Freeman Crofts

'Mr Wills Crofts is deservedly a first favourite with all who want a real puzzle' - Times Literary Supplement'He always manages to give us something that really keeps us guessing' - Daily MirrorGeorge 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.As 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?This ingenious crime novel, with its unusual 'inverted' structure and sympathetic portrait of a man on the edge, is one of the greatest works bythis highly respected author. The elaborate means of murder devised by Crofts's characters is perhaps unsurpassed in English crime fiction for its ostentatious intricacy.This new edition is the first in several decades and includes an introduction by the award-winning novelist and crime fiction expert Martin Edwards.

A British Library Crime Classic

Antidote to Venom

'As pretty a piece of work as Inspector French has done ... On the level of Mr Crofts' very best; which is saying something.' - Daily TelegraphDr 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.

The Hog S Back Mystery: A British Library Crime Classic

When Seymour Merriman stopped at the side of the road twenty-six miles outside Bordeaux, little did he know how his life was about to change. The events that followed would take him through an adventure wrought with mystery, smuggling, murder and love. As this classic tale unfolds, it follows two amateurs in their attempt to unlock the mystery of changing number plates, and all else that surrounds the pit prop syndicate, before the case is handed over to Inspector Willis of Scotland Yard, who through thorough chasing of clues, finally manages to unravel the scheme.

Freeman Crofts

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