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Inspector French #19
Fatal Venture
This story in two parts concerns a scheme to launch a cruise ship to travel round the British Isles.
Part one tells events from the point of view of the young hero, who innocently covers up elements of the crime to protect his girlfriend.
In part two Inspector French solves the mystery.
Part one tells events from the point of view of the young hero, who innocently covers up elements of the crime to protect his girlfriend.
In part two Inspector French solves the mystery.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
About the author
Freeman Wills Crofts
150 books89 followersBorn in Dublin of English stock, Freeman Wills Crofts was educated at Methodist and Campbell Colleges in Belfast and at age 17 he became a civil engineering pupil, apprenticed to his uncle, Berkeley D Wise who was the chief engineer of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR).
In 1899 he became a fully fledged railway engineer before becoming a district engineer and then chief assistant engineer for the BNCR.
He married in 1912, Mary Bellas Canning, a bank manager's daughter. His writing career began when he was recovering from a serious illness and his efforts were rewarded when his first novel 'The Cask' was accepted for publication by a London publishing house. Within two decades the book had sold 100,000 copies. Thereafter he continued to write in his spare time and produced a book a year through to 1929 when he was obliged to stop working through poor health.
When he and his wife moved to Guildford, England, he took up writing full time and not surprisingly many of his plots revolved around travel and transport, particularly transport timetables and many of them had a Guildford setting.
In retirement from engineering, as well as writing, he also pursued his other interests, music, in which he was an organist and conductor, gardening, carpentry and travel.
He wrote a mystery novel almost every year until his death and in addition he produced about 50 short stories, 30 radio plays for the BBC, a number of true crime works, a play, 'Sudden Death', a juvenile mystery, 'Young Robin Brand, Detective', and a religious work, 'The Four Gospels in One Story'.
His best known character is Inspector Joseph French, who featured in 30 detective novels between 1924 and 1957. And Raymond Chandler praised his plots, calling him "the soundest builder of them all".
Gerry Wolstenholme
May 2010
In 1899 he became a fully fledged railway engineer before becoming a district engineer and then chief assistant engineer for the BNCR.
He married in 1912, Mary Bellas Canning, a bank manager's daughter. His writing career began when he was recovering from a serious illness and his efforts were rewarded when his first novel 'The Cask' was accepted for publication by a London publishing house. Within two decades the book had sold 100,000 copies. Thereafter he continued to write in his spare time and produced a book a year through to 1929 when he was obliged to stop working through poor health.
When he and his wife moved to Guildford, England, he took up writing full time and not surprisingly many of his plots revolved around travel and transport, particularly transport timetables and many of them had a Guildford setting.
In retirement from engineering, as well as writing, he also pursued his other interests, music, in which he was an organist and conductor, gardening, carpentry and travel.
He wrote a mystery novel almost every year until his death and in addition he produced about 50 short stories, 30 radio plays for the BBC, a number of true crime works, a play, 'Sudden Death', a juvenile mystery, 'Young Robin Brand, Detective', and a religious work, 'The Four Gospels in One Story'.
His best known character is Inspector Joseph French, who featured in 30 detective novels between 1924 and 1957. And Raymond Chandler praised his plots, calling him "the soundest builder of them all".
Gerry Wolstenholme
May 2010
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 1, 2023
Another fine Inspector French product from Freeman Wills Crofts Importers. Over time, I became a big fan of this author - and yet, I never researched how many of his books there were left to perhaps see print again. I thought maybe we were done - but lately they have been washing up on shore in waves, and I guess the promise of some kind of TV show based on Inspector French's exploits is the main cause of all this. I don't watch a lot of TV - has the TV show already come and flopped, or is it still something that may fail to launch? Is Colin Firth playing boring but smartie Inspector French...these are the questions. But I have the books and that's what I care about.
Fatal Venture involves young Morrison getting involved in a business proposition that if successful will benefit him, even as a sort of junior partner getting ten per cent. The idea is: moderately priced cruises around the British Isles. Various discussions grow from "if it could make a profit, why hasn't anyone done it?", to "let's do our research and some math...", to "we have our rich mark...er, investor, let's do it!". One probably-still-mostly-safe-right? big liner purchased before it can be torn apart, and then re-fitted, and oila-vay!, the profits should be rolling in.
