From the front flap of the dust jacket of the first (and only) edition of Death of Cold by Leo Bruce, published by Peter Davies (London, 1956):
The regular fishermen on Oldhaven pier had gone home for the night: yet one rod remained, and beside it a basket and a canvas bag left carelessly on the seat: the little bell was tinkling but there was no one to draw the line.This wasn’t discovered until the next morning: and in the course of the next day many people are wondering what has become of the Mayor, himself a keen fisherman: the police begin to investigate: but it is a trio of schoolboys who, a few days later, went prawning on the rocks a mile away from the pier who found what was left of the Mayor. They came on his body sprawling hideously across the beach, left by the tide, a bloated and gruseome sight . . .Accident, suicide—or murder? The coroner’s verdict is Found Drowned. And the police soon rule out murder and quickly lose interest in the other two alternatives. But Carolus Deene, the endearing schoolmaster who dabbled so successfully with his “amateur detection” in At Death’s Door, is in the neighbourhood; he becomes friendly with the Mayor’s daughter and son-in-law; is encouraged to “take up” the case; and becomes convinced it is murder.And murder it is! Diabolically ingenious murder. Soon to be followed by another. And almost a third . . .A top-grade whodunit by an expert at his craft.
From page 1 of the same edition:
The second murder case to be brilliantly solved by Carolus Deene, history-master and amateur detective.
