Freeman Wills Crofts

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Freeman Wills Crofts (June 1, 1879 Dublin - April 11, 1957 Worthing) was an Irish-British mystery author, one of the 'Big Four' of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

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[edit] Life and work

He attended Methodist College and Campbell College in Belfast. At the age of eighteen, he was employed as a pupil on the civil engineering staff of the Belfast Counties Railway. He held various positions in railway engineering, becoming Chief Assistant Engineer at the Railway, then known as the L.M.S. Northern Counties Committee. While there, Crofts wrote his first novel, The Cask (1920), which established him as a new master of detective fiction. Thereafter he wrote several fine mysteries about his favorite detective, Inspector Joseph French, including Inspector French's Greatest Case (1924). He also wrote one religious book, The Four Gospels in One Story, several short stories, and short plays for the BBC.

In 1912 he wed Mary Canning, the daughter of J.J. Canning of Coleraine, Northern Ireland. In 1939 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

[edit] Novels

  • The Cask (1920)
  • The Ponson Case (1921)
  • The Pit-Prop Syndicate (1922)
  • The Groote Park Murder (1923)
  • Inspector French's Greatest Case (1924)
  • Inspector French and the Cheyne Mystery (1926)
  • The Starvel Hollow Tragedy aka Inspector French And The Starvel Tragedy (1927)
  • The Sea Mystery (1928)
  • The Box Office Murders aka The Purple Sickle Murders (1929)
  • Sir John Magill's Last Journey (1930)
  • Mystery in the Channel aka Mystery in the English Channel (1931)
  • Death on the Way aka Double Death (1932)
  • Sudden Death (1932)
  • The Hog's Back Mystery aka The Strange Case of Dr. Earle (1933)
  • The 12:30 from Croydon aka Wilful and Premeditated (1934)
  • Mystery on Southampton Water aka Crime on the Solent (1934)
  • Crime at Guildford aka The Crime at Nornes (1935)
  • The Loss of the 'Jane Vosper' (1936)
  • Man Overboard aka Cold-Blooded Murder (1936)
  • Found Floating (1937)
  • Antidote to Venom (1938)
  • The End of Andrew Harrison aka The Futile Alibi (1938)
  • Fatal Venture aka Tragedy in the Hollow (1939)
  • Golden Ashes (1940)
  • James Tarrant, Adventurer aka Circumstantial Evidence (1941)
  • A Losing Game (1941)
  • Fear Comes to Chalfont (1942)
  • The Affair at Little Wokeham aka Double Tragedy (1943)
  • Enemy Unseen (1945)
  • Death of a Train (1946)
  • Silence for the Murderer (1949)
  • Dark Journey aka French Strikes Oil (1951)
  • Many a Slip (1955)
  • Anything to Declare? (1957)

[edit] Short Stories Collections

  • Murderers Make Mistakes (1947)
  • Mystery of the Sleeping Car Express, and Other Stories (1956)

[edit] Anthologies containing stories by Freeman Wills Crofts

  • Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror 2nd Series (1931)
  • Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror 3rd Series (1934)
  • The Mystery Book (1934)
  • The Great Book of Thrillers (1935)
  • Fifty Famous Detectives of Fiction (1983)

[edit] Short Stories

  • "The Mystery of the Sleeping-Car Express" (1921)
  • "The Level Crossing" (1933)
  • "East Wind"
  • "The Greuze"
  • "Mr Pemberton's Commission"

[edit] External links

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