Orange cloth with brown lion and title on the front board. Brown title on the faded spine.

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Courtney Ryley Cooper (October 31, 1886 – September 29, 1940) was an American circus performer, publicist and writer. During his career he published over 30 books, many focusing on crime; J. Edgar Hoover considered him at one time “the best informed man on crime in the U. S.” He was also an expert on circuses, and was the chief publicist for Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus at the time of his death.

On September 29, 1940, Cooper committed suicide by hanging himself in the closet of a hotel room in the Park Central Hotel in New York City. He left a note instructing that the cash in his clothing should be used to settle his hotel bill but giving no indication as to a motivation for his suicide. In his FBI file, there are letters to Hoover from two associates stating that Cooper did not commit suicide but was murdered.

Mrs. Cooper, of Los Angeles, could advance no reason for his suicide, but told police he had been morose over alleged snubs he had received in Washington when he sought to inform officials of German activities he said he discovered in Mexico. Finally, she said, he had conferred with his close friend and writing collaborator, J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, but she did not know the result of their conferences. Mrs. Cooper said her husband had made an exhaustive investigation in Mexico several months earlier and unearthed details of German conditions and propaganda there.