Crofts - Freeman Wills Crofts

A British mystery writer. Born in Dublin, Ireland, and raised in Northern Ireland. He worked as a railway engineer from the age of 17. In 1919, he fell seriously ill, but during his recovery, at the age of 40, he wrote his debut novel, The Cask (1920), which gained a good reputation and became his signature work. In the same year, Agatha Christie published her debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. He continued to write about one novel a year until he retired from his job as a railway engineer in 1929, and during that time, different detectives played an active role, but after Inspector French's Biggest Case (1924), the detective was established as Inspector French. Inspector French is not a so-called genius detective, but he carefully collects and accumulates data on foot, narrowing the net of his investigation. Therefore, his specialty is breaking down alibi tricks based on timetables and other things, and "The Last Journey of Lord McGill" (1930) is a good example of this. However, he showed a talent for constructing plots within realistic descriptions and developments, such as in "The Starbell Murder" (1927), which focused on the cleverness of a structure that did not allow the alibi to be violated, or in "12.30 from Croydon" (1934), which used a reverse mystery technique that sees the crime from the perspective of the criminal.

[Kaji Tatsuo]

"Inspector French's Biggest Case" translated by Nishijiro Tanaka (Sougen Mystery Library)" ▽ "From Croydon at 12:30" translated by Yasuo Okubo (Sougen Mystery Library)" ▽ "Lord McGill's Last Journey" translated by Fukuo Hashimoto (Sougen Mystery Library)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの推理作家。アイルランドのダブリンで生まれ、北アイルランドで育った。17歳から鉄道会社の技師として勤務生活を送る。1919年に大病に倒れたが、その回復期に40歳で書き上げた処女作『樽(たる)』（1920）が評判を得て代表作となった。この年には、アガサ・クリスティが処女作『スタイルズ荘の怪事件』を発表している。彼は鉄道技師の職を辞す29年までにも毎年1作ほどの割で創作を続け、その間それぞれ違う探偵が活躍するが、『フレンチ警部最大の事件』（1924）以降、探偵はフレンチ警部Inspector Frenchに定着した。いわゆる天才型の探偵でないフレンチ警部は、ひたすら丹念に足でデータを集め、積み重ね、捜査の網を狭めていく。したがって彼が得意とするところは、時刻表などをもとにするアリバイ・トリックの打破で、『マギル卿(きょう)最後の旅』（1930）などもその好例である。しかし『スターベル事件』（1927）のようにアリバイ崩しのない構成の妙を主眼にしたものや、『クロイドン発12時30分』（1934）のように逆に犯人の目から事件をとらえた倒叙推理など、即物的な描写と展開のなかでプロットの組立てに才をみせる妙手であった。

［梶　龍雄］

『田中西二郎訳『フレンチ警部最大の事件』（創元推理文庫）』▽『大久保康雄訳『クロイドン発12時30分』（創元推理文庫）』▽『橋本福夫訳『マギル卿最後の旅』（創元推理文庫）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例