But John Stott, thick-skinned investor, capable of coming up with a good scheme and supporting math all on his own, hijacks and sinks the "affordable cruises for the common bloke" idea and talks his buddies into, well, a unique sort of cruise experience for a different, and moneyed, sort of crowd...
Over a year down the road - er, in and out of various ports of call - and Morrison is in love, and a really terrific suspect for murder. The first section of the book is actually called 'Through the Eyes of Morrison', and whether this lovesick, rather ordinary chappie is actually capable of murder or not, he certainly seems likeable enough while at the same time making some bad decisions, tied to love and loyalty, that paint him into a metaphorical corner along with a corpse.
The second section, 'Through the Eyes of French', I feel maintains the tension and pace of the earlier, Morrison-centric lead-up to homicide, but of course now it's all about our detective prowling about a ship, sifting for clues and holding interviews. Twists, by this point, have already occurred, and I must admit that one big reveal regarding a passenger's real identity caught me more flat-footed than applying to be a cop would. Alibis, wanderings of our select group of suspects, become important, as time of death can be pretty deftly nailed down (unless there's a rug under that, to be pulled!). More little surprises - one of the best being French uncharacteristically confiding to someone that someone else is now in the clear, so stop worrying about them, my dear..and soon after that, scads of solid alibis lead to inexorable process of elimination, and darned if the person French said could not be a killer must be the killer.
But process of elimination is a tricky thing. More twists, discoveries and revelations as the end is in sight - and I must say I loved the solution. I can admit to being BAM!boozled completely, and even though one of the clues French spots puts some elasticity into the Fair-Play notion, we do get descriptions and discussions of something we cannot see for ourselves, leaving any reader time to cogitate what a certain detail means, relating to a concrete piece of evidence.
My faves by FWC are still Inspector French and the Sea Mystery, The Ponson Case, and The Groote Park Murder, but this one is loads of fun, and the whodunit content is solid. Bonus: French's wife, Em, is along for part of the ride!
Fatal Venture involves young Morrison getting involved in a business proposition that if successful will benefit him, even as a sort of junior partner getting ten per cent. The idea is: moderately priced cruises around the British Isles. Various discussions grow from "if it could make a profit, why hasn't anyone done it?", to "let's do our research and some math...", to "we have our rich mark...er, investor, let's do it!". One probably-still-mostly-safe-right? big liner purchased before it can be torn apart, and then re-fitted, and oila-vay!, the profits should be rolling in.
But John Stott, thick-skinned investor, capable of coming up with a good scheme and supporting math all on his own, hijacks and sinks the "affordable cruises for the common bloke" idea and talks his buddies into, well, a unique sort of cruise experience for a different, and moneyed, sort of crowd...
Over a year down the road - er, in and out of various ports of call - and Morrison is in love, and a really terrific suspect for murder. The first section of the book is actually called 'Through the Eyes of Morrison', and whether this lovesick, rather ordinary chappie is actually capable of murder or not, he certainly seems likeable enough while at the same time making some bad decisions, tied to love and loyalty, that paint him into a metaphorical corner along with a corpse.
The second section, 'Through the Eyes of French', I feel maintains the tension and pace of the earlier, Morrison-centric lead-up to homicide, but of course now it's all about our detective prowling about a ship, sifting for clues and holding interviews. Twists, by this point, have already occurred, and I must admit that one big reveal regarding a passenger's real identity caught me more flat-footed than applying to be a cop would. Alibis, wanderings of our select group of suspects, become important, as time of death can be pretty deftly nailed down (unless there's a rug under that, to be pulled!). More little surprises - one of the best being French uncharacteristically confiding to someone that someone else is now in the clear, so stop worrying about them, my dear..and soon after that, scads of solid alibis lead to inexorable process of elimination, and darned if the person French said could not be a killer must be the killer.
But process of elimination is a tricky thing. More twists, discoveries and revelations as the end is in sight - and I must say I loved the solution. I can admit to being BAM!boozled completely, and even though one of the clues French spots puts some elasticity into the Fair-Play notion, we do get descriptions and discussions of something we cannot see for ourselves, leaving any reader time to cogitate what a certain detail means, relating to a concrete piece of evidence.
My faves by FWC are still Inspector French and the Sea Mystery, The Ponson Case, and The Groote Park Murder, but this one is loads of fun, and the whodunit content is solid. Bonus: French's wife, Em, is along for part of the ride!
November 30, 2019
As befits a former railway engineer, Freeman Wills Croft's novels often revolve around railways and travel.
