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Inspector French #13
Crime at Guildford
Published in the US under the title 'The Crime at Nornes'.
The managing director of a large jewellery firm proposes a weekend board meeting at his Guildford home to sort out the firm’s shaky affairs. On Sunday morning the guests discover that one of their number, the accountant, is dead. The police are suspicious. Then comes the news of a London jewellery heist. Inspector French is called in to investigate two connected mysteries.
The managing director of a large jewellery firm proposes a weekend board meeting at his Guildford home to sort out the firm’s shaky affairs. On Sunday morning the guests discover that one of their number, the accountant, is dead. The police are suspicious. Then comes the news of a London jewellery heist. Inspector French is called in to investigate two connected mysteries.
315 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1935
10 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
About the author
Freeman Wills Crofts
140 books88 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 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 26, 2014
This is a marvelous example of the police procedural. Crofts' attention to detail is incredible.
Nornes Jewellery is in financial difficulty and the directors organise a weekend meeting at the Guildford home of the MD to discuss their future plans. The accountant of the firm, also invited despite being unwell, is found dead in his room apparently from his illness but the doctor suspects foul play and refuses to issue a death certificate.
While all this is going on, the safe at their office in London is emptied of the firm's entire stock of precious stones; about half a million poundsworth. This safe was not broken into. Therefore it must have been opened with the two keys required, one of which was in the pocket of the dead man and the other chained to the MD.
Everybody involved has a seemingly waterproof alibi. It takes all of Inspector Joseph French's ingenuity to solve this case.
This is FWC on top form. Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended.
Nornes Jewellery is in financial difficulty and the directors organise a weekend meeting at the Guildford home of the MD to discuss their future plans. The accountant of the firm, also invited despite being unwell, is found dead in his room apparently from his illness but the doctor suspects foul play and refuses to issue a death certificate.
While all this is going on, the safe at their office in London is emptied of the firm's entire stock of precious stones; about half a million poundsworth. This safe was not broken into. Therefore it must have been opened with the two keys required, one of which was in the pocket of the dead man and the other chained to the MD.
Everybody involved has a seemingly waterproof alibi. It takes all of Inspector Joseph French's ingenuity to solve this case.
This is FWC on top form. Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended.
November 9, 2024
41/2 stars
May 16, 2013
Mr Minter, accountant at the firm of Norne's Jewellers, goes down to the managing director's house near Guildford to discuss the fortunes of the firm, which was struggling somewhat.
He is joined by other members of the board but, declaring that he felt ill, he retired to his room intending to begin discussions the following morning.
However, when the time comes he is found dead in bed. Is it natural causes? Is it suicide? Or could it possibly be murder? The last of these possibilities is quickly ruled out but when Chief Inspector French simultaneously discovers a robbery at the firm's vaults, it comes back into the equation.
French joins with the local police force to try to uncover the perpetrators of the crime(s). All the directors fall under suspicion but all have cast iron alibis and it seems as though the investigation is going nowhere.
Then a chance break, which is unique in the annals of robbery at the time, for French provides a new line of enquiry and French revels in interviewing the supects once more. Even then it seems as though everyone has a perfect alibi and ostensibly French seems to retire and leave them all alone.
But his diligence pays off and he follows the directors to the continent and when he discovers that they are heading, in a circuitous way, for Amsterdam, the jewellery capital of Europe, he feels sure that he has got his men.
And, in a rather unusual, and bookish, way, he discovers that he is correct and eventually, with the evidence in front of them all, he extracts a confession ... at which point he turns his attention to his next case!
He is joined by other members of the board but, declaring that he felt ill, he retired to his room intending to begin discussions the following morning.
However, when the time comes he is found dead in bed. Is it natural causes? Is it suicide? Or could it possibly be murder? The last of these possibilities is quickly ruled out but when Chief Inspector French simultaneously discovers a robbery at the firm's vaults, it comes back into the equation.
