Murder by the Clock
A frightened wife calls the New York police late at night, certain her husband is in danger, and by the time Detective Lieutenant Valcour reaches the Endicott house there is a corpse waiting for him. Rufus King’s 1929 mystery, the first to feature his patient, watchful policeman, unfolds across a single tense night inside a wealthy household where nearly everyone has something to hide. Valcour works less by flashy deduction than by reading people, and the strained marriage at the story’s center gives the case an uneasy psychological weight. A notable entry in American Golden Age detective fiction, it reached the screen in a 1931 film. Free to download as a PDF and EPUB edition.
Listen to Murder by the Clock Audiobook Free
Listen to Murder by the Clock by Rufus King free online. The full audiobook (6 hr 36 min, 31 chapters, read by Roger Melin) streams free on this page.
Murder by the Clock (1929) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8:37 p.m. - Spring 3100 | 21:16 | |
| 2 | 9:24 p.m. - Hall Marks of Murder | 17:53 | |
| 3 | 9:45 p.m. - Guards are Stationed at the Doors | 10:34 | |
| 4 | 10:02 p.m. - Pale Flares the Darkness | 13:09 | |
| 5 | 10:17 p.m. - Living or Dead? | 10:57 | |
| 6 | 10:32 p.m. - Pictures in Dust | 15:37 | |
| 7 | 11:01 p.m. - Banked Fires | 11:53 | |
| 8 | 11:28 p.m. - Mrs. Endicott Screams | 16:46 | |
| 9 | 11:55 p.m. - Queer Deeps | 10:35 | |
| 10 | 12:06 a.m. - The Stillness of a Grave | 11:28 | |
| 11 | 12:15 a.m. - To Watch by Night | 7:36 | |
| 12 | 12:30 a.m. - Madame Velasquez Stirs up Muck | 15:59 | |
| 13 | 2:01 a.m. - Glittering Eyes | 11:19 | |
| 14 | 2:01 a.m. - An Empty Sheath | 12:33 | |
| 15 | 2:13 a.m. - The Thin Steel Blade | 9:34 | |
| 16 | 2:13 a.m. - Time Versus Death | 12:46 | |
| 17 | 2:40 a.m. - The Angle of Death's Path | 14:39 | |
| 18 | 3:00 a.m. - Thin Haze of Dread | 14:12 | |
| 19 | 3:15 a.m. - The Properties of Horror | 11:58 | |
| 20 | 3:24 a.m. - On Private Heights | 11:04 | |
| 21 | 3:51 a.m. - A Woman's Slipper | 11:15 | |
| 22 | 4:14 a.m. - Tap - Tap - Tap | 14:04 | |
| 23 | 4:29 a.m. - A Turn of the Screw | 10:53 | |
| 24 | 4:41 a.m. - As the Colours of Dawn | 11:16 | |
| 25 | 5:01 a.m. - Lunatic Vistas | 9:51 | |
| 26 | 5:25 a.m. - There Was a Sailor | 11:14 | |
| 27 | 5:46 a.m. - Mrs. Endicott Cannot be Found | 10:08 | |
| 28 | 6:00 a.m. - Mist Drifting Through Mist | 24:16 | |
| 29 | 6:30 a.m. - As Is Mirage | 9:51 | |
| 30 | 7:11 a.m. - The Criminal and Weapon of the Crime | 15:25 | |
| 31 | 8:37 p.m. - Five Years Later | 6:08 |
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