Two Envelopes And A Phone’s Reviews > Inspector French: Found Floating > Status Update

I have two suspects in mind...but one is a little more obvious, to the point of even being on the radar of French and the other coppers, during their discussions. One is a little more outlandish, but of course a suspect really "hidden in the shadows/person least suspected", and all that, can be a good one to latch on to.

I’m glad I decided to read the ‘extra’ sections that have been re-inserted into this novel after decades…where a retired Scotland Yard detective interrupts Crofts’ chapters with his attempts to solve the case. This seems no more a momentum-killing interruption than the fictional equivalent of 30 or so pages of verbal-summarizing-and-theorizing dialogue between a sleuth and a copper in a JDC novel…but done in 8 pages!

I’m really enjoying this; it’s a good one to read amidst all the John Dickson Carr novels I’ve digested recently, because we have something resembling an “Impossible Crime” situation here…and that’s just a prelude to worse yet to come! The fun I have had with my 30-book Summer reading project has inspired me to create new projects for Fall, and Winter.

So, this latest edition includes the sections that show up intermittently, added by a Scotland Yard Detective who was asked to try and solve the case. This was inspired by the success of a short-story book called Six Against the Yard, which had the same bonus feature. I could live without this, as it will kill momentum just a tad; plus, I prefer to work on a whodunit "by myself". But I'll read the added sections.

I need Inspector French back in my life. I don’t think we ever got that TV series we were promised. And if I missed it, while blinking, then I don’t want to see it! I imagine Colin Firth in the role; that’s fun. Anyway, this will likely be paired off with Seeing is Believing, by John Dickson Carr (Carter Dickson), as part of my ongoing summer project, and we’ll see which book tops the other…if that happens.