Golden Age of Detective Fiction

#20booksofsummer23 is a reading challenge started by 746 Books where participants attempt to read 10, 15, or 20 books off of their TBR and review them between June 1 – September 1, 2023. I am trying to read and review 6-7 books that I picked per month. You can see my complete reading list here.

The Chichester, making its run across the English channel, comes across the Nymph drifting listlessly in the water. From the deck of the Chichester, the officers spot a motionless form and find two bodies when they board the Nymph. One man shot on the deck of the Chichester, another shot below deck. Bewildered, the Chichester crew finish their run to England and give their scanty report to Scotland Yard.

Inspector French is soon dispatched to the Nymph, where he endeavors to find a murder weapon or clues to the identities of the murdered men. They are quickly identified as partners in a large investment firm, with a third partner, who was supposed to be on board missing. These three men, fleeing England after bankrupting their investment firm and embezzling 3 million English pounds. Inspector French must find the missing man and the three million missing English pounds.

There’s No Honor Amongst Thieves

I found Mystery in the Channel to be a bit of a slog. The beginning gambit of the mysterious dead bodies was such a great opener that it fizzled into a very detailed discussion on the financial crash of the thirties and the intricacies of boats; by the time the mystery circled back to attempting to discover the identity of the bodies and the murderer so much momentum had been lost.

Generally, I am a fan of real-life events informing or impacting book characters. Still, I had recently watched Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (a documentary about how Enron swindled the whole world and caused a substantial financial collapse) and then listened to D’ Angelo Wallace’s video, “Nice Try, Liz” which was a reaction to the New York Times article trying to rehab Elizabeth Holmes image from grifter who lied about making a medical device which could save millions of lives, that eventually bankrupted an overvalued company, losing billions, but a loving mother! So when it was revealed that the Mystery in the Channel was about four investment bankers who caused financial ruin and were on the run, I was a little burnt out on financial scheming.

Watching the Enron documentary and D’Angelo Wallace’s video made clear that everyone involved in the company’s financial workings knew and participated in the fraud, even if that company was a fictional investment company. In Mystery in the Channel, the four department heads, willing to perpetrate such theft on such a grand scale, made me think they would have no qualms about deceiving each other to get all the money. This idea took a while for Inspector French to cotton on to, so I guess he never heard the old adage: There’s no honor amongst thieves.

Even though Inspector French cleared one of the investment bankers, I was not convinced that his alibi was strong. It didn’t take long for me to figure out the twist of what happened to the missing third man on the boat….and there was still so much of the story to read.

The book’s genius is in its deft plotting and use of twists, especially since the denouncement of the third man’s identity. There’s also a lot of dovetailing and circling back to the carefully crafted beginning with a clever explanation of how the two men on board received their injuries and were killed.

I also liked the secondary investigation into trying to track the missing money. I learned a lot about how difficult it is to trace stolen money and how utterly futile it is to get financial restitution after an economic collapse. It added a lot of emotional weight to the story- these men, although the victims of a heinous murder, caused incredible hardship and were utterly despicable. Mystery in the Channel really captures the ruthlessness of these financial crimes. While reading, I was disgusted and thought, “Who cares who killed these men? They got what they deserved!” although Inspector French’s view is more charitable than mine.

The writing was boilerplate Freeman Wills Crofts: clear, concise writing without frills or fanfare. The many characters’ journey’s around the English Channel, France, and England, are easy to keep track of, despite the circuitous and often crisscrossing routes. A significant misstep in the book’s writing is the utterly lifeless descriptions of the channel, the varied countries visited by the characters, and an especially egregious blunder since the coastline and the track are significant components of the story.

However, Freeman Wills Crofts did spend more time fleshing out Inspector French’s professional friendships, how he works with departments internationally, and how he treats his subordinates. I felt like I got to know Inspector French a little more, which was a nice change.

Overall, not a bad mystery; it was fine. Simple, good old-fashioned police work with a decent twist. A solid 3 stars.

Mystery in the Channel Reviews

In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel

A Crime is Afoot

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My Freeman Wills Crofts Reviews

#20booksforsummer23 Reviews