Death at Hallows End
A Carolus Deene Mystery
In this "rousing mystery" (Booklist), Gentleman Detective Carolus Deene, the schoolmaster created by Bruce and featured in so many of his other books, has his work cut out for him . A respectable solicitor has vanished into thin air in the remote village of Hallows End. Deene senses foul play, and when he goes on the hunt for the missing lawyer, the wealthy client himself suffers a heart attack in what proves to be too much of a coincidence for Deene. Deene ferrets out the culprits in his own inimitable style. Julian Symons of the Sunday Times has said of this series, "Mr. Leo Bruce is one of the few criminal practitioners who keep the tattered old flag of pure detection flying high."
Leo Bruce is the nom de plume of Rupert Croft-Cooke, who wrote some 125 mysteries, biographies and memoirs. He died in 1980. There are twenty-two mysteries featuring Deene, of which Academy Chicago has already published eleven. Death at Hallows End starts the new hardcover series. The remaining novels will be published over the next several seasons. First published in 1964, Death at Hallows End--like all Carolus Deene novels--appears in the U.S. for the first time under an American imprint.