Trudging along a railway line, on his way home after completing an all-night shift, a railway signalman discovers a man's body on the track inside a tunnel. It is clear that the man has been struck by a passing rain and that the injuries are terrible. Crofts provides this opening to his 1923 crime novel, and thereafter sets out his detection puzzle with his usual expertise and craftsmanship. This is one of his earlier books. To his talents for story telling, time tabling, and depicting courtroom procedure, he displays here his skill at describing settings and geographic locations. The second half of this novel is set in Scotland. To read the descriptions of Ballachulish, Crianlarich, and the lochs thereabouts is to want to visit the locations, to want to traverse the journeys, and to measure the distances as told here. Crofts sets the first half of the book in South Africa, initiating a pattern followed by several other "golden age of detective fiction" writers of the 1920s and 1930s. The investigation of the initial murder proceeds very rapidly. Croft had not yet created his Inspector French, but the methods of detection are the same. Then, a subsequent crime in Scotland follows the same pattern: the victim is enticed to a meeting at a lonely place by the lure of vital information. Yes, the criminal is the same in each case - but who is he? You, like the investigating officer, will be in for a surprise!

Of her fellow practitioner in the "Golden Age" of detective fiction, Agatha Christie wrote, "Then there is Freeman Wills Crofts with his wonderful timetables". Well, Crofts and his wonderful timetables can be enjoyed in this 1933 mystery which takes its name from a ridge of land in Surrey, England. To this part of Surrey come two women to stay with a third who is married to a retired doctor. All the women were at school together, and soon they are arranging to meet others former school friends living nearby. Add the obligatory retired colonel, a neighbouring household where live the young widow and a nephew of a recently deceased elderly gentleman, a few suggestions of extra-marital affairs, and you'll deduce that a murder is not many pages away.

Actually several disappearances precede the discovery of murder, disappearances that are investigated by Crofts' indefatigable detective Inspector French of Scotland Yard.

Those who have disappeared prove so difficult to trace, and alibis so hard to crack, that French and the reader need to work and watch keenly through some slow moving investigation. Persistence is rewarded, however, and Crofts is seen to have devised yet another fascinating puzzle to solve.

Readers who enjoy sampling early vintage "Golden Age" detective fiction are directed to Freeman Wills Crofts. He was master of what is known as the "time-tabling" investigation. If you also like to enjoy again the sort of adventures that appeal to young readers, you will find this one fits the bill. There are kidnappings, gangs of criminals, murder attempts, robberies, ciphers, and a treasure trove at the end of it all. There is plenty of action, on shore and off shore, some continental travel and there is the second appearance of Crofts' sleuth, Inspector French of Scotland Yard, who takes over and concludes the investigation.

Crofts' later contributions to the detective fiction genre were of greater interest and aspired higher than this, but the book has a freshness and exuberance that are distinctly endearing.

The novel opens in the old house of Starvel on a gloomy September afternoon in a remote part of Yorkshire. By Page 17 the house is burnt down, and by Page 20 the charred remains of its three inmates are discovered.

An atmosphere of gloom and dreariness is maintained throughout this novel. The house fire is found to be the result of arson, the inmates to have been murdered, and a vast amount of money to have been stolen. By Page 46 Detective Inspector French takes over the case, and we follow his investigations thereafter.

Renowned for his narrative and plot construction skills, even by 1927 when this his seventh mystery novel appeared, Crofts uses the resources of melodrama here rather than drawing on his expertise in engineering which he was later to utilize so brilliantly. We are given, however one glimpse of a 1920s railway train. "The huge engine with its high-pitched boiler and stumpy funnel rolled slowly past, followed by coach after coach, brightly lighted, luxurious, gliding smoothly by." More often encountered are dastardly murders, deadly rivalries, exhumations, and villains in disguise. Typical 1920s detection procedures are employed. Useful identifications are obtained from taxi drivers, and from bank tellers who record the numbers of bank notes of large denominations. Slowly but surely French has his man cornered and is ready to call "Check Mate" when something totally unexpected happens.

Readers who enjoy sampling mysteries from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" should not overlook this one. As usual Crofts' plain but fluent story telling makes for easy reading. Each sentence dovetails perfectly into its neighbors, as is the way in good storytelling.

After twenty years as a successful writer of detective fiction, Irish ex-railway engineer Freeman Wills Crofts was keen to experiment with new presentations and modifications to the classic formulas. The result may be seen in his 1941 book, "James Tarrant, Adventurer". Detection, or even the sniff of a murder, is postponed during the first eleven chapters. Instead we read of the ingenious scheme of a disgruntled chemist shop worker to produce and market a medicine that can be "almost-legally" offered to the public as a substitute for the well-known, nationally advertised one. We then accompany Crofts' regular detective, Scotland Yard Chief Inspector French, through seven chapters of detection, alibi checking and interviews, following the book's only murder. We finally read four or five chapters devoted to the trial of two murder suspects. This may seem an obvious structure in the telling of a story, but the usual classic "Who done it" usually offers more variety, flexibility and mystery. Crofts' is always a good storyteller, he always succeeds with his sleuth, Inspector French, and he is as good as anyone at courtroom scenes. Another strength is his ability to invent an unusual fraud, a corporate swindle, or an "almost legal" scheme such as the one depicted here. Plotting and planning in this book, as always, is excellent, justifying Raymond Chandler's comment that Freeman Wills Crofts was "the soundest builder of them all".

