Another fun tale fromFreeman Wills Crofts in this classic series. I enjoyed the nautical setting and the movement between Britain and France. Especially interesting to see how these nations were perceived in the 1930s.

Another splendid mystery from Freeman Wills Croft. I’ve read a few of these now and they are always a good read.

"The Chichester is making a routine journey across the English Channel on a pleasant afternoon in June, when the steamer’s crew notice something strange. A yacht, bobbing about in the water ahead of them, appears to have been abandoned, and there is a dark red stain on the deck… Two bodies later, with no sign of a gun, there certainly is a mystery in the channel.

Inspector French soon discovers a world of high-powered banking, luxury yachts and international double-dealing. British and French coastal towns, harbours – and of course the Channel itself – provide an alluring backdrop to this nautical adventure, along with a cast of shady characters."

And more good old fashioned British crime!

One of the best from the Golden Age of Mysteries, Mystery in the Channel has aged well. Set in 1931, it is a seaworthy "locked room" puzzle. Two men from a possibly troubled financial institution are found murdered on a yacht in the English Channel. Inspector French, from Scotland Yard, gets the case and proceeds to develop and then discard many theories. With all of those theories and clues, Crofts always plays fair with the reader. Some will find the pace slow but that's what I enjoy about Golden Age mysteries. They went by their wits back in the 1930's, no cell phones and computers to help them out. A very satisfying read.

I enjoy the British Library Crime Classics. The golden age of detective fiction has produced a lot of great mystery novels that have gotten lost over the years. It is wonderful to see them being reissued. And the absolutely gorgeous covers don't hurt. The Mystery in the Channel is a classic locked room mystery with a yacht in place of the locked room. A steamer comes across a drifting yacht with two bodies on board. No one else is there. Who committed the murder and where did they go? Inspector French is just the man to solve the crime. This is more puzzle driven than character driven but it was thoroughly enjoyable.

A reprinted classic of the so-called "hundrum" school, where a mystery is solved through slow-moving detection, not a lot of chasing around firing guns, leaping to conclusions, and luckily stumbling upon clues. The style and pace of the writing will not be suited to some modern readers who want a fast pace and dramatics, but this remains a "good" mystery and an entertaining read.

Thanks for my copy but I'm passing on this one. I prefer to be positive and I struggled with this one-possibly because I'm a landlubber

British Library Crime Classics have regaled me for the past year or so. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these resurrected masterpieces from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Mystery in the Channel is no different.
A mysterious yacht is found floating in the Channel. On closer inspection, it is revealed that there are two dead men, or rather, two murdered men on it. Two men are entrusted with the task of taking the boat back to harbor.

Another man turns up, claiming curiosity about the familiar looking boat. Turns out he can identify both the victims and knew them well. Back on the coast, the story is gradually revealed. The two dead men headed a well known financial securities firm which was about to go bust. Were they on the run? Were they killed for money or revenge?

Inspector French from Scotland Yard has the case, and he’s doing the footwork. There aren’t many clues, but good old police work gradually uncovers the layers.

What I find different about these books is that unlike the quaint feel of Agatha Christie books which were written around that time, these books very often have a more modern feel. They are set in urban environments, and the London depicted here, for example, seems different from the one in Miss Marple books. There are very few peers or vicars here. These are about people doing 9 to 5 jobs, busy in the grind of daily life.

If you are a mystery fan, you must read Mystery in the Channel. Although set almost 100 years ago, it will give you a familiar rush, and have you evaluating the crime, trying to solve it before Inspector French.

There are times, when life is busy, when a vintage literary mystery is the perfect bookish prescription. When I needed that prescription I picked up this book, and it was perfect.

It begins with a passenger ferry in the English channel, sailing from Newhaven to Dieppe. Captain Hewitt sees a yacht adrift, with a man lying motionless on the deck. He sends a small boarding party and they find that the man has been shot dead, as has another man they find in the cabin.

There is no sign of a murder weapon, or the murderer.

Another man arrives on a motor launch. He is John Patrick Nolan, and he had come to join two of his partners in Moxon’s General Securities on a business trip, to meet a French financier named Pasteur in Fécamp. He identifies the two dead men as Paul Moxon, chairman of the firm, and his vice-chairman, Sydney Deeping.

Back in England the investigation falls to the Sussex Police, and to Inspector Joseph French of Scotland Yard.

