Inspector Joseph French is a fictional British police detective created by Irish author

Freeman Wills Crofts Freeman Wills Crofts FRSA (1 June 1879 – 11 April 1957) was an Irish mystery author, best remembered for the character of Inspector Joseph French. A railway engineer by training, Crofts introduced railway themes into many of his stories, ...

. French was a prominent detective from the

Golden Age of Detective Fiction The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. The Golden Age proper is, in practice, usually taken to refer to a type of fiction which was pred ...

, appearing in twenty-nine novels and a number of short stories between 1924 and 1957. The character was introduced in the 1924 novel ''

Inspector French's Greatest Case ''Inspector French's Greatest Case'' is a 1924 mystery detective novel by Freeman Wills Crofts. It in his series of novels featuring Inspector French, a Scotland Yard detective of the Golden Age known for his methodical technique.Herbert p.76 ...

'', where he investigates a fatal

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

Hatton Garden Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favour ...

. The series relied largely on puzzle mysteries.

Overview

French was a prominent detective from the

, appearing in twenty nine novels and a number of short stories between 1924 and 1957. French is a Scotland Yard detective, whose methodical technique breaks down complex

alibi An alibi (from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person, who is a possible perpetrator of a crime, of where they were at the time a particular offence was committed, which is somewhere other than where the crim ...

s. Over the course of the series, he is promoted to

Chief Inspector Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police (CIP). Usage by country Australia The rank of chief inspector is ...

and the later to

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: * Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exe ...

. His manner is courteous, he is happily married and has no major problems in his private life.

Novels

* ''

'' (1924) * '' The Cheyne Mystery'' (1926) * '' The Starvel Tragedy'' (1927) * '' The Sea Mystery'' (1928) * '' The Box Office Murders'' (1929) * '' Sir John Magill's Last Journey'' (1930) * ''

Mystery in the Channel ''Mystery in the Channel'' is a 1931 detective novel by Freeman Wills Crofts. It is the seventh book in his series of novels featuring Inspector French of Scotland Yard, a prominent figure of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction known for his ...

'' (1931) * ''

Sudden Death Sudden Death or Sudden death may refer to: Medical * Cardiac arrest, also known as sudden cardiac death, natural death from cardiac causes * Sudden cardiac death of athletes * Sudden infant death syndrome * Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy * ...

'' (1932) * ''

Death on the Way ''Death on the Way'' is a 1932 detective novel by the Irish writer Freeman Wills Crofts. It is the ninth in his series of novels featuring Inspector French, a prominent figure of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.Evans p.168 It was published in ...

'' (1932) * '' The Hog's Back Mystery'' (1933) * '' The 12:30 from Croydon'' (1934) * ''

Mystery on Southampton Water ''Mystery on Southampton Water'' is a 1934 detective novel by the Irish writer Freeman Wills Crofts. It was the twelfth in a series of novels featuring Inspector French and takes the form of an inverted detective story, the second Crofts wrote th ...

'' (1934) * '' Crime at Guildford'' (1935) * '' The Loss of the Jane Vosper'' (1936) * '' Man Overboard!'' (1936) * '' Found Floating'' (1937) * '' The End of Andrew Harrison'' (1938) * '' Antidote to Venom'' (1938) * '' Fatal Venture'' (1939) * '' Golden Ashes'' (1940) * ''

James Tarrant, Adventurer ''James Tarrant, Adventurer'' is a 1941 detective novel by the Irish-born writer Freeman Wills Crofts. It is the twenty-first in his series of novels featuring Chief Inspector French of Scotland Yard, written during the Golden Age of Detective F ...

'' (1941) * ''The Losing Game'' (1941) * '' Fear Comes to Chalfont'' (1942) * '' The Affair at Little Wokeham'' (1943) * '' Enemy Unseen'' (1945) * ''

Death of a Train ''Death of a Train'' is a crime novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news" ...

'' (1946) * '' Silence for the Murderer'' (1949) * '' French Strikes Oil'' (1951) * ''

Anything to Declare? ''Anything to Declare?'' is a 1938 British crime thriller film directed by Redd Davis and starring John Loder, Noel Madison and Belle Chrystall. It was shot at Nettlefold Studios in Walton-on-Thames. Plot A new gas formula that can be used as ...

'' (1957)

Proposed adaptation

In July 2019, Brendan Foley was announced to adapt the Inspector French novels as a television series, with independent production company Free@LastTV on board to produce. There has been no word on the series since then.

References

Bibliography

* Evans, Curtis. ''Masters of the "Humdrum" Mystery: Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the British Detective Novel, 1920-1961''. McFarland, 2014. * Herbert, Rosemary. ''Whodunit?: A Who's Who in Crime & Mystery Writing''. Oxford University Press, 2003. * James, Russell. ''Great British Fictional Detectives''. Remember When, 2009. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015.

External links

* {{StandardEbooks, Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/collections/inspector-french

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

Novel series