French joins with the local police force to try to uncover the perpetrators of the crime(s). All the directors fall under suspicion but all have cast iron alibis and it seems as though the investigation is going nowhere.
Then a chance break, which is unique in the annals of robbery at the time, for French provides a new line of enquiry and French revels in interviewing the supects once more. Even then it seems as though everyone has a perfect alibi and ostensibly French seems to retire and leave them all alone.
But his diligence pays off and he follows the directors to the continent and when he discovers that they are heading, in a circuitous way, for Amsterdam, the jewellery capital of Europe, he feels sure that he has got his men.
And, in a rather unusual, and bookish, way, he discovers that he is correct and eventually, with the evidence in front of them all, he extracts a confession ... at which point he turns his attention to his next case!
March 21, 2021
Robbery and murder…
Renowned jewellery company, Nornes Ltd., is in trouble. The long recession has driven them into losses and now that it’s over business isn’t picking up as much as they’d hoped. The directors have to make a decision quickly – to raise extra cash to allow them to struggle on in the hopes of better times ahead, or to go into voluntary liquidation, sell off their stock, and each take a financial hit. They decide to hold a secret meeting at the home of the managing director in Guildford to discuss matters, and invite the company’s accountant along to give them his advice. But things are about to get worse. First the accountant is found dead – murdered – the morning after he arrives, and then they discover that somehow the company’s safe has been emptied of half a million pounds’ worth of jewels. Chief Inspector French is in charge of the investigation into the theft, and must work with his colleagues in Guildford to see if the two events are linked, as seems likely…
As with the other Crofts novels I’ve read, this is as much howdunit as whodunit, with two separate mysteries to solve. Firstly, how could the accountant have been murdered when it appears no one could have gone to his room without being seen around the time of death determined by the doctor? And secondly, how could anyone have been able to bypass the strict security measures surrounding the keys to the safe in order to steal the jewels? French feels that he has to answer these questions before he has any hope of discovering who did the crimes.
These books are extremely procedural police procedurals, probably more true to life than most crime novels. Unfortunately I find that tends to make them a bit plodding. French goes over the same questions again and again, worrying away at tiny bits of evidence, painstakingly checking statements and alibis, following trails that lead nowhere, until eventually he has a moment of inspiration that puts him on the right track, and from thereon it becomes a matter of finding sufficient evidence to prove his theory in court.
In two of the three French books I’ve read so far, I’ve also had the unusual experience for me of working out at least part of the howdunit long before French gets there, a thing I’m usually rubbish at, which suggests to me they must be relatively obvious. In this one, I had spotted how the murder must have been done by about the halfway mark, although I’d never in a million years have worked out how the robbery was carried out. As French suspected would happen, though, working out how the murder was done pointed directly at the villain, so I also had a good idea of whodunit from early on too. So I spent a good deal of the book waiting for French to catch up. All of this rather made the long middle part of the book drag for me.
However, the beginning is interesting as we meet the various suspects and learn about the company’s difficulties. The solution to the safe robbery is ingenious and certainly something I’ve never come across before. And the end takes on mild aspects of the thriller as French and his colleagues try to trap their suspects into giving themselves away. Again it’s done strictly realistically, showing how the police would actually operate. This is interesting and gives the book credibility, but I must admit it doesn’t make for heart-pounding excitement.
