Death On The Way

Rating:
Summary: Railways, steam locomotives, and murder,
Review: Railways and steam trains. Apparently they’re dear to the heart of children and adults everywhere. Recently the Thomas the Tank Engine phenomenon has put the Wilabert Awdry books from the 1930s and 1940s back on the childrens’ book best seller lists. For adult railway enthusiasts, here's a reissue of the complete detective fiction works of his contemporary, Freeman Wills Crofts.

Crofts’ 1932 novel Death On the Way is an engrossing mystery yarn, not for children but for adults who like reading about railways and steam trains. Crofts himself was for thirty years a railways construction engineer. For detective fiction enthusiasts who like a good old-fashioned great train mystery, there is nobody so well qualified or who does it better than Freeman Wills Crofts.

In Chapter 2, here’s how he describes being in the cab of a steam engine: -

“The beam of light from the partly opened firebox door, now continuously white from the rapid beat, shone out on the front of the tender and up above it onto the roof of the cab. From these it was reflected back over the faceplate, or end of the boiler, showing up the maze of pipes and handles, gauges and dials, and bringing out unexpected highlights from polished brasswork.”

Contraband, forgery, swindles - these are usually the crimes being investigated in Crofts’ novels. The swindle here involves altering documents, earth work quantities, and the widening of a railway. Crofts has the knack of inventing plausible swindles which can and do bring a measure of success and riches to the perpetrators. Accordingly, uncovering the swindle and detecting the culprits is often and long and laborious task for his sleuth Inspector French. French has a liking for railways timetables. When interviewing a suspect he says, “Now I wonder could you put times on to it all? I like things set out in the form of a railway timetable.”

Crofts plots and plans everything with perfect engineering precision. He even takes us into the mind of the murderer occasionally, but so subtly and safely that the effect is to turn away rather than increase suspicion.

Altogether, a well-constructed murder mystery.

Rating:
Summary: Railways, steam locomotives, and murder.
Review: Railways and steam trains. Apparently they're dear to the heart of children and adults everywhere. The end of the twentieth century has seen the Thomas the Tank Engine phenomenon which has put the Wilabert Awdry books from the 1930s and 1940s back on the childrens' book best seller lists. Now, in time for Christmas 2000, comes a reissue of the complete detective fiction works of his contemporary, Freeman Wills Crofts. Crofts' 1932 novel Death On the Way is an engrossing mystery yarn, not for children but for adults who like reading about railways and steam trains. Crofts himself was for thirty years a railways construction engineer. For detective fiction enthusiasts who like a good old-fashioned great train mystery, there is nobody so well qualified or who does it better than Freeman Wills Crofts. In Chapter 2, here's how he describes being in the cab of a steam engine: - "The beam of light from the partly opened firebox door, now continuously white from the rapid beat, shone out on the front of the tender and up above it onto the roof of the cab. From these it was reflected back over the faceplate, or end of the boiler, showing up the maze of pipes and handles, gauges and dials, and bringing out unexpected highlights from polished brasswork." Contraband, forgery, swindles - these are usually the crimes being investigated in Crofts' novels. The swindle here involves altering documents, earth work quantities, and the widening of a railway. Crofts has the knack of inventing plausible swindles which can and do bring a measure of success and riches to the perpetrators. Accordingly, uncovering the swindle and detecting the culprits is often and long and laborious task for his sleuth Inspector French. French has a liking for railways timetables. When interviewing a suspect he says, "Now I wonder could you put times on to it all? I like things set out in the form of a railway timetable." Crofts plots and plans everything with perfect engineering precision. He even takes us into the mind of the murderer occasionally, but so subtly and safely that the effect is to turn away rather than increase suspicion. Altogether, a well-constructed murder mystery.