Several young Northern Ireland scientists believe they have devised a formula for making petrol inert. They believe this discovery will bring enormous improvements in safety, storage and transportation. Expecting the discovery could bring them many fortunes, they seek to interest a London oil processing and distributing firm. A representative is sent from London to Northern Ireland to assess the process. He sends back very favourable reports, prepares to return home, and then is discovered to be missing when his ship docks at Liverpool. Inspector French is engaged to help solve this "man overboard" mystery.

Readers of Crofts' many detective yarns will appreciate that he incorporates two of his favourite things here: chemical processes and ships. Both are lovingly and attractively built into the structure of this fine 1936 novel. Readers who sometimes find his books to be slow and plain will not level the same complaint at this book. Crofts adopts the "multiple narrator" formula, so successful in Wilkie Collins' "The Moonstone". Moreover, the action moves quickly, locations change frequently, and there is a large cast.

This is one of the 36 Crofts' titles reprinted in 2000 by the House of Stratus. Thanks to the internet, I ordered and received my copy in far distant Australia all within one week.

A yacht is found floating in the English Channel. Her only occupants are two corpses. The yacht's mystery proves almost as puzzling as that of the "Marie Celeste". Readers who enjoy messing about in boats, solving time and motion puzzles, and police detective work will enjoy this Freeman Wills Crofts' murder mystery from 1931.

Inspector French tests and abandons many theories, working in and around the Channel, in England and in France. Testing was apparently easier in the early 1930s, when taxi drivers and shopkeepers could remember their customers, and when banks recorded the numbers on notes deposited and withdrawn.

If this is the sort of "Golden Age" detective fiction and nostalgia trip you enjoy, then sample it and others in the complete edition of Freeman Wills Crofts' books reprinted in 2000 in England by the House of Stratus.

A yacht is found floating in the English Channel. Her only occupants are two corpses. The yacht's mystery proves almost as puzzling as that of the "Marie Celeste". Readers who enjoy messing about in boats, solving time and motion puzzles, and police detective work will enjoy this Freeman Wills Crofts' murder mystery from 1931.

Inspector French tests and abandons many theories, working in and around the Channel, in England and in France. Testing was apparently easier in the early 1930s, when taxi drivers and shopkeepers could remember their customers, and when banks recorded the numbers on notes deposited and withdrawn.

If this is the sort of "Golden Age" detective fiction and nostalgia trip you enjoy, then sample it and others in the complete edition of Freeman Wills Crofts' books reprinted in 2000 in England by the House of Stratus.

This is one of Freeman Wills Crofts' most interesting and frequently reprinted books. The initial puzzling discoveries are made by an ordinary young Englishman in the first chapter. He is holidaying in France. His amateur investigations suggest that a trade in pit props across the English Channel is a cover for a smuggling racket. His investigations are later linked with a Scotland Yard murder investigation. The Scotland Yard man is Inspector Willis of the Criminal Investigation Department. The author describes him as "plodding and tenacious to an extraordinary degree". In his next book, Freeman Wills Crofts developed this character, re-named him Joseph French, and retained him in all his subsequent books.

Things which the author does very well are evident in this 1923 book. There are several long surveillance sequences. Seymour Merriman, the ordinary young Englishman, and his friend Claud Hilliard, take turns in secreting themselves in a barrel on a wharf in order to observe the unloading of a ship's cargo. Their amateur detecting, and Scotland Yard's better resourced investigating, provide absorbing reading throughout this relatively long yarn. There is also a love interest, and this is not something the author does well. A certain Miss Coburn, much like the heroine of a Victorian melodrama, reiterates from time to time "it can never be" whenever the ordinary young Englishman suggests marriage to her.

Over all is the warm nostalgic glow that emanates from many of the 1920s examples of the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction".

Thanks to the English publishers, the House of Stratus, it is possible in 2001 to purchase the complete detective fiction works of Freeman Wills Crofts. I have already received twelve of the thirty-five volumes in the uniform series. After years of browsing in antiquarian books shops and searching in their catalogues, it is wonderful to have and to read some of these long out of print detective yarns.

This one, "The Ponson Case" was the author's second production, and dates from 1921. When you see that Chapter One is entitled "Mystery at Luce Manor" you expect that this will be a classic whodunit featuring the butler, the boathouse and the brandy before bedtime, and that the reading experience will be much like playing the board game "Cleudo". Well, there is plenty of the traditional whodunit fun to enjoy here. Mysteries are solved and dissolved, alibis are offered and tested, timetables are constructed and checked. The investigation is co-ordinated by a Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Tanner, although some amateur sleuthing also occurs.

Crofts' mastery of plot construction is evident here, the traditional narrative formulas receive a fresh handling, there are unexpected twists aplenty, and plodding detection work is made fascinating.

You will enjoy opening "The Ponson Case" and be sorry when it is closed.