , Adelphi , Chapbook , The New Coterie and English Review . In the late 1920s, the American magazine Poetry published several of his pieces. At the same time, Croft-Cooke gave radio lectures on psychology. In 1930 he went abroad again; among other things, he spent a year in Germany. From 1940 to 1946 he was a member of the British Army and served in Africa and India. After his release, he wrote several papers about his military experience. He became a book critic for The Sketch in 1947, a position he held until 1953. Croft-Cooke was homosexual , which at times brought him into conflict with the law. Today's readership is only familiar with him because of his intelligent and funny crime stories.

Works (detective novels published in German)

  • Case of three detectives, 1936
  • Case without a corpse, 1937
  • Case with no conclusion, 1939
  • A Case for Sergeant Beef (Case with ropes and rings, 1940)
  • Sergeant Beef and the Poisoner (Neck and neck, 1951)
  • The Wrong Victim (Case for Sergeant Beef, 1951)
  • Sergeant Beef and the Dead Millionaire (Cold Blood, 1952)
  • Anglers Die Too (Death of Cold, 1956)
  • Dead man's shoes, 1958
  • A bone and a hank of hair, 1961
  • The Second Transport (Clash by Night, 1962)
  • The Dead in the Beach Pavilion (Crack of Doom, 1963)
  • Death in Albert Park (1964)
  • Three in a cell (1968)
  • Death by the lake (1971)
  • Revenge for Julie (Nasty piece of work, 1973)

literature

  • Crime Finder: A guide through the crime jungle for readers and collectors, Wino Malski, Waxmann Verlag 2002
  • Bibliography of crime literature 1945 - 1984, Klaus-Dieter Walkhoff Jordan, Ullstein 1985
  • Bibliography of crime literature 1985 - 1990, Klaus-Dieter Walkhoff Jordan, Ullstein 1991

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Croft-Cooke, Rupert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Leo Bruce (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 30, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Edenbridge , Kent , England
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1979