Freeman Wills Crofts was one of the most popular writers of detective fiction in the 1920s and 1930s but fell out of the public attention in the decades that followed. Part of the reason for this is surely his dismissal as one of the ‘humdrum’ writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction – that is to say a writer who is focused more on the creation of puzzles than developing characters or rich themes in their crime fiction.
I do not think that label is particularly fair or helpful though I do think that Crofts’ plotting is his greatest attribute as a writer of mystery fiction. His stories usually contain an impressive amount of detail both in the commissioning of a crime and in its solution. I think it is also fair to say that his series detective, Inspector Joseph French, is not a character brimming with personality.
The biggest problem I have with the humdrum label is that it conveys a sense of formula which is simply not present in Crofts’ fiction. His style constantly evolves as he tries out new ideas. Take his four inverted mystery novels (The 12:30 From Croydon, Mystery on Southampton Water, Antidote to Venom and The Tragedy at Little Wokeham) – each feels quite distinctly plotted, finding different balances between the part of the story where we follow the criminal and those in which we follow the detective.
In addition to those four inverted stories, his work includes examples of thrillers, the more classic detective story and the locked room mystery. While I was slow to love him (as you will see in my notes about Antidote to Venom and The 12:30 From Croydon), I find I return to Inspector French again and again – he is my most frequently reviewed writer on this site – and I have only rarely been disappointed by the quality of his plots.
My strongest recommendation from the novels that have been reprinted so far would be The 12:30 From Croydon but if you ever come across an affordable The End of Andrew Harrison or The Affair at Little Wokeham (most likely under their US titles), do snap them up – they are excellent!
Note: One of the complications in trying to find copies of Crofts’ work is that the books were often published under separate titles in the UK and US. Where a book is currently out of print I have given both titles below but where a book has been recently reissued I am only using the UK title.
Standalones
The Cask (1920)
The Ponson Case (1921)
The Pit Prop Syndicate (1922)
The Groote Park murder (1923)
Murderers Make Mistakes (1947) – a short story collection
Mystery of the Sleeping Car Express and Other Stories (1956)
Inspector French
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| 1924 Inspector French’s Greatest Case | 1926 The Cheyne Mystery | 1927 The Starvel Hollow Tragedy |
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| 1928 The Sea Mystery | 1929 The Box Office Murders | 1930 Sir John Magill’s Last Journey |
| 1931 Mystery in the Channel | 1932 Sudden Death | 1932 Death on the Way / Double Death |
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| 1933 The Hog’s Back Mystery | 1934 The 12:30 from Croydon | 1934 Mystery on Southampton Water / Crime on the Solent |
| 1935 Crime at Guildford / The Crime at Nornes | 1936 The Loss of the ‘Jane Vosper’ | 1936 Man Overboard / Cold-Blooded Murder |
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| 1937 Found Floating | 1938 Antidote to Venom | 1938 The End of Andrew Harrison / The Futile Alibi |
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| 1939 Fatal Venture / Tragedy in the Hollow | 1940 Golden Ashes | 1941 James Tarrant, Adventurer / Circumstantial Evidence |
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| 1941 A Losing Game | 1942 Fear Comes to Chalfont | 1943 The Affair at Little Wokeham / Double Tragedy |
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| 1945 Enemy Unseen | 1946 Death of a Train | 1949 Silence for the Murderer |
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| 1951 Dark Journey / French Strikes Oil | 1955 Many a Slip | 1957 Anything to Declare? |
Author portrait in header image by Bassano Ltd. © National Portrait Gallery, London. Used under Creative Commons 3.0 licence. This photograph has been slightly cropped.
