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    Inspector French and the Box Office Murders
    Inspector French and the Box Office Murders
    Inspector French and the Box Office Murders
    Audiobook7 hours

    Inspector French and the Box Office Murders

    Written by Freeman Wills Crofts

    Narrated by Phil Fox

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    From the Collins Crime Club archive, the fifth Inspector French novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’.

    THE PUZZLE OF THE PURPLE SICKLE

    The suicide of a sales clerk at the box office of a London cinema leaves another girl in fear for her life. Persuaded to seek help from Scotland Yard, Miss Darke confides in Inspector Joseph French about a gambling scam by a mysterious trio of crooks and that she believes her friend was murdered. When the girl fails to turn up the next day, and the police later find her body, French’s inquiries reveal that similar girls have also been murdered, all linked by their jobs and by a sinister stranger with a purple scar . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 9, 2017
    ISBN9780008190729
    Inspector French and the Box Office Murders
    Author

    Freeman Wills Crofts

    Freeman Wills Crofts (1 June 1879 – 11 April 1957) was an Irish mystery author, best remembered for the character of Inspector Joseph French. A railway engineer by training, Crofts introduced railway themes into many of his stories, which were notable for their intricate planning. Although outshone by Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler and other more celebrated authors from the golden age of detective fiction, he was highly esteemed by those authors, and many of his books are still in print.

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    Reviews for Inspector French and the Box Office Murders

    4/5

    27 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Very interesting "procedural" mystery, with Inspector French on the trail of a gang that seems to be responsible for the suborning and/or murdering of a few box-office girls. The principal strength of the book is that nothing appears as a stretch or coincidence; it's all logical. Of course, Inspector French does cut a few procedural corners that would never be allowed today. But it's a pretty interesting (if slightly far-fetched) mystery. (To my mind, the English title for this book, "The Box Office Murders," is much more accurate.)
    • 4/5
      Pleasantly surprised by this audiobook, for two reasons. #1: the audiobook reading by Phil Fox was well-done with no ambiguity on the varied character's dialogue. #2: details, details, detalis. I read a recommendation on a CrimeReads article "The Mostly Forgotten Irish Crime Novelist at the Center of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction" by Shane Mawe (a Trinity College librarian/researcher) about Crofts' work, commenting on how well he wrote and developed plots. Also, Crofts was singled-out in Raymond Chandler's "The Simple Act of Murder" essay, stating that Freeman Wills Crofts was the "soundest builder of them all.." so I'm glad that I followed their advice and downloaded this compelling mystery. I felt happily transported back to that "Golden Age."
    • 3/5
      Not really bad but more a stereotypical thriller with a mysterious gang than the more mentally demanding type of case I associate with Inspector French. The purple sickle is a wrist tattoo associated with the gang, if I recall right.