The cask - Kirjakasa

No cover — Freeman Wills Crofts: The cask (1920, W. Collins Sons & Co. ltd.)

357 pages

English language

Published Dec. 30, 1920 by W. Collins Sons & Co. ltd..

OCLC Number:: 10420666

(1 review)

A strange container is found on the London docks, and its contents point to murder

The cask from Paris is bigger than the rest, its sides reinforced to hold the extraordinary weight within. As the longshoremen are bringing it onto the London docks, the cask slips, cracks, and spills some of its treasure: a wealth of gold sovereigns. As the workmen cram the spilled gold into their pockets, an official digs through the opened box, which is supposed to contain a statue. Beneath the gold he finds a woman’s hand—as cold as marble, but made of flesh.

He reports the body to his superiors, but when he returns, the cask has vanished. The case is given to Inspector Burnley, a methodical detective of Scotland Yard, who will confront a baffling array of clues and red herrings, alibis and outright lies as he attempts to identify the woman in the cask—and …

A strange container is found on the London docks, and its contents point to murder

The cask from Paris is bigger than the rest, its sides reinforced to hold the extraordinary weight within. As the longshoremen are bringing it onto the London docks, the cask slips, cracks, and spills some of its treasure: a wealth of gold sovereigns. As the workmen cram the spilled gold into their pockets, an official digs through the opened box, which is supposed to contain a statue. Beneath the gold he finds a woman’s hand—as cold as marble, but made of flesh.

He reports the body to his superiors, but when he returns, the cask has vanished. The case is given to Inspector Burnley, a methodical detective of Scotland Yard, who will confront a baffling array of clues and red herrings, alibis and outright lies as he attempts to identify the woman in the cask—and catch the man who killed her.

24 editions

Thom reviewed Cask (Detective Club Crime Classics) by Freeman Wills Crofts

Review of 'Cask (Detective Club Crime Classics)' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A decent first novel, if a little long. Party mystery, part police procedural. I understand this author ranks up there with Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers, but I hadn't heard of him before this.

The first section is policework, building the case against the shocked addressee of a cask containing coins and a body. In the second half, a defense is built, with another detective covering the same ground but from different angles. In both, the author lovingly describes pre-Great War London and France, going into a bit too much detail on the travel at times.

In addition to being a bit too wordy, the ending is very short. I can't say more without spoilers, but perhaps this was because the mystery genre was still evolving. Certainly some of the deductions were worthy of Sherlock Holmes.

Each year I try to read something from more than a century ago, …

A decent first novel, if a little long. Party mystery, part police procedural. I understand this author ranks up there with Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers, but I hadn't heard of him before this.

The first section is policework, building the case against the shocked addressee of a cask containing coins and a body. In the second half, a defense is built, with another detective covering the same ground but from different angles. In both, the author lovingly describes pre-Great War London and France, going into a bit too much detail on the travel at times.

In addition to being a bit too wordy, the ending is very short. I can't say more without spoilers, but perhaps this was because the mystery genre was still evolving. Certainly some of the deductions were worthy of Sherlock Holmes.

Each year I try to read something from more than a century ago, and while wandering through Project Gutenberg I found this title. I didn't enjoy it as much as Doyle or Wells, but I'd like to try out another from this author - perhaps with his most famous protagonist, Inspector French.