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Inspector French #6
Inspector French and Sir John Magill’s Last Journey
From the Collins Crime Club archive, the sixth Inspector French novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’.
A MURDER MYSTERY WITHOUT A CLUE
When Sir John Magill, the wealthy Irish industrialist, fails to show up at his home town on a well-publicised visit, neither his family nor the Belfast police can explain his disappearance. Foul play is suspected when his bloodstained hat is discovered, and Scotland Yard is called in. With his characteristic genius for reconstruction, Inspector French evolves a gruesome theory about what happened to the elderly man, but his reputation – and that of Scotland Yard – will depend on finding out who was responsible . . .
A MURDER MYSTERY WITHOUT A CLUE
When Sir John Magill, the wealthy Irish industrialist, fails to show up at his home town on a well-publicised visit, neither his family nor the Belfast police can explain his disappearance. Foul play is suspected when his bloodstained hat is discovered, and Scotland Yard is called in. With his characteristic genius for reconstruction, Inspector French evolves a gruesome theory about what happened to the elderly man, but his reputation – and that of Scotland Yard – will depend on finding out who was responsible . . .
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1930
15 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
About the author
Freeman Wills Crofts
138 books89 followersBorn in Dublin of English stock, Freeman Wills Crofts was educated at Methodist and Campbell Colleges in Belfast and at age 17 he became a civil engineering pupil, apprenticed to his uncle, Berkeley D Wise who was the chief engineer of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR).
In 1899 he became a fully fledged railway engineer before becoming a district engineer and then chief assistant engineer for the BNCR.
He married in 1912, Mary Bellas Canning, a bank manager's daughter. His writing career began when he was recovering from a serious illness and his efforts were rewarded when his first novel 'The Cask' was accepted for publication by a London publishing house. Within two decades the book had sold 100,000 copies. Thereafter he continued to write in his spare time and produced a book a year through to 1929 when he was obliged to stop working through poor health.
When he and his wife moved to Guildford, England, he took up writing full time and not surprisingly many of his plots revolved around travel and transport, particularly transport timetables and many of them had a Guildford setting.
In retirement from engineering, as well as writing, he also pursued his other interests, music, in which he was an organist and conductor, gardening, carpentry and travel.
He wrote a mystery novel almost every year until his death and in addition he produced about 50 short stories, 30 radio plays for the BBC, a number of true crime works, a play, 'Sudden Death', a juvenile mystery, 'Young Robin Brand, Detective', and a religious work, 'The Four Gospels in One Story'.
His best known character is Inspector Joseph French, who featured in 30 detective novels between 1924 and 1957. And Raymond Chandler praised his plots, calling him "the soundest builder of them all".
Gerry Wolstenholme
May 2010
In 1899 he became a fully fledged railway engineer before becoming a district engineer and then chief assistant engineer for the BNCR.
He married in 1912, Mary Bellas Canning, a bank manager's daughter. His writing career began when he was recovering from a serious illness and his efforts were rewarded when his first novel 'The Cask' was accepted for publication by a London publishing house. Within two decades the book had sold 100,000 copies. Thereafter he continued to write in his spare time and produced a book a year through to 1929 when he was obliged to stop working through poor health.
When he and his wife moved to Guildford, England, he took up writing full time and not surprisingly many of his plots revolved around travel and transport, particularly transport timetables and many of them had a Guildford setting.
In retirement from engineering, as well as writing, he also pursued his other interests, music, in which he was an organist and conductor, gardening, carpentry and travel.
He wrote a mystery novel almost every year until his death and in addition he produced about 50 short stories, 30 radio plays for the BBC, a number of true crime works, a play, 'Sudden Death', a juvenile mystery, 'Young Robin Brand, Detective', and a religious work, 'The Four Gospels in One Story'.
His best known character is Inspector Joseph French, who featured in 30 detective novels between 1924 and 1957. And Raymond Chandler praised his plots, calling him "the soundest builder of them all".
