Educated in Belfast, Crofts worked as a railroad engineer from 1899 to 1929 in Northern Ireland. Taken seriously ill in 1919, Crofts wrote The Cask, a masterpiece of the detective genre. Published in 1920, it became a best-seller and Crofts went on to produce 34 novels. He created the character detective Joseph French of Scotland Yard, who appeared in 30 of his 34 novels. Because of Crofts' association with the railroads, many of his mysteries were solved by the examination of railroad timetables. Crofts is regarded as one of the finest detective novelists of the mid-20th century. His works include The Ponson Case (1921), The Pit-Prop Syndicate (1922), Inspector French's Greatest Case (1924), The Groote Park Murder (1924), Inspector French and the Cheyne Mystery (1926), Inspector French and the Starvel Tragedy (1927), The Sea Mystery (1928), 12:30 From Croydon (1934), Antidote to Venom (1938), Circumstantial Evidence (1941), Cold-Blooded Murder (1947) and Anything to Declare? (1957). |
