Rupert Croft-Cooke (1903-1979) was born in Kent and educated at Tonbridge School and Wellington College. He then taught English for five years, first in Paris and then in Buenos Aires where he also founded and edited the periodical La Estrella . He returned to England in 1925, setting up a bookshop in Kent, as well as doing broadcasting and journalism work, with pieces appearing in the literary magazines New Writing, Adelphi, Chapbook, The New Coterie, English Review and Poetry . Before joining the army in 1940, he moved abroad again to Germany, Switzerland and Spain. Returning in 1946, he took up writing again, holding the position of book critic for The Sketch between 1947 and 1953. He lived in Morocco for much of his later life.
He published more than 125 books of all genres, many for the mass market, and was best known as a writer of detective fiction: many of these works were published under the name Leo Bruce. The two heroes Sergeant Beef and Carolus Deane established his greatest literary success.
From the guide to the Papers of Rupert Croft-Cooke, 1922-1965, (University of Exeter)
