Rufus Frederick King (January 3, 1893,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

– February 13, 1966,

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

) was an American author of

whodunit A ''whodunit'' (less commonly spelled as ''whodunnit''; a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal ...

crime novels Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

. He created four series of detective stories: the first one with Reginald De Puyster, a sophisticated detective similar to

Philo Vance Philo Vance is a fictional amateur detective originally featured in 12 crime novels by S. S. Van Dine in the 1920s and '30s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, films, and radio. He was portrayed as a stylish—even foppish� ...

; the second one with his more famous character, Lieutenant Valcour; the third with Colin Starr, who appeared in four stories in the ''Strand Magazine'' during 1940–41; and the fourth with Chief Bill Dugan, who appeared in three stories in '' The Saint Mystery Magazine'' and ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fic ...

'' 1956–57. In 2014,

Wildside Press Wildside Press is an independent publishing company in Cabin John, Maryland. It was founded in 1989 by John Betancourt and Kim Betancourt. While the press was originally conceived as a publisher of speculative fiction in both trade and limite ...

purchased Rufus King's copyrights and began reissuing his work, starting with a collection of Chief Bill Dugan mystery short stories.

Bibliography

* ''Murder De Luxe'' (1927) * ''The Fatal Kiss Mystery'' (1928) * ''Murder by the Clock'' (1929) * ''A Woman is Dead'' (1929).aka ''Somewhere in this House'' Serialised, Burlington Free Press and other newspapers, 1931 * ''Murder by Latitude'' (1931) * ''Murder in the Willet Family'' (1931) * ''Murder on the Yacht'' (1932). Serialised, Burlington Free Press and other newspapers, 1933 * ''Valcour Meets Murder'' (1932) * ''The Lesser Antilles Case'' (1934). Serialised, Los Angeles Times and other newspapers, 1934 * ''Profile of a Murder'' (1935) * ''The Case of the Constant God'' (1938) * ''Crime of Violence'' (1938) * ''Murder Masks Miami'' (1939) * ''Holiday Homicide'' (1941) * ''Diagnosis Murder'' (1942) * ''Design in Evil'' (1942) * ''A Variety of Weapons'' (1943) * ''The Deadly Dove'' (1945) * ''The Case of the Dowager's Etchings'' (1946) * ''Museum Piece No 13'' (1946) * ''Lethal Lady'' (1947) * ''The Case of the Redoubled Cross'' (1949) * ''Duenna to a Murder'' (1951) * ''Malice in Wonderland'' (1958) * ''The Steps to Murder'' (1960) * ''The Faces of Danger'' (1964) * ''Malice in Wonderland: The Adventures of Chief Bill Dugan'' (2015)

References

External links

Bibliography
on http://gadetection.pbwiki.com

on http://www.classiccrimefiction.com

* 1893 births 1966 deaths American male novelists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York City Writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction {{US-novelist-1890s-stub