Freeman Wills Crofts

Freeman Wills Crofts FRSA (1 June 1879 – 11 April 1957) was an Irish engineer and mystery author, remembered best for his Inspector French novels, starting with Inspector French's Greatest Case (1924). A railway engineer by training, Crofts introduced railway themes into many of his stories, which were notable for their intricate planning. Although Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie, and authors of the so-called golden age of detective fiction are more famous, he was esteemed by those authors, and many of his books are still in print.