Mystery in the Channel

By: Freeman Wills Crofts

Narrated by: Gordon Griffin

The captain of the Newhaven to Dieppe steamer spots a small pleasure yacht lying motionless in the water and, on closer inspection, sees a body lying on the deck. When members of his crew go aboard the yacht, they find not one male corpse but two.

The dead men were chairman and vice chairman of Moxon General Securities, one of the largest financial houses in the country. Inspector Joseph French of Scotland Yard is called in. French soon discovers that Moxon's is on the brink of collapse. Moxon and Deeping seem to have been fleeing the country with their ill-gotten gains, but who killed them, and how?

©2016 Estate of Freeman Wills Crofts (P)2017 Soundings

Easy on the nerves

Some mysteries can have*too much* suspense, but this is not one of them. The author tends to plod along, but the narrator has the perfect style for enlivening the story. This narrator might be annoying for another story but he makes this one much better.

Too much technical sailing times detail for me

Inspector French is way too plodding. He assembles meticulous detail and ponders over these very slowly. The narrator, Gordon Griffin, is always marvelous, but even he can not rescue this book from being tiresomely boring.