It appeared that Moxon’s General Securities was on the verge of collapse: and that maybe the partners, unable to meet their obligations, were fleeing the country with £1.5 million pounds in cash that was missing from the company’s strong room.

The investigation would be complex. It took in many people involved with and affected by events at the failing finance house; detailed nautical calculations and timetables; and the serial numbers and whereabouts of the missing notes.

It wasn’t difficult to follow. I didn’t try to work too much out, but I enjoyed watching capable professionals doing their jobs; and following the investigation and all of different developments.

The plot was very well constructed.

The characters were drawn simply; just clearly enough to allow the story to move forward.

Many of the details if the story still resonate: particularly the business failure, the executives abdicating responsibility and absconding, and ordinary people suffering life-changing losses. Technology has changed, the figures have changed, but almost everything else would be exactly the same today.

I appreciated that many of those working on the investigation had genuine concern for the families of the dead men and for the many people affected by the collapse of Moxons.

There are many days when I would rather read a mystery with more complex characters, with a plot that held more surprises, and with a story that was a little more profound.

But on the day that I read this book it had exactly the right amount of mystery and real human interest to engage and to entertain.

Mystery in the Channel is another classic mystery in the series that is slowly being released by Poisoned Pen Press. I have loved reading these old mysteries that truly focus on the mystery and not a lot of gimmicks like some of today’s thrillers do. Freeman Wills Crofts has written a great whodunit with a genuinely good detective who solves it. I highly recommend it. Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Super solid Golden Age mystery set in and around the Channel - a locked door mystery in which the ocean steps in for the library, really. There's not a lot (as in barely any) of character development and no needless romance to muddy up the waters, which is right up my alley as I've had my fill of female characters throwing around dialogue like "But you must believe me, you've got to!" before flinging themselves on a couch. But fair warning for a reader who enjoys delving into the emotional landscape of her detective because you're not finding it here. There is a tidy group of suspects and a fair amount of travel to France, which is nicely described - as always Mr. Crofts does a great job of describing the A to Z of police work and, while the resolution of the mystery reads a bit rushed, this is a very enjoyable entry for mystery fans.

This is a classic puzzle mystery that starts with a seemingly inexplicable scene, and teases it apart thread by thread until it makes sense. The writing is pedestrian but clear, the characters are simple but consistent. The detective is neither is neither insightful nor intuitive, but he is realistically and painfully methodical about exploring every aspect of the crime. He constructs theories and knocks them down, one at a time, until he figures things out.

For people who like this sort of thing, it is a four star book. It's not stylish and the pacing is uneven, but the author plays fair with his complicated plot. It's not the sort of mystery that somewhere in the middle the reader spots the clue that reveals the solution. Rather several solutions suggest themselves from the beginning, and the reader discards them at the same time the detective does. Once the next-to-last possibility is ruled out, the solution is clear, but there's only a few dozen pages before it is revealed anyway.

I give it three stars because while I like puzzles, I prefer to have other enjoyable elements in the book: good writing, fun dialog,suspense, interesting characters who develop, enjoyable settings or a believable plot (not just a consistent one). The reader never cares about the crime or the people, the only interest is the puzzle itself.

On a beautiful afternoon the captain of the channel steamer Chichester crossing to Dieppe France notices something amiss on a luxury yacht drifting too near the steamer’s bow. Since only one passenger is visible on deck and in obvious distress Captain Hewitt sends a crew aboard to see if they could aid the vessel. The passenger is not ill…he is dead, The owner is also dead, found shot through the forehead in the cabin. There is no trace of the murderer.

How could two people be killed in the middle of the English Channel and the murderer get away scot-free? Here is a case custom made for Inspector French, the Scotland Yard detective who specializes in “howdunits.”

French, in his very methodical way, begins his analysis by studying ocean currents, tides, boat speeds. He quickly eliminates the obvious suspects because they could not have been at the right place at the right time. There was a very narrow window of opportunity to commit the crime. Inspector French is the detective type who concentrates on every detail of the crime. His bursts of inspiration come from the facts he gathers, not from some innate intuition.

I enjoyed Inspector French when I read him years ago and I was pleased to find that his stories hold up surprisingly well. I even noticed touches of humor in the serious detective. This particular novel is a fine example of meticulous police work before the advent of computers, DNA analysis, and instant communications. The novel, published in 1931, is in period, but definitely not dated.

It is a real pleasure to have Crofts in print again.