From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Inspector French's Greatest Case (Inspector French #1)

Freeman Wills Crofts

Start date: February 1, 2022

Finish date: February 28, 2022

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: The second book in our Detection Club Challenge
[close] The second book in our Detection Club Challenge

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Group Challenges

* Oct 25: A Murder Is Announced (1950) by Agatha Christie
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What Members Thought

May 10, 2017 Judy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: detection-club-challenge

A man is found dead in a London diamond merchant's offices, and it soon transpires that a large number of jewels are missing. But that's just the start of a complicated case which takes Inspector Joseph French all over Europe, including visits to Holland, France and Spain.

I really enjoyed this detective novel, from 1924, the first in the long-running series featuring French. It is rather slow-building, but that's the point, as it shows the amount of painstaking, unglamorous detective work which ...more

23 likes · Like · see review

Jan 26, 2022 Susan rated it liked it · review of another edition

I do not think that Inspector French will ever be a favourite Golden Age author of mine, although I am glad that - having read later mysteries - I have finally read the first in the series.

Mr Gething, the Head Clerk in a diamond merchants, is found dead by an open safe. The diamonds, and cash, kept inside, are gone and itis up to Inspector French to unravel the clues. This he does, and Freeman Wills Crofts is keen to make clear that his detective is no Sherlock Holmes, with unerring knowledge a ...more

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Nov 04, 2019 Nancy Oakes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-mystery-fiction, crime-fiction, crime-fiction-uk, mystery-series-first-novel, 2019

http://www.crimesegments.com/2019/11/...

In looking at this book, for me it all comes down to the reader and what he/she wants out of his/her detective reading. Inspector French, called "Soapy Joe" behind his back by his colleagues because of his intense politeness, may not be the most brilliant detective ever -- even his creator Freeman Wills Crofts reveals in the introduction to this edition which was actually written in 1935 that "many people call him dull" -- but he never lets go, remains com http://www.crimesegments.com/2019/11/...

In looking at this book, for me it all comes down to the reader and what he/she wants out of his/her detective reading. Inspector French, called "Soapy Joe" behind his back by his colleagues because of his intense politeness, may not be the most brilliant detective ever -- even his creator Freeman Wills Crofts reveals in the introduction to this edition which was actually written in 1935 that "many people call him dull" -- but he never lets go, remains completely methodical and detail oriented throughout, and he is not averse to listening to his wife's flashes of insight when she comes up with an idea that sparks the light bulb over his head that will move him another step along in his investigation. "Thoroughness and perseverance" are qualities that the author has given his detective, and admittedly, French does not "leap to his conclusions by brilliant intuition." In short, he's a regular guy, he gets things wrong, and keeps trying until he gets it right. Personally, I found myself rooting for Inspector French along the way and actually feeling sorry for him as things continued to go wrong. If you want dazzling detective, you won't find that here; Inspector French's Greatest Case has much more in common with police procedurals and Crofts had obviously spent a great deal of time meticulously plotting each step of this mystery;
French's progress in some ways mirrors that slow and meticulous attention to detail.

As far as this particular case being his "greatest," well, I'll admit that I have no clue there, since there will be twenty-nine more cases for the Inspector to solve, the last published in 1957. In this book, the series opener and the first French mystery I've read, he is brought in to solve the case of a murder of a Mr. Gething, the head clerk of diamond merchants Duke and Peabody. The firm's safe is open, "three-and-thirty thousand pounds" worth of diamonds are gone, along with a thousand pounds in notes. Despite a number of clues and a number of suspects, the case is anything but open and shut, and "days slipped by" without any progress, causing the Inspector no end of frustration. It is a bafflement that will continue to dog French as the case takes him on a series of travels beginning in Switzerland, leading him eventually to a ship on its way to Brazil; he always seems to be close but at each step, just as he feels he's getting somewhere, he hits the proverbial wall as events transpire to put barriers between himself and a solution.

