No surprise to see that I am writing about the British Library Crime Classics series yet again – and no, I am not paid by them – and here are another three which were sent to me at my request after I read one title by Freeman Wills Croft and grovelled for some more.
I will start off with 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.
A number of the firm's partners were Figureheads. At least that is the excuse. 'Knew nothing about what was going on. It's a lovely system! They were got in because they had handles to their names, to create public confidence. Public confidence!'…..innocent people are going to suffer through these dirty scoundrels'…..
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 growing 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.
And, finally, 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.
In the introduction to this title, by Martin Edwards, who knows Everything About the Golden Age, we hear that 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.
Three excellent titles and highly recommended. Gorgeous covers as always and I understand that this hugely successful publishing idea has engendered a large following of aficionados who are collecting every title as they appear. I have not got all of them, do not have room for a start and, to be honest, some of them are not for me, but those I do like are being kept. I had new bookcases this year as many of you know and have to report, sadly, that double stacking has already started……
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