Review of The Cask

By Freeman Wills Crofts

When unloading a steamer’s hold, four casks fall. One damaged cask reveals a woman’s hand inside. Thus begins the complex plot of Freeman Wills Crofts’ first novel – The Cask. Readers will follow the cask’s movement between Paris and London, appreciating the energy and thoroughness of the three detectives who scrutinize the alibis of our two most likely suspects – the murder victim’s husband and her former fiance. Along the way, we are overwhelmed with train and ship timetables and marvel at the number of carters one murder mystery can hold. Sometime after hosting a small dinner party in her home in Paris, Annette Boirac was murdered and stuffed into a wooden cask used to transport statuary. The investigation begins in London, where the cask has been tracked down and brought to Scotland Yard. Subsequently, it moves to Paris, where the cask’s journey began. The detectives take short side trips to both Brussels and Glasgow. Readers are privy to the timelines created by the detectives but may want to compile a master timeline.

Freeman Wills Croft Wrote The Cask in1914

Crofts was a civil engineer who worked on railway projects in Ireland. In 1914, he became ill and was bedridden for some time. During his convalescence, he began writing The Cask. Following the success of this police procedural, he published approximately a novel per year. He continued to work as an engineer for several years before finally retiring to focus solely on writing detective fiction. He wrote forty-eight detective novels and was acclaimed by his peers, Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Raymond Chandler, for his meticulous attention to detail and well-constructed plots.

A Mystery Driven By Its Plot

In a plot-driven novel, character development often remains weak. While Crofts’ characters are not devoid of personality, he provides minimal details regarding their history, interests, and homelives. The Cask is not an exception. He offers enough detail where necessary. We can differentiate between each suspect. The police detectives have more similarities than differences, but one is British, and the other is French. Imagining ourselves having lunch with any of this book’s characters would require inventing numerous details not provided in the story.

A Detective Story with Women in Subordinate Roles

In The Cask, women play subordinate parts. For example, Annette was treated as cargo. At that, she is still the most important female character in the story. Generally, Crofts speaks of women more respectfully than some of his peers. In this novel, except for Annette, they answer detectives’ questions or research for them at the police station and nothing more.

The Cask‘s Characters Treat One Another Respectfully

Golden Age mysteries often contain stereotyping. The Cask is an exception unless I missed something. Characters did not provide derisive comments regarding people’s backgrounds or nationality. No one was assumed guilty for these reasons either. Crofts detectives treated people of all socio-economic groups respectfully.

An Engrossing Murder Mystery

I enjoyed the intricately laced plot, the trips to Paris, and the exciting denouement. The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts provides readers with an engrossing mystery that keeps them guessing until the end – it did me! I highly recommend it.