I think it’s probably a subjective taste thing – I can see how this detailed investigative technique could work well for the puzzle-solvers among us, but for me there wasn’t enough concentration on the characterisation, while the motive – straightforward robbery for financial gain – is never one that interests me much. So a middling read for me, but one that will doubtless be more appreciated by true howdunit fans. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Collins Crime Club.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Renowned jewellery company, Nornes Ltd., is in trouble. The long recession has driven them into losses and now that it’s over business isn’t picking up as much as they’d hoped. The directors have to make a decision quickly – to raise extra cash to allow them to struggle on in the hopes of better times ahead, or to go into voluntary liquidation, sell off their stock, and each take a financial hit. They decide to hold a secret meeting at the home of the managing director in Guildford to discuss matters, and invite the company’s accountant along to give them his advice. But things are about to get worse. First the accountant is found dead – murdered – the morning after he arrives, and then they discover that somehow the company’s safe has been emptied of half a million pounds’ worth of jewels. Chief Inspector French is in charge of the investigation into the theft, and must work with his colleagues in Guildford to see if the two events are linked, as seems likely…
As with the other Crofts novels I’ve read, this is as much howdunit as whodunit, with two separate mysteries to solve. Firstly, how could the accountant have been murdered when it appears no one could have gone to his room without being seen around the time of death determined by the doctor? And secondly, how could anyone have been able to bypass the strict security measures surrounding the keys to the safe in order to steal the jewels? French feels that he has to answer these questions before he has any hope of discovering who did the crimes.
These books are extremely procedural police procedurals, probably more true to life than most crime novels. Unfortunately I find that tends to make them a bit plodding. French goes over the same questions again and again, worrying away at tiny bits of evidence, painstakingly checking statements and alibis, following trails that lead nowhere, until eventually he has a moment of inspiration that puts him on the right track, and from thereon it becomes a matter of finding sufficient evidence to prove his theory in court.
In two of the three French books I’ve read so far, I’ve also had the unusual experience for me of working out at least part of the howdunit long before French gets there, a thing I’m usually rubbish at, which suggests to me they must be relatively obvious. In this one, I had spotted how the murder must have been done by about the halfway mark, although I’d never in a million years have worked out how the robbery was carried out. As French suspected would happen, though, working out how the murder was done pointed directly at the villain, so I also had a good idea of whodunit from early on too. So I spent a good deal of the book waiting for French to catch up. All of this rather made the long middle part of the book drag for me.
However, the beginning is interesting as we meet the various suspects and learn about the company’s difficulties. The solution to the safe robbery is ingenious and certainly something I’ve never come across before. And the end takes on mild aspects of the thriller as French and his colleagues try to trap their suspects into giving themselves away. Again it’s done strictly realistically, showing how the police would actually operate. This is interesting and gives the book credibility, but I must admit it doesn’t make for heart-pounding excitement.
I think it’s probably a subjective taste thing – I can see how this detailed investigative technique could work well for the puzzle-solvers among us, but for me there wasn’t enough concentration on the characterisation, while the motive – straightforward robbery for financial gain – is never one that interests me much. So a middling read for me, but one that will doubtless be more appreciated by true howdunit fans. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Collins Crime Club.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
December 27, 2020
Before I begin ,I have to say this is not at per with Crofts best (Hog/Magill/Channel/Starvel etc. 3.7 stars rounded to 4 .
The core mysteries look unbreakable till halfway of the book but then one is explained by Crofts and the other I cracked 80 pages before french .While its just as amusing as always to follow French in his investigations and see how he baits or dupes suspects or handles difficult situations , cracking the second mystery reduced my enjoyment .
The last stretch of the book is about French recovering the booty and it is interesting but there is no surprise as such to merit as twist in the tail . This is what makes this mystery a bit flat .
The mystery of the safe cracking is ingenious and is the reason I rate it at more than 3.5 stars, but the murder is not so . The solution of the murder is possible only in a book but in real life it wont work that way. Physics and biology will see to it .
And... who thought up the name of the penultimate chapter !!! He must be hung with the criminal(s).
The core mysteries look unbreakable till halfway of the book but then one is explained by Crofts and the other I cracked 80 pages before french .While its just as amusing as always to follow French in his investigations and see how he baits or dupes suspects or handles difficult situations , cracking the second mystery reduced my enjoyment .
The last stretch of the book is about French recovering the booty and it is interesting but there is no surprise as such to merit as twist in the tail . This is what makes this mystery a bit flat .
The mystery of the safe cracking is ingenious and is the reason I rate it at more than 3.5 stars, but the murder is not so . The solution of the murder is possible only in a book but in real life it wont work that way. Physics and biology will see to it .
