A few years ago I discovered Freeman Wills Croft mainly through the auspices of the Classic Crime series published by the British LIbrary. I read a huge amount of them and found them totally engrossing. One of the first titles I read was Mystery in the Channel. The Chichester is making a routine journey across the English channel when the crew notice something amiss. A yacht, bobbing about in the water ahead of them, appears to have been abandoned and, on closer inspection, a dark red stain is spotted on the deck.......
Inspector French is called in to deal with the case and the two bodies discovered on board are soon identified as the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the firm of Moxon Securities, one of the largest financial houses in the country. It is suspected that the two men may be heading for France knowing full well that the firm is on the verge of collapse and they are trying to get away with as much money as possible before the final crash.
The part of the book that I enjoyed the most was the chapter in which French, in consultation with an Ancient Mariner, discusses the tides, the ebbs, the flows and the fact that another yacht was to rendezvous with the fatal vessel (the person on board claiming innocence of the whole affair) and testing his alibi by working out the timeline to test his story. I do like this kind of detection, it is neat, it is tidy and it is fascinating to see how the author's mind works and I am always lost in admiration at the care taken in getting these details just right.
The same attention to detail is apparent in The 12.30 from Croydon. Andrew Crowther, a wealthy retired manufacturer, is found dead in his seat on this plane when it arrives in Paris. He was old and in ill health and his death perhaps not unexpected, but it is soon discovered that foul play has taken place. He has been poisoned. But how? He had the same food as everyone else on the flight. Perhaps it is a poison which can be administered some time before it is effective, again how was it given to the victim?
Inspector French, of whom I am rather fond, is once more on the case. But in this book, instead of following his though processes we follow those of the murderer whose identity we know right from the start. In a position when he, yes it is a he, needs money to save his firm and having applied to his uncle unsuccessfully, he begins to think how wonderful it would be if his uncle died as he knows he is a beneficiary of the Will.
At first dismissing the idea, it gradually gets hold of him and he starts to plan how to do it. And the reader follows him through his plans, how he carries them out and, though I should not say this, by the end I was almost hoping he would get away with it. Well he doesn't.
'One glance at the jury's faces told Charles the truth. He was lost.....they were going to hang him. Nothing he could say could matter...he heard the sentence. It was over. the warders were pointing to the staircase. they were supporting him. Half unconscious he was helped down'
I must admit I felt a chill run up my spine at this final paragraph.
The Hog's Back Mystery. Dr James Earle and his wife live in comfortable seclusion near the Hog's Back, a ridge in the North Downs in the beautiful Surrey countryside. Friends of Mrs Earle come to stay and it pretty clear to one of them that the marriage is not a happy one and that she is involved with another man. A chance encounter espied by the same friend seems to point to the doctor also being involved with someone. Then the doctor, and his friend, who is a nurse, both vanish. The doctor went to sit in his library after dinner one night and is never seen again. He was only wearing his slippers, he has no money, his keys and wallet are not taken, so where has he gone? Later on one of the house guests also disappears and it all begins to get rather tortuous.
Once again by Inspector French's meticulous approach to the mystery he gradually unravels the solution to the disappearance of these three victims and deduces where their bodies are to be found. Half way through the story I guessed what was going on, why the doctor had gone to town to meet the nurse, and from then on did manage to work out who the likely murderer was. I felt very pleased with myself as it is seldom I do this.
Freeman Wills Croft wrote an essay on the Writing of a Detective Novel. His method was first to prepare a synopsis 'of the actual facts that are supposed to have happened' including a chronology, character biographies and sketch maps of the important localities, and then a summary of how these facts became revealed to the detective' He also provides maps of the area.
Now I love maps or illustrations in a detective story. Dame Agatha did it, Ngaio Marsh did it and I love looking at them and murmuring to myself Now the Library is there, the kitchen there, so just how did the murderer get hold of the carving knife and get upstairs without being spotted.....ditto maps. Gosh the murderer must have come round the back of the house by the lane, then cut through the wood and ....well you get my drift. Wonderful.
In the last week or so I have had a lot on my mind and feeling rather anxious so I have returned to this author and re-read some other titles that I have not looked at for a few years. Though many of his books are available now there are still a few that need tracking down and I have been on second hand book sites to find the ones I am missing. Among these was Crime at Guildford, Inspector French's Greatest Case and the Book Office Murders. Others are on the way.
I have heard from other crime lovers that they find Freeman Wills Croft boring with his stressing of minutiae and intricate details and I can understand that, but I beg to difer. There is one title Death of a Train in which details of flanges, stops, gages, etc etc are vital to the solving of the crime and though I did not understand a word of it, I just found it all fascinating.
I find them rather soothing to the mind as we know the mystery will be solved and Inspector French will save the day. He always does.
