Inspector French and the Cheyne Mystery

Freeman Wills Crofts

Jul 2024 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

A deadly secret from World War I sends the Scotland Yard inspector across Europe in this classic detective mystery.

After surviving the Great War, Maxwell Cheyne hoped to resume a peaceful life in England, but danger has followed him home. A ruthless gang will stop at nothing to retrieve a letter from his possession which holds a mysterious code. Cheyne is no stranger to violent confrontation, and he’s prepared to fight back. But when an innocent woman is kidnapped, he turns to Scotland Yard for help.

Insp. Joseph French will stop at nothing to bring the woman to safety, following the trail of clues from London to Bruges to Antwerp. But it soon becomes clear that to solve the case he must crack the letter’s code . . . for the criminals have set sail on an expedition with their captive in tow.

Originally published in 1926, Inspector French and the Cheyne Mystery is the second novel to feature Freeman Wills Croft’s famous detective, following Inspector French’s Greatest Case.

About the author

Freeman Wills Crofts (1879–1957) was an Irish author of detective fiction. Born in Dublin, he spent decades as a railroad engineer in Northern Ireland. When a long illness kept him away from work, he wrote The Cask (1920), a mystery novel that launched him to immediate popularity. He continued writing after he returned to work, finally leaving the railroad in 1929 to write full time. His best-known novels include The Starvel Hollow Tragedy (1927) and The 12:30 from Croydon (1934).