Gerry Wolstenholme
May 2010
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 24, 2018
I read from the first edition of this book which was published in 1930 for The Collins Crime Club. I will put the book taster from this version at the bottom of this review. As with all the Crofts books that I've read so far (about 12) - it seems he knows how to concoct a good plot and the fluidity of his prose makes for an easy read. He has produced very enjoyable and well thought out novels such as The Box Office Murders & The Hogsback Mystery. However Crofts can get bogged down by his alibi busting and timetables to such an extent that the story becomes verbose and seemly endless - making those kind of novels tedious and boring to read - no matter how good or original the plot mechanism turns out to be. This novel is one of the latter types - at 288 pages (the second longest Collins Crime Club novel ever - the first at 306 pages was another Crofts novel!) it goes in-depth into every single bit of evidence and every thought that passes through Inspector French's mind - very much like a police procedural story only more so! By the middle of the book this reader wondered why Crofts' editor hadn't waded in with a red pencil as the author's writing diarrhoea spew's out endlessly - going over the same points so many times that for once I had to skim read whole chapters - only to find I hadn't really missed out anything vital to the investigation. As with The Cask - Crofts just didn't know when to stop and obviously didn't like to edit his works. Which is why during the 1930s his popularity started to wane. It is such a shame - even though the plot is absolutely convoluted (I suspect many readers will at some point lose the thread as I did - through dis-interest) - had the plot been pruned back and the verbosity removed I am sure that this story would have been a good one. I was very disappointed with this novel and couldn't wait to finish it - not even The Cask turned out to be this disappointing. I would give this novel 3.5 out of 10. Even the book taster writer seemed at a loss in what to say about this novel.
Book Taster.
Sir John Magill, a well known figure in the public life of Ulster, is coming to Ireland via the Stranraer-Larne route. He never reaches his destination. No trace of the missing man can be discovered. What strange fate has befallen Sir John Magill?
Inspector French is called in, and admits that it is his most baffling case. With that admission we feel sure all admirers of Inspector French will agree. And they will follow eagerly the various stages in the unravelling of this, the greatest of Inspector French Mysteries.
Book Taster.
Sir John Magill, a well known figure in the public life of Ulster, is coming to Ireland via the Stranraer-Larne route. He never reaches his destination. No trace of the missing man can be discovered. What strange fate has befallen Sir John Magill?
Inspector French is called in, and admits that it is his most baffling case. With that admission we feel sure all admirers of Inspector French will agree. And they will follow eagerly the various stages in the unravelling of this, the greatest of Inspector French Mysteries.
March 10, 2025
A classic Crofts plot revolving around times, transport, movements and good old railway and ferry timetables.
If timetables did not exist Crofts would have needed to invent them.
One of Crofts best. If you have read 5 of his books you have probably read all of them. If you like the style you will want to read them all. If you dont like the style then you might not get to 5!
If timetables did not exist Crofts would have needed to invent them.
One of Crofts best. If you have read 5 of his books you have probably read all of them. If you like the style you will want to read them all. If you dont like the style then you might not get to 5!
December 27, 2020
Superbly gripping mystery with a complex and ingenious puzzle to solve as usual.However,who did it is abundantly clear go the reader about halfway through the book ....But who did what,how and when is the question.Crofts beats all others in constructing a puzzle. There is no chapter end switch of suspicion but you must be very observant to pick up the clues that solves the enigma at the end.
Inspector French tramples down half the grass of Scotland and NI in his bid to connect all the dots and we go along with him.Some may call it boring ,I found it interesting because as a policeman,idle surmise won't cut it ...He has to prove everything beyond reasonable doubt to hang the culprit.
It's a pleasure to go along with French to places where I will probably never go . Crofts is not known for great character building but in this book he has managed to create separate entities by describing personal traits of the people French interviews.There is quite a lot of humorous moments as well.
Solid entertainer ...4.5 stars.
Inspector French tramples down half the grass of Scotland and NI in his bid to connect all the dots and we go along with him.Some may call it boring ,I found it interesting because as a policeman,idle surmise won't cut it ...He has to prove everything beyond reasonable doubt to hang the culprit.
It's a pleasure to go along with French to places where I will probably never go . Crofts is not known for great character building but in this book he has managed to create separate entities by describing personal traits of the people French interviews.There is quite a lot of humorous moments as well.
Solid entertainer ...4.5 stars.
May 3, 2020
I didn't like this one as much as the other 'Inspector French' novels I've read (8 at this point). I think what it was is that the characters weren't developed enough. The focus of solving the crime was very 'how done it'- which is a feature with Wills Crofts's books but I wanted to know more about my characters and have more time with them. Part of the book is set in Ireland and Crofts includes local dialect and Irish locations but although that part was interesting in itself it somehow didn't hold my attention- it lacked tension. I think that the Irish theme and its pleasant representation (he dedicates the book to My many good friends in Northern Ireland ) may have distracted him somewhat.
August 10, 2022
Sir John Magill makes a final journey from London to northern Ireland, and ends up dead and buried. But which side of the sea does the solution to the mystery lie? Inspector French ends up travelling back and forth several times in the hope of finding the murderer(s), with a particular focus on train times, car sightings and boat speeds.
Normally, I enjoy Inspector French's precise, methodical approach to detection. But this novel was more of a struggle. Crofts's desire to dot all the i's meant that the solution got a bit lost in the detail. I did persevere to the end, but it won't be staying on my shelf for a re-read.
Normally, I enjoy Inspector French's precise, methodical approach to detection. But this novel was more of a struggle. Crofts's desire to dot all the i's meant that the solution got a bit lost in the detail. I did persevere to the end, but it won't be staying on my shelf for a re-read.
May 6, 2022
Again, there was no listing for the e-pub book.
This book was really bad. The plot meandered on forever with false twists and turns. The worst thing was the pages and pages of map reading and taking sea miles and knots and figuring out where a boat might be at a certain time. I thought it would never end.
This book was really bad. The plot meandered on forever with false twists and turns. The worst thing was the pages and pages of map reading and taking sea miles and knots and figuring out where a boat might be at a certain time. I thought it would never end.
March 4, 2019
I love Inspector French, for all his foibles, and this one didn't disappoint.
June 27, 2020
I didn’t like the story. The alibi was too complex. I’m a little disappointed.
August 31, 2025
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/inspector-french-and-sir-john-magills-last-journey-by-freeman-wills-crofts/
One of the very few novels with a Northern Ireland setting between 1921 and 1968 (see also: Odd Man Out, and er I think that’s it from my own reading in the last twenty-five years or so), this is a murder mystery published and set in 1930, in which an Ulster industrialist disappears on his way home after a long absence, and is soon found murdered. The Norn Iron bits are pretty much restricted to the East Antrim coast, though there are some nice bits of local colour, and there is also much exploration of the Scottish train line to Stranraer and the northwest English and southwest Scottish coasts.
The solution depends rather on an improbable set of motivations for the killing, and also an equally improbably carefully calculated set of timings for journeys by train, car and boat, to the point that the suspension of my disbelief became a bit eroded. But this was the high period of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, and I guess it was what the market expected of a detective story. (There is even a reference to Hercule Poirot in the novel.)
I had read elsewhere that this book rather whitewashed the new-ish devolved Northern Ireland government, given the author’s Ulster Protestant background. (Stormont itself was still being built in 1930.) I did not find this charge firmly substantiated. True, there’s no reflection at all about the sectarian basis of the statelet; but as I said earlier, the Norn Iron settings are mostly along the coast Carrickfergus and Ballygalley Head, with a couple of excursions to Cave Hill and into central Belfast, and one to Bangor, which doesn’t really take you into contested territory. (The victim is reportedly seen on Sandy Row, which is described as ‘more or less working class’.)
