"Death With Blue Ribbon"

Under the pen name Leo Bruce, British author Rupert Croft-Cooke wrote two very good mystery series. The first featured the earthy Sergeant Beef, who solved a series of mysteries by using common sense to cut through a number of fairly interesting problems. The second, and longer, series stars Carolus Deene, a former commando turned schoolteacher. The mysteries that I have read in the Carolus Deene series are noticeably grimmer than the Sergeant Beef books.

Certainly that's the case with "Death With Blue Ribbon," which was first published in 1969. It's the subject of today's review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, which can be heard in full by clicking here. Most of the characters, unfortunately, tend to be unpleasant - both victims and criminals. But they are interesting as characters while offering some insight and some satire about the world of "haute cuisine" as practiced in some restaurants - a chef who calls himself "Antoine," for example, turns out to be a Cockney named Tony.

Carolus Deene finds himself caught up in fighting a protection racket that is victimizing some of the fine restaurants of England. It's a simple proposition: pay up - or someone will get very sick eating your restaurant's food. That kind of thing could be devastating for a restaurant. Eventually, there's a murder of a particularly unpleasant restaurant critic. Was it the result of personal animosities - or of the protection racketeers? Deene sets out to break the racket open, at what turns out to be considerable personal risk.

Academy Chicago Publishers have been reprinting many of Leo Bruce's titles, including "Death With Blue Ribbon." Here's another detective whose acquaintance you will probably enjoy making.