Freeman Wills Crofts

Freeman Wills Crofts (1879-1957) was an Irish engineer and mystery author, remembered best for the character of Inspector Joseph French.In 1919, during an absence from work due to a long illness, Crofts wrote his first novel, The Cask (1920), which established him as a new master of detective fiction. Crofts continued to write steadily, producing a book almost every year for thirty years, in addition to a number of short stories and plays.He is remembered best for his fictional detective, Inspector Joseph French, who was introduced in his fifth book, Inspector French's Greatest Case (1924). His attention to detail and his concentration on the mechanics of detection makes him the forerunner of the "police procedural" school of crime fiction.