And... who thought up the name of the penultimate chapter !!! He must be hung with the criminal(s).
January 22, 2024
As a relative newcomer to classic, Golden Age detective fiction, I picked up this book as part of a varied haul covering a variety of different authors. Fresh from my introduction to Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh, my research suggested I should expect something more police-procedural. This novel is often recommended as among the best of the Inspector French novels, so I was looking forward to getting stuck in.
After an engaging and intriguing opening, for me, this went off the boil very quickly. The main issue was the dull, bordering on tedious, descriptions of the investigation of minute details in the movements and interactions of characters. The entire middle section of the novel, from the beginning of the investigation, felt clunky and formulaic - an impression not helped by the almost total absence of characterisation, either of the suspects or those investigating them.
The mystery itself is solid, and if it’s pure puzzle solving that excites you, then you might enjoy this a lot more than I did.
After an engaging and intriguing opening, for me, this went off the boil very quickly. The main issue was the dull, bordering on tedious, descriptions of the investigation of minute details in the movements and interactions of characters. The entire middle section of the novel, from the beginning of the investigation, felt clunky and formulaic - an impression not helped by the almost total absence of characterisation, either of the suspects or those investigating them.
The mystery itself is solid, and if it’s pure puzzle solving that excites you, then you might enjoy this a lot more than I did.
November 23, 2020
Fans of the plodding police procedural- the adjective applies to both the detectives and the book- will love this. Although not as badly-written as some reviewers have implied, nevertheless this does not set the heather on fire, nor does it send the detection vibes coursing through my blood.
Murder and jewel theft, those twin staples of GAD writers, feature here, along with a business in peril due to economic depression, and a possibly criminous Board of Directors.
Most readers will have the criminals fingered and the main plot threads knotted well in advance of Chief Inspector French. However, what is of most interest is how Scotland Yard assembles its case-and just how many train journeys can be fitted in. French has one major piece of inspiration which is the "key" (pun intended) to the case and gives an original and contemporary twist to the plot.
Average Crofts. It also contains a spoiler for its predecessor, "The Mystery on Southampton Water".
3.5 stars
Murder and jewel theft, those twin staples of GAD writers, feature here, along with a business in peril due to economic depression, and a possibly criminous Board of Directors.
Most readers will have the criminals fingered and the main plot threads knotted well in advance of Chief Inspector French. However, what is of most interest is how Scotland Yard assembles its case-and just how many train journeys can be fitted in. French has one major piece of inspiration which is the "key" (pun intended) to the case and gives an original and contemporary twist to the plot.
Average Crofts. It also contains a spoiler for its predecessor, "The Mystery on Southampton Water".
3.5 stars
June 26, 2024
This was a beautifully written police procedural from the days when constables on the beat noticed men walking late at night, and when the police weren't allowed to pay for information! The days when there were butlers and maids and when even policeman were fearful of unemployment.
A jewellery firm is facing going stony (sorry!) broke. Some of the directors arrange a weekend at the chairman's country house near Guildford. On the Sunday morning the company accountant, who was ill the night before, is discovered dead in his bed. The next Monday morning, all the jewels that represent the working stock of the company have vanished from the safe. Are the crimes linked? Whodunnit? And how?
Inspector French plods through the evidence. One by one the suspects are eliminated. Even, after an ingenious twist (I got it!), the truth is revealed, there is still the need for evidence resulting in a chase into Europe.
A jewellery firm is facing going stony (sorry!) broke. Some of the directors arrange a weekend at the chairman's country house near Guildford. On the Sunday morning the company accountant, who was ill the night before, is discovered dead in his bed. The next Monday morning, all the jewels that represent the working stock of the company have vanished from the safe. Are the crimes linked? Whodunnit? And how?
Inspector French plods through the evidence. One by one the suspects are eliminated. Even, after an ingenious twist (I got it!), the truth is revealed, there is still the need for evidence resulting in a chase into Europe.