On the other hand, I got a sense that the author felt the smallness of the interlocking circles of government and industry in the province could be a problem rather than a solution. And as for Dublin,
"He [Inspector French] had not been over since the troubles [ie 1920-22] and he was impressed by the air of smartness and prosperity which the city wore. It seemed cleaner than before and the new buildings made O’Connell Street a really imposing thoroughfare."
Not exactly the sentiments of a raving Unionist!
The plot of the book has a couple of eerie similarities with the real-life murder of Patricia Curran twenty-two years later, the victim being from a prominent local family, the body found in the grounds of their East Antrim home, and a close relative suspected of the crime. The differences are fairly significant too of course, and I suspect it’s unlikely that the 1952 murderer, whoever that was, took any inspiration from Crofts.
Anyway, as I said, the book is of interest for the period colour, if not completely satisfactory as a murder mystery.
One of the very few novels with a Northern Ireland setting between 1921 and 1968 (see also: Odd Man Out, and er I think that’s it from my own reading in the last twenty-five years or so), this is a murder mystery published and set in 1930, in which an Ulster industrialist disappears on his way home after a long absence, and is soon found murdered. The Norn Iron bits are pretty much restricted to the East Antrim coast, though there are some nice bits of local colour, and there is also much exploration of the Scottish train line to Stranraer and the northwest English and southwest Scottish coasts.
The solution depends rather on an improbable set of motivations for the killing, and also an equally improbably carefully calculated set of timings for journeys by train, car and boat, to the point that the suspension of my disbelief became a bit eroded. But this was the high period of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, and I guess it was what the market expected of a detective story. (There is even a reference to Hercule Poirot in the novel.)
I had read elsewhere that this book rather whitewashed the new-ish devolved Northern Ireland government, given the author’s Ulster Protestant background. (Stormont itself was still being built in 1930.) I did not find this charge firmly substantiated. True, there’s no reflection at all about the sectarian basis of the statelet; but as I said earlier, the Norn Iron settings are mostly along the coast Carrickfergus and Ballygalley Head, with a couple of excursions to Cave Hill and into central Belfast, and one to Bangor, which doesn’t really take you into contested territory. (The victim is reportedly seen on Sandy Row, which is described as ‘more or less working class’.)
On the other hand, I got a sense that the author felt the smallness of the interlocking circles of government and industry in the province could be a problem rather than a solution. And as for Dublin,
"He [Inspector French] had not been over since the troubles [ie 1920-22] and he was impressed by the air of smartness and prosperity which the city wore. It seemed cleaner than before and the new buildings made O’Connell Street a really imposing thoroughfare."
Not exactly the sentiments of a raving Unionist!
The plot of the book has a couple of eerie similarities with the real-life murder of Patricia Curran twenty-two years later, the victim being from a prominent local family, the body found in the grounds of their East Antrim home, and a close relative suspected of the crime. The differences are fairly significant too of course, and I suspect it’s unlikely that the 1952 murderer, whoever that was, took any inspiration from Crofts.
Anyway, as I said, the book is of interest for the period colour, if not completely satisfactory as a murder mystery.
November 25, 2025
Crofts always writes a clever, twisty plot, and French is a solid toiler with flashes of brilliance who has just enough personality to qualify as a character, rather than the crime-solving plot device he was in the first couple of books. Mrs French is mentioned a couple of times in this book, but never appears.
At the 13% mark, I already had a theory about who had committed the crime and how. That theory proved to be correct as far as it went, though very incomplete, and I didn't know why they'd committed it. Watching French unravel the complicated plot in his dogged way was mostly enjoyable, though occasionally I felt some of the tedium that he himself was feeling. Mostly, the author skips over the tedious police-procedure parts with summary, and only gives us fully developed scenes when French's perseverance (or a credible stroke of luck favouring the prepared mind) yields progress. As always, the sense of place is well conveyed, particularly since many of the scenes are in Northern Ireland, which is where the author grew up. And, as is the tradition with the French books, there's a tense scene at the end when French and his colleagues make the arrest and are vigorously resisted.
