The Cask

I was introduced to the author and the book by its entry in Martin Edward's excellent overview, The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books. Like many books of the period, the author displays a love of language that is sorely missed when reading many of the so-called cozy mysteries that attempt to replicate the golden era.Read this and not only will you vocabulary grow, but so will your appreciation for a better class of writer.

Crofts is to alibis what Dickson Carr is to locked rooms. As Julian Symons observed, the killer in a Crofts story can usually be identified fairly early on by their apparently unbreakable alibi. The alibi is then broken down through sheer dogged investigation by the detective. Needless to say, this knowledge tends to kill suspense in what is nominally a mystery. The interest is in finding the defect in the alibi. In effect a Crofts novel becomes a variant of the ‘howdunit’ or inverted mystery story.The story here can be easily summarised. A cask supposedly containing statuary is being unloaded in London ex Rouen. It is damaged in an accident, and it seems it may contain a corpse and a large amount of gold. Before this can been definitively confirmed, it is abstracted by the purported consignee by means of a ruse. The novel follows the police as they trace the cask forward and then, having found it, back to the perpetrator.By about half the half way point it becomes apparent that there are only two possible culprits, one with an alibi, and one without and against whom evidence continues to accumulate. The internal logic of the novel makes it clear that the latter cannot be the murderer, as does the fact that the peregrinations of the corpse make absolutely no sense if he is responsible. (This second point, although it is apparent to any engaged reader is, of course, not raised by any of the otherwise astute detectives.)Crofts was not a skilful writer. In particular, had no aptitude for characterisation. Perhaps he had no real interest in it. This is not unusual for many ‘golden age’ mystery writers, but Crofts took it to extremes. For him characters are stick figures, distinguishable only by their occupations and place in the story. As a corollary his dialogue is stilted. Conversations in his books exist purely to convey information about the plot to the reader. He is also prone to periodic recapitulation of the facts so far discovered. (This is probably deliberate, since the puzzle is often so factually complicated that the reader would otherwise likely be forced to take notes.)He was fond too of inconsequential description. For example, at the end of Chapter IX of this book we are told not simply that the English detective said goodbye to his French counterpart, having arranged to meet him the next morning, and then went to his hotel. Rather we hear that they strolled to the end of the boulevard together, took the Métro across the street at the Avenue d’Orléans, changed at Châtelet and then parted, with the Englishman taking the Maillot for Concorde, while the French detective went in the opposite direction to his home near the Place de Bastille. None of this is remotely relevant. (I am worried that any reader of this review has now fallen asleep.)This was Crofts’ first novel, published in 1920, and all these faults are magnified here. In later works that I have read he managed to moderate them to some degree, although none of those books show the same inventiveness as this one.The story of the tracking of the movements of cask and of the suspects has an inexorable logic that is compelling, almost hypnotic, as each inquiry leads to the next. Each episode of investigation has its own element of suspense. The reader wonders what will be turned up next and once it is turned up there is an intellectual challenge to place it in the chronology of the crime and assess its significance. Despite the repetition and descriptive padding, the narrative moves at good pace. (If it makes sense to do so, you could say that the book is tightly plotted but loosely written.)The pace and tension slacken somewhat in the last third when there is an unnecessary change of investigator, and after the solution to the puzzle is revealed there are two final chapters of melodrama in which the villain reacts to his exposure in a sensational and very improbable manner. But not even these further exercises in literary awkwardness can obscure the excellence of the puzzle and its construction. The concealment of the murder is particularly cleverly worked and the false alibi is especially well managed.

Connection between London and Paris before the Channel train. The boat train was a drag but you got to knowother travellers and the two cities behaved in a civilized manner. This book with a multi layered plot makes it great to reflect on the timesand changes endured.

A great read by a master

Freeman Wills Crofts (1879-1957) was one of the most successful of the crime writers from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, writing a book almost every year during his writing career. He was a member of the Detection Club, alongside Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers and became a full time writer in 1929. The Cask was his first ever novel, written in 1920 when he found himself off work with a long illness. Although it was written a long time ago (even for a Golden Age novel, it is one of the earliest I have come across), it has aged well. Yes, it is dated in that people use horses and carts far more often than a car and phone calls are still novel enough to be easily traced, but it is the human emotions that matter and this novel deals with the classic themes of jealousy and revenge.The Cask takes place in both London and Paris. When a cask arrives in London from Paris it causes suspicion. Supposed to hold a statue, gold rolls out when it is opened slightly and there is a glimpse of a hand. What follows is the disappearance of the cask, tracking it down and then trying to decide where it came from and who is to blame for the body inside. Inspector Burnley is the English detective sent in search of the truth, working in Paris alongside Lefarge. Both the detectives are intelligent, hard working and follow up the clues thoroughly. There is also George La Touche, a private detective, who almost loses his life in his attempt to discover what happened. This is very much a puzzle - with clues that are confusing but which can be followed (personally I gave up and simply enjoyed the story, but I am sure you could solve it if you made notes!). It is interesting to read this very early example of the genre and it is easy to see why Crofts is revered by those who enjoy books from this era.