April 14, 2023
The financial manager of a struggling firm of jewellers is found dead in the managing director's house one weekend, and on the Monday morning the firm's safe is found to be empty, with all their stock of diamonds stolen. Chief Inspector French must unmask the killer and retrieve the stolen jewels if the firm and his own reputation are to survive.
I enjoyed this much more than the first book I read by this author. The characters had more personality and the story did not get bogged down in technical details. This gives me hope for the other Freeman Wills Crofts books that I have.
I enjoyed this much more than the first book I read by this author. The characters had more personality and the story did not get bogged down in technical details. This gives me hope for the other Freeman Wills Crofts books that I have.
April 21, 2018
Really enjoyed this green penguin classic which I found in a secondhand bookshop . 1st penguin edition published in the 50s. It’s a good read featuring Inspector French . The plot is quite technical but moves along well to the denouement .
November 7, 2021
A pleasing trip to the author's adopted home town of Guildford for this 1920s robbery homicide mystery. Had me guessing to the end and the hero of the story only really sleuthing his way to the end by sheer dogged hard work and attention to each detail.
November 28, 2022
This is the most boring detective story that I have ever read, going in tooth-grindingly laborious detail through a chronology which might be interesting if it were a real crime, but which as a piece of fiction is not worth the investment of a single minute of your time.
June 13, 2021
A delicious mystery with many wonderful twists and turns. One of the best things was that each chapter was like a mini story in and of itself.
December 21, 2021
Really enjoyed reading it, a nice easy read, my first Inspector French and would like to read more.
Want to read
November 12, 2018Synopsis: a murder takes place during a board meeting in Guildford. Then a robbery at their jewellery store in London. French sees the connection.
January 2, 2024
When the quiet, unassuming, newly-promoted Chief Inspector French is directed to investigate the seemingly impossible safebreaking at a London diamond merchants, he quickly realises the precarious nature of the company's finances is unlikely to be coincidence, and that there may be more than meets the eye to the recent death of the company accountant.
The Inspector French novels are early examples of the police procedural genre of detective novels, and their description of detailed, methodical police work, carred out by modest and dogged officers, is in marked contrast to the flights of inspired genius or devil-may-care derring-do of the majority of crime novels of the period (written in 1935).
The plotline is a little slow to develop, as FWC lays the groundwork of describing the predicament of the failing diamond merchant and its board of directors, and the weekend party at a Guildford country house held to hammer out their way forward, but, once French enters the narrative, the reader is inexorably drawn into the Chief Inspector's investigation and his careful consideration of all that he finds. The detective ultimately relies on a some lucky breaks as well as his logical, painstaking procedure, but that is often the case in real life, too, and falls comfortably within the realm of plausibility.
A good read, and one which, despite reliance on some of the tropes of the time (class distinction and deference, country house setting, and mannered behaviour), helps lay the foundations of the modern police procedural. I would give it a 6.5 out of 10.
The Inspector French novels are early examples of the police procedural genre of detective novels, and their description of detailed, methodical police work, carred out by modest and dogged officers, is in marked contrast to the flights of inspired genius or devil-may-care derring-do of the majority of crime novels of the period (written in 1935).
The plotline is a little slow to develop, as FWC lays the groundwork of describing the predicament of the failing diamond merchant and its board of directors, and the weekend party at a Guildford country house held to hammer out their way forward, but, once French enters the narrative, the reader is inexorably drawn into the Chief Inspector's investigation and his careful consideration of all that he finds. The detective ultimately relies on a some lucky breaks as well as his logical, painstaking procedure, but that is often the case in real life, too, and falls comfortably within the realm of plausibility.
A good read, and one which, despite reliance on some of the tropes of the time (class distinction and deference, country house setting, and mannered behaviour), helps lay the foundations of the modern police procedural. I would give it a 6.5 out of 10.
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March 19, 2010Crime at Guildford by Freeman Wills Crofts (1961)
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