From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Mystery in the Channel

Freeman Wills Crofts

Start date: September 1, 2021

Finish date: September 30, 2021

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: Winner of the poll for our September group read.
[close] Winner of the poll for our September group read.

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Group reads

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What Members Thought

Aug 13, 2021 Jill rated it really liked it

Shelves: freeman-wills-crofts

An interesting story of a boat found at sea with two dead bodies, which have obviously been murdered. There is no sign of anyone else in or around the boat. The two dead men are identified as partners in a huge financial securities firm, which is rumoured as being in financial trouble. It is found that the business is in fact missing £1.5 million pounds. Inspector French is given the job of finding out who killed these partners and where has the missing money gone. The Inspector has various susp ...more

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Sep 26, 2021 Indeneri rated it it was ok

Shelves: classic, couldn-t-finish, crime, 2021

Detective French seems more PC plod than grizzled gumshoe. I couldn't make it through to the end of his painstakingly detailed investigation in all the wrong places.

If your murder victim was travelling to another town to see someone, surely that is the first place you go look for clues.

The timelines in this story don't sound realistic at all. Not only does French work superhuman hours, he seems to spend a month driving boats up and down the river, counting the numbers on a million pounds worth ...more

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Aug 30, 2021 Sandy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-detective-grp, own, mystery-classic, rread-2021, z2021-own-24

An interesting mystery as we trail behind Inspector French as he follows the clues through many twists and turns, bouncing back and forth between the coasts of Britain and France. The comradery between the policemen, both British and French, is one of the pluses of the book (and contrasts with P D James's detectives who weren't allowed a sense of humor). I expect Crofts view of the men who need to work together, often under pressure, is more realistic. The book begins and ends on exciting high n ...more

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Jun 26, 2018 Ellen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: june-2018-reading-list

Would have been 3 stars - but it mentions my home village in the last sentence...so had to give it extra! 😀

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Jul 10, 2019 Francine rated it really liked it

Pretty good.

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Jan 24, 2021 Laura Hannaway rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british-library-crime-classics

Excellent Myster

I loved this story. I’m still relatively new to Freeman Wills Croft’s Inspector French mysteries but I really like them so far. The plotting is meticulous and this one baffled me (which doesn’t often happen and I really enjoyed!)
Highly recommended!

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