Inspector French

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the first Inspector French novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed 'The King of Detective Story Writers'. THE FIRST INSPECTOR FRENCH MYSTERY At the offices of the Hatton Garden diamond merchant Duke and Peabody, the body of old Mr. Gething is discovered beside a now-empty safe. With multiple suspects, the robbery and murder is clearly the work of a master criminal, and requires a master detective to solve it. Meticulous as ever, Inspector Joseph French of Scotland Yard embarks on an investigation that takes him from the streets of London to Holland, France and Spain, and finally to a ship bound for South America ... • The Detective Club is a series of inexpensive hardcover reissues of classic crime and mystery stories from the Golden Age.

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the second Inspector French novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed 'The King of Detective Story Writers'. THE RETURN OF INSPECTOR FRENCH When young Maxwell Cheyne discovers that a series of mishaps are the result of unwelcome attention from a dangerous gang of criminals, he teams up with a young woman who is determined to help him outwit them. But when she disappears, he finally decides to go to Scotland Yard for help. Concerned by the developing situation, Inspector Joseph French takes charge of the investigation and applies his trademark methods to track down the kidnappers and thwart their intentions . . .

In a country hotel Maxwell Cheyne sits down to lunch with the pleasant stranger he has just met. Then, as the meal ends, he sinks into a drugged sleep and, on waking, learns that his house has been burgled (though nothing is missing)... This is only the first of his encounters with a gang of very persistent criminals. But what are they after? It falls to Inspector French of Scotland Yard to expose their desperate and unguessable conspiracy.

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the third Inspector French novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed 'The King of Detective Story Writers'. THREE CORPSES FOR INSPECTOR FRENCH. A chance invitation from friends saves Ruth Averill's life on the night her uncle's old house in Starvel Hollow is consumed by fire, killing him and incinerating the fortune he kept in cash. Dismissed at the inquest as a tragic accident, the case is closed - until Scotland Yard is alerted to the circulation of bank-notes supposedly destroyed in the inferno. Inspector Joseph French suspects that dark deeds were done in the Hollow that night and begins to uncover a brutal crime involving arson, murder and body snatching . . .

The Body That Came from Nowhere Off the coast of Burry Port in south Wales, two fishermen discover a shipping crate and manage to haul it ashore. Inside is the decomposing body of a brutally murdered man. With nothing to indicate who he is or where it came from, the local police decide to call in Scotland Yard. Fortunately, Inspector Joseph French does not believe in insoluble cases - there are always clues to be found if you know what to look for. Testing his theories with his accustomed thoroughness, French's ingenuity sets him off on another investigation...

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the sixth Inspector French novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed 'The King of Detective Story Writers'. A MURDER MYSTERY WITHOUT A CLUE. When Sir John Magill, the wealthy Irish industrialist, fails to show up at his home town on a well-publicised visit, neither his family nor the Belfast police can explain his disappearance. Foul play is suspected when his bloodstained hat is discovered, and Scotland Yard is called in. With his characteristic genius for reconstruction, Inspector French evolves a gruesome theory about what happened to the elderly man, but his reputation - and that of Scotland Yard - will depend on finding out who was responsible . . .

ONE INVESTIGATION,TWO POINTS OF VIEW Anne Day is the new housekeeper at Frayle, the home of Mr. Grinsmead and his invalid wife. To Anne's horror, her intuition that something is very wrong in the house culminates in an unexpected death. With the police jumping to devastating conclusions, Inspector French arrives to investigate. With the narrative switching between Anne's and French's perspectives, giving alternately the outside and inside track of an ingenious and elaborate investigation, will tragedy strike a second time before the mystery is solved?

'THERE'S SOMETHINGON THE ROAD!' Work on the widening of the Southern Railway's route along the Dorset coast is halted when a man is hit in the path of a train. At the inquest, the tragedy becomes a dark and sinister mystery when a witness swears to seeing a man running away from the scene of the accident - a statement that results in the intervention of Inspector French. But when the apparent solution to the case turns into an even deeper mystery, French faces the most complex problem he has ever encountered. Work on the widening of the Southern Railway's route along the Dorset coast is halted when a man is hit in the path of a train. At the inquest, the tragedy becomes a dark and sinister mystery when a witness swears to seeing a man running away from the scene of the accident - a statement that results in the intervention of Inspector French. But when the apparent solution to the case turns into an even deeper mystery, French faces the most complex problem he has ever encountered.

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. When Dr. Earle disappears from his cottage, Inspector French is called in to investigate. At first he suspects a simple domestic intrigue…and begins to uncover a web of romantic entanglements beneath the couple's peaceful rural life. The case soon takes a more complex turn. Other people vanish mysteriously, one of Dr. Earle's house guests among them. What is the explanation for the disappearances? If the missing people have been murdered, what can be the motive? This fiendishly complicated puzzle is one that only Inspector French can solve. Freeman Wills Crofts was a master of the intricately and ingeniously plotted detective novel, and The Hog's Back Mystery shows him at the height of his powers. This new edition of a classic mystery is introduced by the crime fiction expert Martin Edwards.

BLACKMAIL, THEFTAND MURDER The Joymount Rapid Hardening Cement Manufacturing Company on the Solent is in serious financial trouble. Its rival, Chayle on the Isle of Wight, has a secret new manufacturing process and is underselling them. Having failed to crack the secret legitimately, two employees hatch a plot to break in and steal it. But the scheme does not go according to plan, resulting in damage and death, and Inspector French is brought in to solve one of the most dramatic and labyrinthine cases of his entire career.

TWO MYSTERIES FORINSPECTOR FRENCH The Jane Vosper is plunged to the bottom of the Atlantic by a series of explosions in her hold. With no innocent explanation of the cause, it appears that someone must have sunk the ship for the insurance money. When The Land and Sea Insurance Company's official investigator then disappears, Inspector French is called in from Scotland Yard to find him. French decides that the only way to find his missing person is to solve the baffling mystery of the sinking of the Jane Vosper first...

A classic crime novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, 'The King of Detective Story Writers', featuring Inspector French, coming soon to television. Moneylender Albert Reeve has added blackmail to his activities. When his cottage burns down and he perishes within the flames, his death comes as a shock to one of his victims and Tony Meadows finds himself accused of murder. Luckily for him, his sister remembers Inspector French and asks him to help. French fears a miscarriage of justice and agrees to commence one of his most challenging investigations.

A classic crime novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, 'The King of Detective Story Writers', featuring Inspector French, coming soon to television. Julia Elton, mistress of Chalfont, is the dutiful wife of a man she does not love. Frank Cox is the man she falls in love with. Julia's husband, Richard, suspects her of an affair and has also dismissed an employee for theft. When a murderer strikes at Richard Elton, it starts a chain of events which affects the lives of many. And one of these is Inspector French.

A classic crime novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, 'The King of Detective Story Writers', featuring Inspector French, coming soon to television. Money – or lack of it – can be, to certain members of society, a powerful motive for murder. Two sisters and a brother who were to share equally in their uncle's fortune had, each in their own way, urgent reasons for wanting money. But it was a comparative outsider – who also stood to benefit from the estate through his wife's inheritance – who contemplates the murder of their uncle. In great financial difficulty, his desperation urges him on to plan the crime with infinite care. An unexpected chance leads to an accomplice who provides a sound alibi, upon whose silence he can rely. As The Affair at Little Wokeham unfolds, Chief Inspector French enters upon the scene and, through his painstaking investigation, the mystery is unravelled.

The Scotland Yard inspector is on the trail of a murderous jewel thief in this classic detective novel from the Golden Age of Mystery. Duke and Peabody is one of the most prestigious diamond merchants in Hatton Garden, London's famous jewelry district. But now the illustrious shop is showcasing a frightful scene. The body of one Mr. Gething has been discovered beside an empty safe. With numerous potential suspects, and little evidence left behind, it appears that a master criminal has gotten away with murder. Insp. Joseph French of Scotland Yard will not rest until he has cracked the case. Embarking on an investigation that takes him from London to Holland, France to Spain, French's meticulous logic and dogged sleuthing eventually leads him aboard a ship bound for South America . . .

When a dead body is found at sea, the case can only be solved by the astute Inspector French, and his most discerning readers, in this Golden Age mystery.   A mysterious shipping crate is hauled ashore off the coast of Burry Port in South Wales by two fishermen, who find a brutally murdered, decaying corpse inside. Stumped by the lack of clues, the local police call in Inspector French of Scotland Yard, one of the Criminal Investigation Department's finest detectives. With his meticulous pursuit of leads, it's only a matter of time until Inspector French finds the killer.   Praise for the writing of Freeman Wills Crofts:   "One of the classics of modern crime fiction." -The New York Times   "The soundest builder of them all." -Raymond Chandler

A deadly secret from World War I sends the Scotland Yard inspector across Europe in this classic detective mystery. After surviving the Great War, Maxwell Cheyne hoped to resume a peaceful life in England, but danger has followed him home. A ruthless gang will stop at nothing to retrieve a letter from his possession which holds a mysterious code. Cheyne is no stranger to violent confrontation, and he's prepared to fight back. But when an innocent woman is kidnapped, he turns to Scotland Yard for help. Insp. Joseph French will stop at nothing to bring the woman to safety, following the trail of clues from London to Bruges to Antwerp. But it soon becomes clear that to solve the case he must crack the letter's code . . . for the criminals have set sail on an expedition with their captive in tow. Originally published in 1926, Inspector French and the Cheyne Mystery is the second novel to feature Freeman Wills Croft's famous detective, following Inspector French's Greatest Case.

A deadly house fire causes a fortune to go up in smoke in this classic mystery novel by the author of The Cask. A tragic fire in Starvel Hollow has left behind a heap of smoldering ruins. An old man and two of his servants were lost in the flames-along with the fortune he kept in cash. With the bodies charred beyond recognition, there's no reason to suspect foul play . . . until the supposedly incinerated banknotes are discovered in circulation. Scotland Yard Insp. Joseph French has some questions for Ruth Averill, the elderly man's niece. Ruth's life was saved on the night of the fire by a chance invitation from friends. But could she have set her uncle's house aflame? As French peels back the layers of deceit, he uncovers a twisting case of arson, murder, and body snatching . . .