Why a Booktrail?
1930s: A body on a boat is found in the middle of the English Channel…
Mystery in the Channel
What you need to know before your trail
The story begins with a shocking discovery. The captain of the Newhaven to Dieppe steamer spots a small pleasure yacht lying motionless in the water, and on closer inspection, sees a body lying on the deck. When members of his crew go aboard the yacht, they find not one male corpse but two. Both men have been shot, but there is no sign of either the murderer or the pistol.
The dead men, it quickly emerges, were called Moxon and Deeping, and they were chairman and vice-chairman respectively of the firm of Moxon General Securities, one of the largest financial houses in the country. Inspector Joseph French of Scotland Yard is called in, reporting directly to the Assistant Commissioner, Sir Mortimer Ellison. French soon discovers that Moxon’s is on the brink of collapse. One and a half million pounds have gone missing, and so has one of the partners in the business. Moxon and Deeping seem to have been fleeing the country with their ill-gotten gains, but who killed them, and how? French faces one of the toughest challenges of his career, and in a dramatic climax, risks his life in a desperate attempt to ensure that justice is done.
Locations
Reset- England - Sussex
- A: Newhaven harbour
- B: Newhaven police
- France - Normandy
- C: Dieppe harbour
- D: Fecamp
Travel Guide
Sail away on a mystery set at sea in the Channel
A body is found on a yacht in the middle of the English Channel. A ship was on its way from Newhaven to Dieppe when they spot the yacht floating aimlessly and then to go investigate. Although Newhaven and Dieppe are locations in the novel, most of the action takes place on the ship itself and in the shipyards and police stations at both sides of the channel.
The themes in the novel are very relevant to today’s world. A large financial institution has gone bust and the bigwigs/fatcats are trying to save their own skin. People setting other people up to take the fall – it’s not a modern phenomenon at all. The investigation and the fact this all takes place at sea is brilliantly done given the fact there there is no internet or modern technology to help the police along.
You get to learn a fair bit about boats, speeds, timetables and life at sea which is interesting.Land ahoy and head straight to the bookshop!
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Mystery in the Channel
Destination/location: Dieppe, Newhaven, English Channel Author/guide: Freeman Willis Crofts Departure Time: 1930s
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