The HarperCollins edition is a typical low-effort production that's been run through scanning and OCR and then pushed out without adequate (or, perhaps, any) proofreading for scan errors. There are multiple missing, inserted, misplaced or substituted punctuation marks, and a couple of typos that, if someone had bothered to run a spell check, would have been caught. I read the ebook from my library, but I assume the paperback is just as bad. If you have the option, don't buy this edition; it will only encourage the publisher in their lack of professionalism, plus it's annoying to read.
At the 13% mark, I already had a theory about who had committed the crime and how. That theory proved to be correct as far as it went, though very incomplete, and I didn't know why they'd committed it. Watching French unravel the complicated plot in his dogged way was mostly enjoyable, though occasionally I felt some of the tedium that he himself was feeling. Mostly, the author skips over the tedious police-procedure parts with summary, and only gives us fully developed scenes when French's perseverance (or a credible stroke of luck favouring the prepared mind) yields progress. As always, the sense of place is well conveyed, particularly since many of the scenes are in Northern Ireland, which is where the author grew up. And, as is the tradition with the French books, there's a tense scene at the end when French and his colleagues make the arrest and are vigorously resisted.
The HarperCollins edition is a typical low-effort production that's been run through scanning and OCR and then pushed out without adequate (or, perhaps, any) proofreading for scan errors. There are multiple missing, inserted, misplaced or substituted punctuation marks, and a couple of typos that, if someone had bothered to run a spell check, would have been caught. I read the ebook from my library, but I assume the paperback is just as bad. If you have the option, don't buy this edition; it will only encourage the publisher in their lack of professionalism, plus it's annoying to read.
April 4, 2024
Inspector French of Scotland Yard is brought into the investigation into the disappearance of Sir John Magill, a wealthy linen manufacturer. The elder businessman has been traveling to Ireland and the Belfast police have tracked his steps since he crossed the border, but just what happened to him is a mystery.
French checks Magill's movements from his estate in England, as well as those who came into contact him any where along his journey, but everything seems to be without suspicion, including the alibis of his son, Major Malcolm Magill, who oversaw is father's business interests, and nephew Victor Magill.
Then Sir John's body is found.
Slowly and surely, French digs deeper and finds out things that create questions about both men. Are they working together — or is one throwing the other under the bus?
Published originally in 1930, this was one of six Inspector French novels. And like other books by Freeman Wills Crofts, this is very much a police procedural, very detailed with several characters and action in various locations. The writing is clear and concise, the characters and dialogue believable. The only criticism, if it is such, is that this is a very complicated mystery. Fun to read but a little unbelievable.
French checks Magill's movements from his estate in England, as well as those who came into contact him any where along his journey, but everything seems to be without suspicion, including the alibis of his son, Major Malcolm Magill, who oversaw is father's business interests, and nephew Victor Magill.
Then Sir John's body is found.
Slowly and surely, French digs deeper and finds out things that create questions about both men. Are they working together — or is one throwing the other under the bus?
Published originally in 1930, this was one of six Inspector French novels. And like other books by Freeman Wills Crofts, this is very much a police procedural, very detailed with several characters and action in various locations. The writing is clear and concise, the characters and dialogue believable. The only criticism, if it is such, is that this is a very complicated mystery. Fun to read but a little unbelievable.
September 1, 2019
Rating between 3 & 3.5
An entry in the Inspector French series that seemed all plot and no characters for me at least.
As with other FWC novels I have read, the whole story is centered around the HOW + WHO which is okay in a short novel but this time was too long I felt. The police procedural parts felt repetitive to me, and as explained many times by FWC (and other procedural crime novel writers at this time) police work is generally slow, plodding and repetitive but it shouldn't be for the reader.