I had actually figured the big twist here, which is normally cause to let loose an internal scream, but in the author's defense it was not too long before French himself did, so the experience was unlike when I read detective novels in which I guess things early on. And "humdrum" or not, I quite enjoyed Inspector French and I quite enjoyed the book, enough so that I've been slowly stockpiling these Harper editions so that I can look forward to more of Soapy Joe's cases in the future. ...more

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Jan 23, 2022 Jill rated it really liked it

Shelves: freeman-wills-crofts

I had read two Inspector French books, but this is the first book in the series, and it seemed like a good idea to see how his character first started out. This book turned out to be pretty complicated with the plot encompassing not only murder, but also embezzlement, theft, fraud and impersonation. It really is a police procedural book, taking us through the discovery of the murder, and then every clue and half clue that French encounters. And, goodness this police inspector does travel chasing ...more

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Mar 28, 2022 Carolien rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2022, english-mystery

In this first instalment, we are introduced to Inspector Joseph French of Scotland Yard who has to find a murderer who has made off with a large haul of diamonds. The chase takes him all over the continent - France, Switzerland, Spain, Holland and Portugal are visited as he follows the clues. A classic of the mystery genre.

I read the Project Gutenberg copy: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/65553... ...more

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Jan 10, 2022 Susan in NC rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, kindle, det-club-2022

I really enjoyed this first outing with Scotland Yard Inspector French, written in 1924. Not only is it a complex and interesting mystery involving murder, diamond theft, fraud and impersonation, with a sprinkling of adultery, it’s also somewhat of a travelogue, as French pursues suspects and clues to Switzerland, France and Spain, along with various parts of England.

The good inspector is diligent to the point of tedium, but Crofts does an excellent job of portraying the detailed, unglamorous w I really enjoyed this first outing with Scotland Yard Inspector French, written in 1924. Not only is it a complex and interesting mystery involving murder, diamond theft, fraud and impersonation, with a sprinkling of adultery, it’s also somewhat of a travelogue, as French pursues suspects and clues to Switzerland, France and Spain, along with various parts of England.

The good inspector is diligent to the point of tedium, but Crofts does an excellent job of portraying the detailed, unglamorous work of detection. He’s also given his detective a friendly, charming, optimistic demeanor, and the nickname “Soapy Joe” from his underlings at the Yard. I’ve noticed Crofts’ attention to the monotony and detail of police work in the previous mysteries I’ve read, The 12:30 from Croydon, and Mystery in the Channel. French works relentlessly to get his man (or woman), using all the mechanisms of organized policing at his disposal, and doesn’t skimp on the details. Crofts realistically portrays the dead ends inevitable to any investigation, where our hero almost loses his characteristic optimism, leads dry up, and as time without results passes, French’s superiors get testy at lack of progress. It was interesting to see him lay his case out before his wife, Emily, who sometimes sees something French is missing and spots a new avenue for investigation. I enjoyed this humanizing glimpse of his home life.

In this case, a young clerk returns to the diamond trader’s office where he works, and finds the elderly head clerk dead in front of an open safe; a large cache of diamonds, along with cash, is missing. French is called in right away, and starts his investigation, but time goes on as one promising lead after another dries up. No spoilers, but after another death, this time a suicide, I began to suspect the killer - I had no idea of the details, and it turns out I was right, but I really appreciated the detailed explanation at the end. It was convoluted and complicated, but clearly laid out - I appreciate that about the Inspector French novels I’ve read. ...more

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Mar 03, 2022 Jan C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, gr-group-read, 2022

This doesn't say much for me or maybe for Mr. Crofts - it apparently took me 10 years to read it. I think I read it in fits and starts. Or maybe started it and then didn't pick it up again for 9-10 years.

Anyway, it was all right in the end. Not a bad start for a series. Inspector has several suspects. Both of whom lead him all over Europe. Could have been a nice vacation - he did do some sightseeing, while waiting for trains. I guess there wasn't much flying in the post-WWI era. The book did inv ...more

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