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Inspector French #26
Death of a Train
In July of 1942, a shipment of vital supplies bound for British forces in North Africa is secretly made the course of World War II may well depend on its safe delivery. But somewhere there is a leakage of information and the shipment is threatened Scotland Yard is called in, and inspector French enters the world of international espionage to solve the most crucial case of his career.
- GenresMystery
314 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
89 people want to read
About the author
Freeman Wills Crofts
140 books90 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 17, 2020
A thriller with a difference in that the main action concentrates on the life of a train, not just any ordinary train, one that is used to ferry vital war materials around the country en route to overseas.
However, subversive forces are on hand to disrupt such activity and the train is in jeopardy. The top secret plans for the movement of the train find their way mysteriously to the enemy and thereafter it is a race to deliver the goods or find the men behind the plot to derail the train.
The suspense is kept up all through to a thrilling, and unexpected, climax.
However, subversive forces are on hand to disrupt such activity and the train is in jeopardy. The top secret plans for the movement of the train find their way mysteriously to the enemy and thereafter it is a race to deliver the goods or find the men behind the plot to derail the train.
The suspense is kept up all through to a thrilling, and unexpected, climax.
August 24, 2022
Didn't quite make it halfway. Crofts was a railroad guy, and he's known as the master of timetables. I thought I could handle that sort of thing for some of the book, at least until the detective shows up, but I didn't even make it that far. Maybe I should try The Cask instead.
August 1, 2017
Death of a Train by Freeman Wills Crofts (1947): This British crime novel was the 26th book in Crofts’ Inspector French series and it was my first Freeman Wills Crofts book. The story is set in the early 1940s in England when they were becoming entangled in World War II. The book begins when a train transporting important war materials destined for North Africa crashes with another train. The collision seemed to be an accident, but there are suspicions that it was carefully planned. Therefore Chief Inspector French is called in to investigate and his investigation leads him to believe that the train wreak was no accident. It was diligently planned and carried out by German infiltrators/sympathizers. Inspector French’s investigation uncovers a well-developed and carefully-orchestrated sinister plan to sabotage the British war efforts. It’s a complicated, fascinating and eventful story that forces Inspector French into dangerous situations. I enjoyed this novel very much and I plan to read more Inspector French novels.
October 17, 2016
Read the book nearly 50 years ago , in the 1960s when I was a schoolboy. It immediately became my favourite crime fiction novel...having just graduated from Enid Blyton mysteries. The reviews of the new movie 'The girl in the train' , brought up old memories. I remember it as a tech thriller in those days...on the British Railway System, ...on how to find out a phone number dialled by listening to the dialling sound and measuring the time taken to dial each digit ....etc.
The book was in paperback, with its cover missing . :-)
The book was in paperback, with its cover missing . :-)
June 6, 2012
Great WWII era spy mystery set in Britain, especially liked the details on how the British rail system operated.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews