The Cask Paperback – February 1, 2011

This book is one of my favorites, but I honestly don't know if I should recommend it or not. It's long and slow moving, but I love it for the glimpses into everyday life (for men, anyway) in England and France in the years just after WWI. It represented a departure from the typical mystery of that time - which invariably features a brilliant, charismatic private detective pulling rabbits out of hats and astonishing on-lookers with his omniscience.Crofts was an Irish railroad engineer and was successful and respected in his profession. But when he was 30 a severe illness forced him to be idle for an extended period and he wrote this book. It's rough in places and could use some chopping, but it's an impressive first book. Although it's not considered his best, it was popular enough to encourage him to keep writing and in less than ten years he was able to quit his day job and become a full-time author.Like many of Croft's books, this one relies heavily on his knowledge of the railway industry and the reader must be prepared to pay strict attention to railroad time-tables and how they affect alibis. Low-key, but intelligent Inspector Burnley of Scotland Yard is the forerunner of Croft's Inspector French who's featured in his later, more famous books. It's the grand-daddy of police proceedurals, and shows the patient, often tedious work of the professionals who investigate murders for a living and who must provide not just the guilty party, but enough evidence to get a conviction.Like Agatha Christie, Crofts left romance and character development to others. He constructed his elaborate plots like the pains-taking engineer that he was. If you like a good puzzle, you'll like this one. And if you're patient and give it a chance, there's some real excitement toward the end when a resourceful detective finally cracks the case. Crofts knew that there are few men more dangerous than a cornered murderer. They can only hang you once!

This is Freeman Wills Crofts' first novel, appearing in 1921. There is a charming introduction which tells how the novel came to be written and published. The introduction concedes that the story is improbable and longer than it needed to be. But it was well received and launched Crofts' career as a leading writer of detective fiction.Crofts was a railroad engineer by profession, and railroad schedules tend to play an important role in his plots. He was clearly a detail man, and his ability to catalog and manipulate the details of this case is mind boggling. I was unable to keep it all straight. Ultimately I decided it didn't matter.It's clear from the cover that he plot concerns a body in a cask. There's enough drama in this to capture the imagination. The murder happened either in France or England. So we get to observe the friendly partnership between a Scotland Yard detective and a French police detective.The story falls into two sections. First the detectives track down every piece of evidence, check alibis with meticulous care, and make an arrest. Then the defense goes to work in the hope of proving them wrong. I found the first part tedious at times, but I really liked the second part, which was more tightly written.Although The Cask is not quite as polished as Crofts' later books, it establishes his style, and fans of Golden Age Crime fiction should find it worth reading. The books in this series (Collins Crime Club Classics) are beautifully produced with vintage book jackets. They are a pleasure to hold in the hand and to own.

This novel has a very good introduction that can be read by Kindle readers before they buy the book. I found it to be very informative and helped me understand what the author (Freeman Wills Crofts) was trying to do.The author gives a very good detailed report of the analysis techniques used by the police to solve crimes in those days before web cameras, DNA, etc. The novel is about a murder that is examined by two Scotland Yard and Sûreté detectives who shared the investigation. There were so many twists and turns of the investigation that I was tempted draw line and block charts of the leads obtained and the results found. I do not recommend this and thankfully I did not do this. It would just consume too much time. I have read a lot of old murder mysteries like this but none had so many leads and red herrings as this one. The novel seems to drag on and on with the tedious work employed by both sleuths but I think most readers will persevere just to see how it ends. The end does come quickly but that is all I want say for fear of giving a “spoiler” to this outstanding novel.

This is an original yarn; a rewarding read. Particularly it tells you a lot about communications at the time and how good the mails between France and England were in the early 20th Century. Also the speed and freedom of people crossing the English Channel. That did not in fact improve until the tunnel under the Channel.One always appreciates a good mystery novel that has some added dimesionsion--for me that is when you learn something besides who did it.The late Freeman Wills Crofts intrigued and informed in a novel which I was glad I read. It's up there with the best.

