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The Pit-Prop Syndicate
Detective Club Crime Classics (Related to this series)
- Author
- Freeman Wills Crofts
- Narrator
- Hugh Kermode
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date
- 22 March 2018
- Run Time
- 10 hours 16 minutes
- Format
- x-book®
- Rating
- 4.5 (2 reviews)
What to expect
From the Collins Crime Club archive, the third standalone novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’.
Seymour Merriman’s holiday in France comes to an abrupt halt when his motorcycle starts leaking petrol. Following a lorry to find fuel, he discovers that it belongs to an English company making timber pit-props for coal mines back home. His suspicions of illegal activity are aroused when he sees the exact same lorry with a different number plate – and confirmed later with the shocking discovery of a body. What began as amateur detective work ends up as a job for Inspector Willis of Scotland Yard, a job requiring tenacity, ingenuity and guile . . .
Freeman Wills Crofts’ transition from civil engineer on the Irish railways to world-renowned master of the detective mystery began with The Cask when he was fully 40 years old; but it was his third novel, the baffling The Pit-Prop Syndicate, that was singled out by his editors in 1930 as the first for inclusion in Collins’ prestigious new series of reprints ‘for crime connoisseurs’.
This Detective Club classic is introduced by John Curran, author of The Hooded Gunman, and includes the bonus of an exclusive short story by Crofts, ‘Danger in Shroude Valley’.
Critics Review
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‘A classic Crofts story, meticulously planned and written.’ — Martin Edwards
‘Undeniably the greatest of detective story writers.’ — Outlook
‘This early story by Freeman Wills Crofts has lost nothing in the passage of time: indeed, it seems almost better than ever . . . One of the classics of modern crime fiction.’ — New York Times
User Reviews
Book 4.5
Narration 5.0
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4.0 5.0
Hugh Kermode's narration is perfection. He grasps each character and presents then with wonderful individual touches. Freeman Wills Crofts has been a revelation to me, knowing if him while never taking the time to read it listen to his works, focused as l have always been in reading and re-reading Christie, Allingham and Marsh. The Pit-Prop Syndicate is an action thriller of its time more than a classic whodunit which isn't a criticism, rather an acknowledgement that Crofts could write brilliantly beyond the usual type. His novels possess precise structure, are beautifully crafted, and display real verve in dealing with police procedurals.
Thomas Reilly 2025-09-05
Details
- Author
- Freeman Wills Crofts
- Narrator
- Hugh Kermode
- Duration
- 10 hours 16 minutes
- Release Date
- 22 March 2018
- ISBN
- 9780008190576
- Format
- x-book®
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Genre
- Classic fiction: literary and general, Crime and / or mystery fiction
- Rating
- 4.5(2 reviews)
- Narration
- 5.0(2 reviews)
Synopsis
From the Collins Crime Club archive, the third standalone novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’. Seymour Merriman’s holiday in France comes to an abrupt halt when his motorcycle starts leaking petrol. Following a lorry to find fuel, he discovers that it belongs to an English company making timber pit-props for coal mines back home. His suspicions of illegal activity are aroused when he sees the exact same lorry with a different number plate – and confirmed later with the shocking discovery of a body. What began as amateur detective work ends up as a job for Inspector Willis of Scotland Yard, a job requiring tenacity, ingenuity and guile . . . Freeman Wills Crofts’ transition from civil engineer on the Irish railways to world-renowned master of the detective mystery began with The Cask when he was fully 40 years old; but it was his third novel, the baffling The Pit-Prop Syndicate, that was singled out by his editors in 1930 as the first for inclusion in Collins’ prestigious new series of reprints ‘for crime connoisseurs’. This Detective Club classic is introduced by John Curran, author of The Hooded Gunman, and includes the bonus of an exclusive short story by Crofts, ‘Danger in Shroude Valley’.
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