Lieutenant Valcour

The Sturm House has an atmosphere of the unpleasant. The shooting of Alice Tribeau only adds to the that impression for Lt. Valcour, as he arrives in the midst of a storm to begin his investigation. Wealthy socialite Mrs. Sturm claims the gun was fired by someone outside the house - but Valcour had other ideas... The second volume in the classic Lt. Valcour mystery series!

When the radio operator on a luxury cruise ship is murdered, Lt. Valcour takes charge. While investigating the crew and the passengers, especially a lovely but lethal man-eater, the killer strikes again - and it's up to Valcour to solve the crimes before anyone else falls victim! Rufus King (1893-1966) was an American author of Whodunit crime novels. He created four series of detective stories: the most famous being Lieutenant Valcour. Modern critics are rediscovering Rufus King's work. Mike Grost, on Golden Age Detective, features a long write up of King, stating: "King had a vivid writing style, with colorful characters, events, and images. He was clearly a born writer."

An extortionist's note, demanding $20,000 in cash and threatening the kidnapping of Kate Willett's two mentally unbalanced sons, sent Lieutenant Valcour rushing up to the Willetts' Adirondacks camp. There, death struck with slashing suddenness while Valcour was talking to young Arthur Willett, who was sprawled on a sofa smoking a cigarette. Listening to the crackling roar of flames in the fireplace, Valcour detected the odor of burning cloth. He glanced at Arthur to find the cigarette lying in Arthur's lap and Arthur's chin slumped on his chest. Valcour rushed to his side and in stunned amazement stared at the dark mark where a bullet had entered Arthur's skull! A fast-moving drama of multiple murder, featuring Lieutenant Valcour at top form!

Rufus King returns to the maritime mystery genre with "Murder on the Yacht." A lawyer disappears from a taxi cab on the way to join a party aboard the giant luxury yacht "The Crusader." Where did he go and what happened to him? Lt. Valcour joins the cruise to find out, mixing with a varied bunch of eccentric guests and crewmen, including a psychic. But will she provide clues or a smokescreen for the culprits? Another thrilling Lt. Valcour mystery!

Terror lay heavy on that strange household on the Canadian border - but not until Lt. Valcour of the New York Police arrived did the hand of murder strike. Soundlessly, inexplicably - and then Valcour's strangest, most perilous case began! Valcour Meets Murder is is the 6th Lt. Valcour novel. It includes a preview of #7, The Lesser Antilles Case.

Disaster at sea! When the yacht "Helsinor" strikes a reef in the Lesser Antilles, the passengers take to a lifeboat. Upon their return to the United States, accusations fly. Did one of the survivors drug the others and pitch the millionaire owner of the yacht, Lawrence Thacker, into shark-infested waters? Lt. Valcour begins an informal investigation. When one of the heirs to the Thacker millions is poisoned, Valcour's investigation becomes official. Of course, the logical thing to do is to gather the survivors aboard the "Helsinor II" and return to the scene of the original wreck... The Lesser Antilles Case is is the 7th Lt. Valcour novel.

A blackmailer with religious mania and a decayed actor are murdered - one by land and one by sea. Despite the challenges, Lt. Valcour is not daunted by his latest case! "The thrills and polished deducing are there in quantity." - The Saturday Review.

When a wealthy New Yorker with a young bride is shot in his Manhattan mansion, then a blackmailing valet perishes in Easthampton, only Lt. Valcour can unravel the mystery.

Lt. Valcour did not object to interrupting his vacation in order to help Chief Goodfriend of the Miami detective force solve the oddly similar murders of two distinctly dissimilar women. For one thing, the cases, or case as Valcour felt it to be, interested him and he felt a distinct apprehension that unless somebody solved it there would be more deaths to come. And Goodfriend appeared in desperate need of assistance. Consequently, Valcour felt as though he were conducting a demonstration course in detection when he set about finding all available information on the women... A tense mystery-thriller as only Rufus King could write it!

The strangling of a wealthy woman at an opulent Andirondack estate brings Lt. Valcour to investigate. He knows immediately who committed the crime, but can he prove it? "Good yarn. Valcour has a hard time getting evidence against a peculiarly successful criminal, though he spots the guilty one at the start." -- Kirkus "Designedly transparent as mystery, but suspense keeps up to concert pitch all the way." -- The Saturday Review

When a prominent New Yorker is murdered at his home, Lt. Valcour is called in to investigate. This is the first of the Lt. Valcour series, from the same time period (and much in the same spirit) as the Philo Vance mysteries.