100 years after it was written, "The Cask" might at first seem silly and cliche. But 100 years ago it was a breakthrough. If you are willing to listen to anything other than the current pop music, watch anything other than the latest Netflix whatever, or read anything other than the current bestseller, you're in for a treat.

The Cask (first published in 1920) is Freeman Wills Crofts first novel - which he started writing to relieve his boredom being stuck in hospital. It is a gentle read which starts with the discovery of the titular flask and then follows the efforts of the detectives to determine how it and it's gruesome contents came to be there.There are comparatively few characters but they are nicely developed and, for the most part, amiable and likeable. There is none of the angst which seems compulsory these days. Because the cast is relatively small the number of suspects is limited so this is not really a whodunnit but Freeman Wills Crofts was the master of the seemingly unbreakable alibi and this is his very enjoyable first foray into the genre which would become his speciality.The book features an introduction written by the author himself some twenty years after the original publication. In it he comments that his later books were shorter as he discovered that he could get the same royalties for 80,000 words as the 120,000 in the Cask. Personally I found that the slightly longer format worked well and the book felt unhurried but not padded.He explains in his introduction that the original third section of the book was set during a trial but that the publishers had requested him to rewrite it. It would have been nice had the original been included for comparison but as the book already has higher page count than others in this series that may have been asking too much (assuming of course that the original survives...)The story then is in three parts - the first section takes place in London and follows genial but determined Inspector Burnley as he struggles to track down the cask and piece together what is going on. In the second section the action moves to Paris where Inspector Burnley teams up with an old friend - Inspector Lefarge - to continue his investigations. The final section takes place in both cities as the case moves towards its conclusion.For those looking for an action packed novels full of hair's breadth escapes and daring do this is not it - though there are scenes of drama and tension as the net tightens however for a beautifully written and highly readable novel which evokes the atmosphere of a gentler and less rushed time I highly recommend this both to fans of the genre and those looking to explore an early Golden Age novel.

Very high level of ingenuity. No attempt at character studies but extreme accuracy of detail. A masterpiece of a specialised kind, I think unmatched in that way. The apprentice nature of the work only apparent in the plot being developed with almost excessive care, as a first-timer might be likely to do.

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.

A large cask is unloaded at London docks: the label indicates that it contains statuary from Paris, but inside is something horrifying.Freeman Wills Crofts's 1920 detective novel is set in both London and Paris, enjoyably evoking both the cities and its period setting. Although this is an early Golden Age detective story, Crofts's also includes some nice variations within the genre.Throughout the book there is an emphasis on the nuts and bolts of the investigation and at times this became quite tedious, especially when characters' alibis are checked and re-checked in minute detail. Overall, however, "The Cask" is a pleasant and sometimes exciting read.

This is a mystery story more than a conventional detective narrative of the 'golden age' type, despite having been published in 1920. It has more of the atmosphere of a Victorian mystery than of an Agatha Christie (for instance). It was Crofts' first novel (and the first of his that I've read) and as a first novel, pretty accomplished. It has lots of misleading clues and the action switches between England and France. The French side is taken seriously and not (as sometimes happened in novels of the time) simply seen as a backdrop for the English characters. It's certainly given me a wish to read more by this author.

I really enjoyed this book, the plot turned and twisted and the characters were realistic. The end came as a bit if a shock. recommended.

Mr Crofts first published book and it sets the template for (nearly) all his subsequent books.Painstaking detailed detective work unveils a complicated plot.

Quite good plot. Easy to follow. I enjoyed it although I guessed the plot correctly.

I long have admired and enjoyed this author. This first book far exceeds expectations.A good convincing sense of place, London and Paris even Glasgow.All characters convince. A Brilliant novel for any age. For a first book it is amazing.

This really was disappointing: very slow and far fetched; I could not recommend it.

Gripping storyNot finished it yeti

This is another well written book by Freeman W Crofts, I have read many of his books over the last year or so.There is a lot of detail, something you don't get in the books of today. I find his books have more to hold my attention than most.

intricate and absorbing.

Probably the best of those I have read by Mr Crofts. Puzzled until one piece of minor information reveals all.

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.