The Cask

By: Freeman Wills Crofts

Narrated by: Gordon Griffin

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the seminal first novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’ and recognised as one of the ‘big four’ Golden Age crime authors.

The unloading of a consignment of French wine from the steamship Bullfinch is interrupted by a gruesome discovery in a broken cask leaking sawdust and gold sovereigns. But when the shipping clerk returns with the police, the cask and its macabre contents have gone. Following the clues to Paris, Inspector Burnley of Scotland Yard enlists the help of the genial French detective M. Lefarge to check motives and alibis in their hunt for evidence of a particularly fiendish murder.

This Detective Story Club classic is introduced by Freeman Wills Crofts himself in a unique preface from 1946 about The Cask’s origins.

©2019 Freeman Wills Crofts (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"The soundest builder of them all." (Raymond Chandler)

"Deservedly a first favourite with all who want a real puzzle." (Times Literary Supplement)

The Cask

Wonderfully well crafted mystery ! For readers who appreciate the "How it was done " type of mystery.....this will be a detailed delight .....and the reader does a masterful job.

An oldie but a goodie

There isn't much to add about a book written a hundred years ago that still entertains. Well worth both the money and time. This is my second listen and I look forward to the next in a couple years.

1912 was prior to modern mysteries

This story has more in common with Wilkie Collins than Holmes. Obviously written in serial installments, the pacing is archaic. But it is a good story. Recommended for those willing to accept the above limitations.

couldn't finish

way too long and repetitive. while the narrator does a good job in general with the narrative sections, all his male characters, even the youngish ones, sound elderly.