Inspector French and the Starvel Hollow Tragedy

Inspector French and the Starvel Hollow Tragedy
Freeman Wills Crofts

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the third Inspector French novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’.THREE CORPSES FOR INSPECTOR FRENCHA chance invitation from friends saves Ruth Averill’s life on the night her uncle’s old house in Starvel Hollow is consumed by fire, killing him and incinerating the fortune he kept in cash. Dismissed at the inquest as a tragic accident, the case is closed – until Scotland Yard is alerted to the circulation of bank-notes supposedly destroyed in the inferno. Inspector Joseph French suspects that dark deeds were done in the Hollow that night and begins to uncover a brutal crime involving arson, murder and body snatching . . .

FREEMAN WILLS CROFTS

Inspector French and the Starvel Hollow Tragedy

Copyright (#u1de7bcae-1e81-5e7b-ad69-3c2c5ded2111)

Published by COLLINS CRIME CLUB

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Wm Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1927

Copyright © Estate of Freeman Wills Crofts 1927

Cover design by Mike Topping © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008190644

Ebook Edition © January 2017 ISBN: 9780008190651

Version 2016-12-08

Dedication (#u1de7bcae-1e81-5e7b-ad69-3c2c5ded2111)

TO

MY WIFE

WHO SUGGESTED THE IDEA FROM WHICH

THIS STORY GREW

Table of Contents

Cover (#u8ba3daf0-7495-58ff-afc6-d941ffd1cafa)

Title Page (#ue93e11c9-0acc-552f-be00-d980b02634a8)

Copyright (#u582fd026-cdfa-5055-a4e0-a88e5426a5c0)

Dedication (#u3596b189-7e4f-5521-812a-7fb231e41a5a)

Chapter 1: The Tragedy (#u28b0b347-5e64-547b-a2d1-7861a297e3f1)

Chapter 2: The Inquest (#ua5c9acfe-b64f-50a7-bd59-d1374637572d)

Chapter 3: Mr Tarkington Develops a Theory (#u3ee95e09-8864-543b-b828-f0417a09f8b1)

Chapter 4: Inspector French Goes North (#u3d4d5570-5fa5-5de4-8572-091fc1fcd929)

Chapter 5: French Picks Up a Clue (#ued4a04ee-b1b6-527d-8cef-f713818b2448)

Chapter 6: Talloires, Lac D’Annecy (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7: Posthumous Evidence (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8: Dr Philpot’s Story (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9: The Value of Analysis (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10: Whymper Speaks at Last (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11: A Startling Theory (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12: A Somewhat Gruesome Chapter (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13: The Piece of Yellow Clay (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14: The Secret of the Moor (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15: French Baits his Trap (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16: A Double Recall (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17: Concerning Wedding Rings (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18: Cumulative Evidence (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19: The Last Lap (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20: Conclusion (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)