This novel I feel highlighted the main issues with FWC books, the mechanics of the crime are very well thought out but he was never really able to populate the books with interesting and realistic characters.
Overall an okay read I thought, but due to his style i don't think it would be popular with readers who generally go for more modern authors.
An entry in the Inspector French series that seemed all plot and no characters for me at least.
As with other FWC novels I have read, the whole story is centered around the HOW + WHO which is okay in a short novel but this time was too long I felt. The police procedural parts felt repetitive to me, and as explained many times by FWC (and other procedural crime novel writers at this time) police work is generally slow, plodding and repetitive but it shouldn't be for the reader.
This novel I feel highlighted the main issues with FWC books, the mechanics of the crime are very well thought out but he was never really able to populate the books with interesting and realistic characters.
Overall an okay read I thought, but due to his style i don't think it would be popular with readers who generally go for more modern authors.
March 18, 2019
Decidedly not one of the better Inspector French investigations.
Although not as long or dull as "The Cask", this did have unnecessary repetition and a lengthy reconstruction which added little. Although French kept saying he had proof, what the case rested on was a huge amount of circumstantial evidence and, ultimately, the case was solved by a trick.
The plot was fairly easy to fathom, without all the minutiae of journey times and was not particularly interesting.
Although not as long or dull as "The Cask", this did have unnecessary repetition and a lengthy reconstruction which added little. Although French kept saying he had proof, what the case rested on was a huge amount of circumstantial evidence and, ultimately, the case was solved by a trick.
The plot was fairly easy to fathom, without all the minutiae of journey times and was not particularly interesting.
Want to read
December 24, 2019Synopsis: Sir John Magill of Ulster sets out to visit Ireland by train but never makes it. Inspector French thinks it is his most baffling case.
August 27, 2022
Classic crime fiction. Intricate murder puzzle solved by Inspector French
March 23, 2023
One of the great joys is listening to Phil Fox audio narration of the novels of Freeman Wills Croft. His pitch and tone bring the books alive and this book is made greater by his prescence.
April 14, 2025
I really enjoy inspector French novels even though detective lit isnt something i’ve ever really read - I defo want to read more of both the genre and also FWC
November 26, 2025
B:
Meticulous in construction but long and pretty dry. French is asked near the end why anyone would go to such complex lengths to commit a crime and he defends his theory.
No. No they wouldn't.
Meticulous in construction but long and pretty dry. French is asked near the end why anyone would go to such complex lengths to commit a crime and he defends his theory.
No. No they wouldn't.
July 16, 2016
A self-serving detective with a higher opinion of his brilliance than we are afforded any evidence of, a far-fetched plot that serves the writer's needs rather more than the reader's and more repetition than in a fugue without the same sense of progression. Nonetheless I enjoyed the jaunt up and down the Cumberland coast (not too many books with a chapter based in Barrow), across the Solway Firth, in and out of Dumfries and Galloway and across the sea to Larne. Freeman Wills Crofts was at one time regarded as being on a par with Dorothy L Sayers, Josephine Tey and Agatha Christie. There are signs of a revival of interest.
July 30, 2016
You don't usually read Freeman Wills Crofts for the thrills, but this one is even slower paced than most, as Inspector French travels from London to Belfast and back, with detours into Scotland, Plymouth, and other places, often admiring the scenery. Scotland Yard is called in by the Northern Ireland police when retired industrialist Sir John Magill disappears after traveling from his home in London to his son's house outside of Belfast. First, French must find out what happened to the elderly man, and then who is responsible. As is so often the case with Crofts, the how is as much a question as the who.
July 28, 2012
The first Wills Crofts book read by me. Popular in its days, it has Inspector French investigating the disappearance of Sir John Macgill who started from London to his home-town in Northern Ireland.
Full review here:
http://inkquilletc.blogspot.in/2012/0...
Full review here:
http://inkquilletc.blogspot.in/2012/0...
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews