Overview

Carolus Deene’s housekeeper, the stoic Mrs. Stick, announces one evening that her husband has seen the body of a youth lying in a ditch with his hair shorn and his wrists slashed. Carolus knows that he has, at last, met a supreme challenge to test his powers of deduction. The redoubtable schoolmaster-turned-detective then becomes involved in a lively series of adventures infiltrating England’s provincial cockney underworld and gaining insight into the dead boy’s unhappy background and surroundings. Realizing that it is all too easy to blame the obvious suspects, skinheads and greasers, Carolus must call upon his ingenuity and determination to persevere. One of Leo Bruce’s most exciting novels, Death of a Bovver Boy gives the reader an insight into the milieu of rebellious 1970s England, a world where prejudice is the order of the day and hostility and violence are the only means of survival.

Reviews

“Typical of [Leo Bruce’s] polished style are those mysteries solved by Carolus Deene, a haughty history schoolmaster whose ratiocinative instincts quicken in atmospheric settings.”  —New York Times Book Review on the Carolus Deene series

“Even the seasoned mystery reader . . . will recognize Leo Bruce as a master of the genre.”  —Publishers Weekly on the Carolus Deene series

Author Biography

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Death at Hallows End ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published May 2008

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."

Death of a Commuter ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

"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 was right. Parador does not come, and his companions never see him alive again. And if Carolus Deena had not taken an interest in the case, the coroner's verdict of suicide would not have been questioned.

Death with Blue Ribbon ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

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.

Death in the Middle Watch ›

By Leo Bruce

Cloth

Published Aug 2005

Death in Albert Park ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

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.

Die All, Die Merrily ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

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.

Death at St. Asprey's School ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

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. Carolus Deene has some spine-tingling experiences before he solves the mystery.

Death on Allhallowe'en ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

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.

Dead Man's Shoes ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

Everyone knew there'd been a murder, everyone knew who the murderer was, and when this murderer committed suicide by jumping overboard from the cargo boat Saragossa, they thought "Good riddance." Everyone, that is, except Carolus Deene.

Death at Hallows End ›

By Leo Bruce

Cloth

Published Aug 2005

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."

Furious Old Women ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

Our Jubilee is Death ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

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.

Jack on the Gallows Tree ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

The dead bodies of two elderly ladies are discovered; both had been strangled. Each is found lying full-length, clasping in her hand the stem of a Madonna lily.

Such Is Death ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Aug 2005

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.

Nothing Like Blood ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Jul 1985

His old friend Helena Gort calls on Carolus Deene to come to Cat's Cradle, a seaside guest house and find out about two deaths judged respectively "natural causes" and "suicide." There is no doubt in Helena's mind that something sinister has happened and something very unpleasant is brewing. She is right.

Death of a Bovver Boy ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Nov 2014

Carolus Deene’s housekeeper, the stoic Mrs. Stick, announces one evening that her husband has seen the body of a youth lying in a ditch with his hair shorn and his wrists slashed. Carolus knows that he has, at last, met a supreme challenge to test his powers of deduction. The redoubtable schoolmaster-turned-detective then becomes involved in a lively series of adventures infiltrating England’s provincial cockney underworld and gaining insight into the dead boy’s unhappy background and surroundings. Realizing that it is all too easy to blame the obvious suspects, skinheads and greasers, Carolus must call upon his ingenuity and determination to persevere. One of Leo Bruce’s most exciting novels, Death of a Bovver Boy gives the reader an insight into the milieu of rebellious 1970s England, a world where prejudice is the order of the day and hostility and violence are the only means of survival.

Death in the Middle Watch ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

Death in Albert Park ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

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.

Death at Hallows End ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published May 2008

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."

Die All, Die Merrily ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

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.

Death at St. Asprey's School ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

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. Carolus Deene has some spine-tingling experiences before he solves the mystery.

Death on Allhallowe'en ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

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.

Dead Man's Shoes ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

Everyone knew there'd been a murder, everyone knew who the murderer was, and when this murderer committed suicide by jumping overboard from the cargo boat Saragossa, they thought "Good riddance." Everyone, that is, except Carolus Deene.

Furious Old Women ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

Nothing Like Blood ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Jul 1985

His old friend Helena Gort calls on Carolus Deene to come to Cat's Cradle, a seaside guest house and find out about two deaths judged respectively "natural causes" and "suicide." There is no doubt in Helena's mind that something sinister has happened and something very unpleasant is brewing. She is right.

Our Jubilee is Death ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

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.

Jack on the Gallows Tree ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

The dead bodies of two elderly ladies are discovered; both had been strangled. Each is found lying full-length, clasping in her hand the stem of a Madonna lily.

Such Is Death ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

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.

Death of a Commuter ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

"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 was right. Parador does not come, and his companions never see him alive again. And if Carolus Deena had not taken an interest in the case, the coroner's verdict of suicide would not have been questioned.

Death with Blue Ribbon ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Aug 2005

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.

A Bone and a Hank of Hair ›

By Leo Bruce

Trade Paper

Published Sep 2019

Carolus Deene, history master at Queen's School, Newminster, manages on the side to dabble in the art of gentlemanly detective work. In Leo Bruce's beloved A Bone and a Hank of Hair, Deene is approached by Mrs. Chalk, who is convinced her heiress cousin has been murdered. The suspect is, of course, Mr. Rathbone, the lady's wily widower. On the way to the truth, Deene encounters a host of friendly characters and oafish constabulary, leading readers in a delightful romp through the English landscape. 
 

A Bone and a Hank of Hair ›

By Leo Bruce

Mobipocket

Published Sep 2019

Carolus Deene, history master at Queen's School, Newminster, manages on the side to dabble in the art of gentlemanly detective work. In Leo Bruce's beloved A Bone and a Hank of Hair, Deene is approached by Mrs. Chalk, who is convinced her heiress cousin has been murdered. The suspect is, of course, Mr. Rathbone, the lady's wily widower. On the way to the truth, Deene encounters a host of friendly characters and oafish constabulary, leading readers in a delightful romp through the English landscape.