"The Loss of the Jane Vosper"

A small freighter sinks at sea, after a series of explosions. It sounds like sabotage - but how could it have happened? Apparently, it's a dangerous question; a detective investigating the sinking disappears. Enter Inspector French - the creation of Freeman Wills Crofts, one of the early Golden Age masters of the detective novel, and the star of "The Loss of the Jane Vosper," this week's novel reviewed on our Classic Mysteries podcast.

Crofts is not often remembered today, but he was the master of the intricate timetable mystery. If you have ever read one of those stories in which the crime could only have happened on a Tuesday, the one day in the week when the London train stopped at Little Croydon instead of Nether Hampstead, then you have read a story that is inspired in part by Crofts.

His stories are also very early police procedural novels, for Inspector French has the full resources of Scotland Yard behind him and knows how to use them.

"The Loss of the Jane Vosper" is a fine example of a master at work. Listen to the complete review - it's free, as always.