This one is no different in that a cruising business is established but foul play takes place and Inspector French, who is vacationing on the cruiser under a pseudonymn, is called in to investigate.
It is a rather ingenious crime but in the end Frendh's dogged persistence gets its just rewards in a tale that grips the reader to the very last page.
This one is no different in that a cruising business is established but foul play takes place and Inspector French, who is vacationing on the cruiser under a pseudonymn, is called in to investigate.
It is a rather ingenious crime but in the end Frendh's dogged persistence gets its just rewards in a tale that grips the reader to the very last page.
October 2, 2022
For the first five chapters of this 1939, eighteenth outing for Inspector French the reader would be forgiven for wondering why the title was not "Business Venture", as a scheme for cheap cruises round the British Isles is described in detail from inception to fruition. Not until Chapter 9 does murder take place, while French himself does not appear, officially, for a further three.
The pace is as leisurely as the cruising, and, while Crofts waxes lyrical over the scenery of Northern and Western Scotland and the joys of the Irish coast, the investigations by land and sea of the death of a much-disliked man essentially boil down to rather routine alibi-busting.
As in the earlier "Antidote to Venom", Crofts is in full Moral Rearmament mode, which can be rather trying, and there is little attempt at portraying character, beyond a few stereotypes. Most GAD fans will have little difficulty spotting the perpetrator and motive, although the method of procuring the alibi is mildly tricksy.
Decidedly not one of French's greater cases, but enlivened by the cameo of his wife, Em.
Be aware that there is a spoiler for "The Loss of the Jane Vosper" in Ch. 13.
3.25 stars.
The pace is as leisurely as the cruising, and, while Crofts waxes lyrical over the scenery of Northern and Western Scotland and the joys of the Irish coast, the investigations by land and sea of the death of a much-disliked man essentially boil down to rather routine alibi-busting.
As in the earlier "Antidote to Venom", Crofts is in full Moral Rearmament mode, which can be rather trying, and there is little attempt at portraying character, beyond a few stereotypes. Most GAD fans will have little difficulty spotting the perpetrator and motive, although the method of procuring the alibi is mildly tricksy.
Decidedly not one of French's greater cases, but enlivened by the cameo of his wife, Em.
Be aware that there is a spoiler for "The Loss of the Jane Vosper" in Ch. 13.
3.25 stars.
May 6, 2025
An interesting read, not least because I know and love Portrush where the murder is set. An intriguing puzzle that ends with not with the reveal of who the killer is but how does Chief Inspector French prove it?
The book is easy to read and will help one relax.
The background to the murder is an old liner being used to cruise the waters surrounding the British Isles and sailing beyond the three mile territorial waters of the United Kingdom to allow casino gambling to take place with excursions to local tourist spots as well. The murder comes from tension within those running the ship, family ties and business rivals.
I was delighted when the book mentions three places where I have lived, Belfast, Draperstown and Aberystwyth. Also, it mentioned Magherafelt, Portstewart and Portrush which have had a major significance in my life.
Portrush was where my parents went on holiday when I was a child. The East Strand and White Rocks were a particular favourite spot for them, places mentioned in the book and where the murder takes place. Indeed, I bought the book in Portrush!
I suppose that such personal connections with the places in the book may have affected my judgement but that is for other readers to decide when they read the book.
The book is easy to read and will help one relax.
The background to the murder is an old liner being used to cruise the waters surrounding the British Isles and sailing beyond the three mile territorial waters of the United Kingdom to allow casino gambling to take place with excursions to local tourist spots as well. The murder comes from tension within those running the ship, family ties and business rivals.
I was delighted when the book mentions three places where I have lived, Belfast, Draperstown and Aberystwyth. Also, it mentioned Magherafelt, Portstewart and Portrush which have had a major significance in my life.
Portrush was where my parents went on holiday when I was a child. The East Strand and White Rocks were a particular favourite spot for them, places mentioned in the book and where the murder takes place. Indeed, I bought the book in Portrush!
I suppose that such personal connections with the places in the book may have affected my judgement but that is for other readers to decide when they read the book.
March 23, 2025
The story and characters are pretty silly but there were some fun details in the mystery and I enjoyed the ship setting. It was also interesting reading about the business of the pleasure cruise industry in 1930s England.
February 13, 2023
An excellent classic murder mystery written before the digital age. This gives it a certain charm. The plot is unusual and well constructed.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews