James Tarrant Adventurer

Rating:
Summary: Crofts modifies the classic detective fiction formula.
Review: After twenty years as a successful writer of detective fiction, Irish ex-railway engineer Freeman Wills Crofts was keen to experiment with new presentations and modifications to the classic formulas. The result may be seen in his 1941 book, "James Tarrant, Adventurer". Detection, or even the sniff of a murder, is postponed during the first eleven chapters. Instead we read of the ingenious scheme of a disgruntled chemist shop worker to produce and market a medicine that can be "almost-legally" offered to the public as a substitute for the well-known, nationally advertised one. We then accompany Crofts' regular detective, Scotland Yard Chief Inspector French, through seven chapters of detection, alibi checking and interviews, following the book's only murder. We finally read four or five chapters devoted to the trial of two murder suspects. This may seem an obvious structure in the telling of a story, but the usual classic "Who done it" usually offers more variety, flexibility and mystery. Crofts' is always a good storyteller, he always succeeds with his sleuth, Inspector French, and he is as good as anyone at courtroom scenes. Another strength is his ability to invent an unusual fraud, a corporate swindle, or an "almost legal" scheme such as the one depicted here. Plotting and planning in this book, as always, is excellent, justifying Raymond Chandler's comment that Freeman Wills Crofts was "the soundest builder of them all".