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Rating: 
Summary: Over-rated
Review: Crofts's best-known, but certainly not best, story. It gets off to a flying start with French's investigations into the disappearance of Magill in the vicinity of Whitehead, the discovery of his corpse, and the stripping away of the preliminary levels of the plot. Halfway through, though, the rattling pace comes to a grinding halt, and is replaced by a steady, if steadily unexciting, walking pace. It cannot be said that French does much reasoning: there is much inquiry into the movements of trains and boats (too mathematical for the lay reader), but his detection consists largely of interviewing witness after witness and letting them solve the puzzle for him. The reader is more fortunate, for the solution is obvious from the very beginning. Since the sleeping draught is given on Wednesday and much attention is paid to the details of Wednesday night, it is quite obvious that the Thursday night business is fake. The solution is over-complicated, and the mass conspiracy to murder one man seems a case of overkill. How superior is The Five Red Herrings!
Rating:
Summary: Over-rated
Review: Crofts's best-known, but certainly not best, story. It gets off to a flying start with French's investigations into the disappearance of Magill in the vicinity of Whitehead, the discovery of his corpse, and the stripping away of the preliminary levels of the plot. Halfway through, though, the rattling pace comes to a grinding halt, and is replaced by a steady, if steadily unexciting, walking pace. It cannot be said that French does much reasoning: there is much inquiry into the movements of trains and boats (too mathematical for the lay reader), but his detection consists largely of interviewing witness after witness and letting them solve the puzzle for him. The reader is more fortunate, for the solution is obvious from the very beginning. Since the sleeping draught is given on Wednesday and much attention is paid to the details of Wednesday night, it is quite obvious that the Thursday night business is fake. The solution is over-complicated, and the mass conspiracy to murder one man seems a case of overkill. How superior is The Five Red Herrings!
Rating: 
Summary: Constructing and solving a mystery.
Review: This intriguing title might suggest that the reader would travel with a distinguished British gentleman. Actually, Sir John never appears in the book. His disappearance is being investigated. He is believed to have disappeared somewhere during a journey from London to Northern Ireland. Crofts' great love of trains, ships, and travel in general is therefore clearly displayed. His own birth district and nearby parts of Northern Ireland are also lovingly depicted. The book opens magnificently. The baffling disappearance is reported and the mystery is established for Inspector French to investigate. Unfortunately, the formula Crofts uses here militates against the book's success. The crime has been too ingeniously concocted. As a consequence, the greater part of the book must be devoted to slow, painstaking investigation, guided by occasional flashes of insight. In his later books, Crofts solved this structural problem better, but the best he can do here to maintain narrative interest is to occasionally transfer the investigation back and forth between London, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Another reviewer has outlined this book's strengths and weaknesses in similar terms. Of all Crofts' books, I recommend "Fatal Venture" most strongly.
Rating:
Summary: Constructing and solving a mystery.
Review: This intriguing title might suggest that the reader would travel with a distinguished British gentleman. Actually, Sir John never appears in the book. His disappearance is being investigated. He is believed to have disappeared somewhere during a journey from London to Northern Ireland. Crofts' great love of trains, ships, and travel in general is therefore clearly displayed. His own birth district and nearby parts of Northern Ireland are also lovingly depicted. The book opens magnificently. The baffling disappearance is reported and the mystery is established for Inspector French to investigate. Unfortunately, the formula Crofts uses here militates against the book's success. The crime has been too ingeniously concocted. As a consequence, the greater part of the book must be devoted to slow, painstaking investigation, guided by occasional flashes of insight. In his later books, Crofts solved this structural problem better, but the best he can do here to maintain narrative interest is to occasionally transfer the investigation back and forth between London, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Another reviewer has outlined this book's strengths and weaknesses in similar terms. Of all Crofts' books, I recommend "Fatal Venture" most strongly.
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