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Inspector French #9
Inspector French: Death on the Way
To mark the publishing centenary of Freeman Wills Crofts, ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’, this is one of six classic crime novels being issued in 2020 featuring Inspector French, coming soon to television.
Work on the widening of the Southern Railway’s route along the Dorset coast is halted when a man is hit in the path of a train. At the inquest, the tragedy becomes a dark and sinister mystery when a witness swears to seeing a man running away from the scene of the accident – a statement that results in the intervention of Inspector French. But when the apparent solution to the case turns into an even deeper mystery, French faces the most complex problem he has ever encountered.
Work on the widening of the Southern Railway’s route along the Dorset coast is halted when a man is hit in the path of a train. At the inquest, the tragedy becomes a dark and sinister mystery when a witness swears to seeing a man running away from the scene of the accident – a statement that results in the intervention of Inspector French. But when the apparent solution to the case turns into an even deeper mystery, French faces the most complex problem he has ever encountered.
- GenresMystery
318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1932
19 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Freeman Wills Crofts
142 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 25, 2021
After the relative dissapointment of Crime at Guildford , this was a thoroughly satisfactory Crofts . The setting is interesting as it gave me a glimpse at railroad work and for me it was fascinating to check up on all the meters(pulsometer,comptometer,cyclometer etc.) and 0-4-4 ,2-6-0,0-8-0 etc .The mystery was complex as usual and again Crofts has tried something new (for him) and it is very successful because of if being unexpected .
The detection and logical reasoning was excellent and the clues were all very expertly hidden. You can solve the case if you take mental note of them and dont let your brain get clouded by conventional ideas .
The book became thoroughly engrossing and downright exiting towards the end .
Solid entry in the series ...4.1 stars .
The detection and logical reasoning was excellent and the clues were all very expertly hidden. You can solve the case if you take mental note of them and dont let your brain get clouded by conventional ideas .
The book became thoroughly engrossing and downright exiting towards the end .
Solid entry in the series ...4.1 stars .
October 18, 2025
Four and a half stars.
I really enjoyed this book having just read it again after many years. An excellent police procedural. I know that some readers would find the mass of detail tedious but I don't.
The story is set on The Railway and obviously draws on FWC's own experience as a railway engineer. A section of the railway is being widened, involving massive earthworks and the like. One of the engineers is found on the line having been run over by a train. Was it accident, suicide or murder? The inquest decided it was an accident but subsequent evidence threw doubt on this verdict and Inspector French was called in to Investigate.
Highly recommended
I really enjoyed this book having just read it again after many years. An excellent police procedural. I know that some readers would find the mass of detail tedious but I don't.
The story is set on The Railway and obviously draws on FWC's own experience as a railway engineer. A section of the railway is being widened, involving massive earthworks and the like. One of the engineers is found on the line having been run over by a train. Was it accident, suicide or murder? The inquest decided it was an accident but subsequent evidence threw doubt on this verdict and Inspector French was called in to Investigate.
Highly recommended
November 5, 2020
Crofts obviously drew on his own experiences as a civil engineer on the railways for the setting of this 1932 investigation by Inspector French which begins with a body found on a railway line near to a line-widening project.
There are plenty of alibis to be checked here by the painstaking detective, and there is a further death before the solution is found.
I thought this one sagged a bit or, rather, got mired in the detail of the excavations, and was not quite as interesting as its predecessor, "Sudden Death". However, it is heaven for the lover of vintage police procedurals.
Recommendable, despite my cavils.
There are plenty of alibis to be checked here by the painstaking detective, and there is a further death before the solution is found.
I thought this one sagged a bit or, rather, got mired in the detail of the excavations, and was not quite as interesting as its predecessor, "Sudden Death". However, it is heaven for the lover of vintage police procedurals.
Recommendable, despite my cavils.
April 11, 2021
1930s procedural mystery . Compared to Agatha Christie.
Very detailed. Learned about the intricacies of building train tresses and the widening of train tracks . Two murders. Huge fraud on the companies involved. The characters very stiff and seemed non important . The plot weaved but was interesting .
Not an Agatha Christie!
Very detailed. Learned about the intricacies of building train tresses and the widening of train tracks . Two murders. Huge fraud on the companies involved. The characters very stiff and seemed non important . The plot weaved but was interesting .
Not an Agatha Christie!
July 26, 2021
Definitely not one of his better books. There is excruciating detail at the beginning about the railway and contractor crews. You would need a complex organizational chart to try and figure it all out. Then many of the facts are checked by Inspector French in minute-by-minute detail. The solution is quite intriguing but the book itself is a real slog.
June 14, 2021
This was my fifth book by this author and it was without a doubt the worst. So. Very. Repetitive. French comes and then vanishes for most of the book. It didn't feel like this is an inspector French book. So very disappointed
August 3, 2020
The story was very boring
February 8, 2023
Another intriguing Crofts thriller
A cleverly contrived plot by a master author. Freeman Wills Crofts was a star of the golden age of detective mystery’s.
A cleverly contrived plot by a master author. Freeman Wills Crofts was a star of the golden age of detective mystery’s.
September 28, 2024
The author got too caught up in making a elaborate plot
May 25, 2025
I don’t want to spoil the read, but for me the solution left a strangely unpleasant aftertaste. Read it, enjoy it (there’s much to enjoy) and don’t mind me.
September 15, 2016
While I did have a sneaking suspicion about the murderer's identity, the engineering details that were so important to the plot went right over my head. The young resident engineer on a project to expand a rail line is found dead on the tracks--an obvious accident. But facts come to light that send Inspector French of Scotland Yard to decide if it was a case of murder. The investigation is lengthy, to say the least, and one more crime is discovered. Inspector French doesn't work as closely with the local police in this mystery as he usually does.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews