
audiobook
Chapter One: Mr. Morgan Meets Tragedy
Chapter Two: Inspector French Gets Busy
Chapter Three: Experimental Detection
Chapter Four: A Change of Venue
Chapter Five: Messrs. Berlyn and Pyke
Chapter Six: The Despatch of the Crate
Chapter Seven: Dartmoor
Chapter Eight: A Fresh Start
Chapter Nine: A Step Forward
Chapter Ten: London’s Further Contribution
The story opens on a tranquil September evening in the Burry Inlet, where the tide rolls gently over a broad, glass‑like surface. Mr. Morgan, a modest tin‑plate works manager, and his teenage son Evan drift lazily in a small boat, sharing quiet conversation while the surrounding hills and dunes are painted in the soft light of a setting sun. Their simple pleasure is set against a vivid portrait of the Welsh coast, with bustling Llanelly harbor on one side and the quiet, shadowed hills on the other, hinting at both the region’s industry and its hidden depths.
Their calm is shattered when a sudden, violent snap of fishing lines draws Evan’s scream from the water. The abrupt disturbance hints at something far more ominous than a failed catch, pulling the reader into a mystery that will soon attract the methodical eye of Inspector French. As French steps onto the scene, his precise, logical approach promises a careful unraveling of the clues left behind in the tide‑filled estuary.
Language
en
Duration
~7 hours (414K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
New York, NY: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1928.
Credits
Brian Raiter
Release date
2024-01-21
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1879–1957
A master of the classic puzzle mystery, he brought an engineer’s precision to crime fiction and helped shape the Golden Age detective novel. Best known for the Inspector French books, his stories are admired for their careful clues, solid police work, and tightly built plots.
View all books
by Freeman Wills Crofts

by Freeman Wills Crofts

by Freeman Wills Crofts

by Freeman Wills Crofts

by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

by A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne

by Dorothy L. (Dorothy Leigh) Sayers

by Agatha Christie