Six Against the Yard

A unique anthology for crime aficionados – six ‘perfect murder’ stories written by the most accomplished crime writers of the 1930s, designed to fox real-life Scotland Yard Superintendent Cornish, who comments on whether or not these crimes could have genuinely been solved. 
Is the ‘perfect murder’ possible? Can that crime be committed with such consummate care, with such exacting skill, that it is unsolvable – even to the most astute investigator? 
In this unique collection, legendary crime writers Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Freeman Wills Crofts, Ronald Knox, Dorothy L. Sayers and Russell Thorndike each attempt to create the unsolvable murder, which Superintendent Cornish of the CID then attempts to unravel… 
This clever literary battle of wits from the archives of the Detection Club follows The Floating Admiral and Ask a Policeman back into print after more than 75 years, and shows some of the experts from the Golden Age of detective fiction at their most ingenious.

Literature & Fiction

CROFTS, Freeman Wills

Knox, Ronald

Detection Club, The

Allingham,Margery

SAYERS,DOROTHY L.

CHRISTIE

Literary

Collins Crime Club

The burning down of Simon Averill's house, Starvel Hollow, appears at first to be an accident. The house has been reduced to ash, killing three people (including its owner) and incinerating the contents of the safe in which he kept his entire fortune in cash (over thirty thousand pounds) But when one of these notes appears in circulation, surely it cannot be an accident? Once again, Inspector French doggedly pursues the trail across Europe before finally unlocking the mystery when all appears to be lost.

The Pit-Prop Syndicate

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thrillers & Suspense

Penguin??Books

The Cheyne Mystery

Mystery

Inspector French's Greatest Case

When a cask breaks open in a busy London shipping yard, the discovery of its contents leads to a puzzling case for Inspector Burnley of Scotland Yard. As the Inspector begins to trace the mysterious movements of the cask, his investigative procedures bring him to Paris and onto the path of a meticulously plotted murder, one step at a time.

The Cask

Dover Pubns

Seymour Merriman, the junior partner in a firm of London wine merchants, is traveling by motorcycle from Avignon to Bordeaux when his vacation grinds to a sudden halt. Out of gas, he follows a passing truck to a mill where an English firm manufactures pit-prop supports for coal mines. He's given two liters of gas and is about to depart when he notices something peculiar — the truck he followed was marked No. 4, but now it's labelled No. 3. His curiosity piqued, Seymour makes some inquiries that draw him and his friend, Claud Hilliard, further into intrigue. The amateur sleuths are certain that the Pit-Prop Syndicate is a front for some kind of illegal activity, and when a member of the Syndicate is found murdered in a London taxi, the mystery becomes a case for the professionals of Scotland Yard. A tense tale of smuggling, romance, and murder, this novel combines intricate plotting with episodes of mechanical ingenuity. Its 1920s setting, ranging from the South of France to Northern England, abounds in period atmosphere. Author Freeman Wills Crofts, a leader of the Golden Age of British crime fiction, was acclaimed by The New York Times Book Review as "the all-time master of the intricate timetable alibi" and by Raymond Chandler as "the soundest builder of them all."

The Pit-Prop Syndicate (Dover Mystery Classics)

Classics

Dover Publications

"One of the classics of modern crime fiction." — The New York Times While London dockworkers are struggling to unload a shipment of French wine, one of the heavy casks falls, shatters and reveals its cargo — sawdust, gold coins, and a female corpse. But by the time the police arrive, the barrel has vanished along with its macabre contents. Enter Inspector Burnley of Scotland Yard, who traces the cask to Paris, where he enlists the help of detective M. Lefarge of the Sûreté. Together, they hunt for the identity of the anonymous victim and her devious killer, traversing a maze of clues, alibis, red herrings, and lies. This top-notch procedural, along with Agatha Christie's first novel, marked the start of the golden age of the detective story. Freeman Wills Crofts, one of the "Big Four" mystery writers of the era, provides fascinating insights into early twentieth-century methods of murder investigation as well as atmospheric glimpses of the shipping business in London and Paris in the years after World War I.

The Cask (Dover Mystery Classics)

Inspector French is the central figure in many books by Mr. Crofts. This, his greatest case, opens with the discovery beside the open safe of a diamond merchant in Hatton Garden of the dead body of his head clerk, and valuable diamonds are missing. There are many people to suspect, and before Inspector French solves it, he has to unravel many mysteries and follow up many false clues.

INSPECTOR FRENCHS GREATE

Contemporary

RANDOM HOUSE UK

AN INSPECTOR FRENCH MYSTERY. At the offices of Duke and Peabody in London's Hatton Gardens, the body of old Mr Gething is discovered along with an open safe. The diamonds that he had locked away, however, are gone. It is a perplexing case, and obviously one for Inspector Joseph French of Scotland Yard. As the meticulous Inspector puts his full powers behind the investigation, he crisscrosses the continent from London to many locales of Europe. In pursuit of an unknown criminal, will French be able to deduce just who has the diamonds?

The Hogarth Press

The Hog's Back Mystery

British Library Publishing

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