Cotton Moon
Created by Rufus King

COTTON MOON is a hot shot private eye whose high fees go towards "plowing about the seven seas on his boat Coquilla in search of rare nuts to add to his collection," in Holiday Homicide (1943), a spot-on spoof of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. He's aided in his crime-solving (and his nut hunting) by his loyal secretary-assistant-narrator, Bert Stanley.

Honest! Would I make up something like that?

A rare nut, indeed.

King was a prolific mystery and detective novelist, playwright, and short story writer, often linked to the Van Dine school (although he predates him); best known for his Lieutenant Valcour, a French-Canadian detective working among the elite in New York City.

NOVELS

• Holiday Homicide (1940) .. Buy this book

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.