{"title":"Freeman Crofts","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-pit-prop-syndicate-book-freeman-crofts-9780486829203","title":"The Pit Prop Syndicate","description":"Seymour Merriman, the junior partner in a firm of London wine merchants, is traveling by motorcycle from Avignon to Bordeaux when his vacation grinds to a sudden halt. Out of gas, he follows a passing truck to a mill where an English firm manufactures pit-prop supports for coal mines. He's given two liters of gas and is about to depart when he notices something peculiar -- the truck he followed was marked No. 4, but now it's labelled No. 3. His curiosity piqued, Seymour makes some inquiries that draw him and his friend, Claud Hilliard, further into intrigue. The amateur sleuths are certain that the Pit-Prop Syndicate is a front for some kind of illegal activity, and when a member of the Syndicate is found murdered in a London taxi, the mystery becomes a case for the professionals of Scotland Yard.\u003cbr\u003eA tense tale of smuggling, romance, and murder, this novel combines intricate plotting with episodes of mechanical ingenuity. Its 1920s setting, ranging from the South of France to Northern England, abounds in period atmosphere. Author Freeman Wills Crofts, a leader of the Golden Age of British crime fiction, was acclaimed by \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003eas the all-time master of the intricate timetable alibi and by Raymond Chandler as the soundest builder of them all.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49602690875665,"sku":"GOR009965305","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50864894345489,"sku":"GOR010876295","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0486829200.jpg?v=1751260880"},{"product_id":"antidote-to-venom-british-library-crime-classics-book-freeman-crofts-9781464203794","title":"Antidote to Venom (British Library Crime Classics)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCrofts makes great use of the 'inverted mystery' structure (he was among the first to employ the technique) in which the traditional whodunit is turned on its head, with the reader following the murderer through temptation and commission and then watching the detective sort through the sparse clues. \u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eBooklist\u003c\/em\u003e STARED review\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGeorge Surridge, director of the Birmington Zoo, is a man with many worries: his marriage is collapsing; his finances are insecure; and an outbreak of disease threatens the animals in his care.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Surridge's debts mount and the pressure on him increases, he begins to dream of miracle solutions. But is he cunning enough to turn his dreams into reality--and could he commit the most devious murder in pursuit of his goals?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis ingenious crime novel, with its unusual 'inverted' structure and sympathetic portrait of a man on the edge, is one of the greatest works by this highly respected author. The elaborate means of murder devised by Crofts's characters is perhaps unsurpassed in English crime fiction for its ostentatious intricacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis new edition is the first in several decades and includes an introduction by the award-winning novelist and crime fiction expert Martin Edwards.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49627893465361,"sku":"GOR009278723","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50375337050385,"sku":"CIN1464203792G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50554494189841,"sku":"CIN1464203792VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51849687761169,"sku":"NIN9781464203794","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1464203792.jpg?v=1751178533"},{"product_id":"the-cask-book-freeman-crofts-9780486834412","title":"The The Cask","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\"One of the classics of modern crime fiction.\" -- \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e While London dockworkers are struggling to unload a shipment of French wine, one of the heavy casks falls, shatters and reveals its cargo -- sawdust, gold coins, and a female corpse. But by the time the police arrive, the barrel has vanished along with its macabre contents. Enter Inspector Burnley of Scotland Yard, who traces the cask to Paris, where he enlists the help of detective M. Lefarge of the Sûreté. Together, they hunt for the identity of the anonymous victim and her devious killer, traversing a maze of clues, alibis, red herrings, and lies.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e This top-notch procedural, along with Agatha Christie's first novel, marked the start of the golden age of the detective story. Freeman Wills Crofts, one of the \"Big Four\" mystery writers of the era, provides fascinating insights into early twentieth-century methods of murder investigation as well as atmospheric glimpses of the shipping business in London and Paris in the years after World War I.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50044815737105,"sku":"GOR011868036","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50355232342289,"sku":"CIN0486834417VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51720841724177,"sku":"GOR012236985","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0486834417.jpg?v=1750698322"},{"product_id":"mystery-in-the-channel-british-library-crime-classics-book-freeman-crofts-9781464206719","title":"Mystery in the Channel (British Library Crime Classics)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot only is this a first-rate puzzler, but Crofts' outrage over the financial firm's betrayal of the public trust should resonate with today's readers. \u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eBooklist\u003c\/em\u003e STARED review\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eChichester\u003c\/em\u003e is making a routine journey across the English Channel on a pleasant afternoon in June, when the steamer's crew notice something strange. A yacht, bobbing about in the water ahead of them, appears to have been abandoned, and there is a dark red stain on the deck. Two bodies later, with no sign of a gun, there certainly is a mystery in the channel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInspector French soon discovers a world of high-powered banking, luxury yachts and international double-dealing. British and French coastal towns, harbours--and of course the Channel itself--provide an alluring backdrop to this nautical adventure, along with a cast of shady characters.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50468838539537,"sku":"CIN1464206716G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50764059574545,"sku":"CIN1464206716VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51330946990353,"sku":"CIN1464206716A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51849688121617,"sku":"NIN9781464206719","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1464206716.jpg?v=1750715406"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-freeman-crofts.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}