Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 9, 2026

The Cask

The Cask is a 1920 detective novel by the Irish-born writer Freeman Wills Crofts. His debut novel, it is considered his masterpiece. Long after the author's reputation had declined, this book was still hailed by critics, as a cornerstone of the genre. Crofts had been working as a railway engineer before writing the novel, but its success launched him as one of the leading writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. He later went on to create the character of Inspector French of Scotland Yard who appeared in a long-running series of novels.

Last revised
Jul 9, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
171 w
Citations
2
Source
Wikipedia ↗
The Cask
First edition
AuthorFreeman Wills Crofts
LanguageEnglish
GenreDetective
PublisherCollins
Publication date1920
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint
Websitehttps://standardebooks.org/ebooks/freeman-wills-crofts/the-cask

The Cask is a 1920 detective novel by the Irish-born writer Freeman Wills Crofts. His debut novel, it is considered his masterpiece.1 Long after the author's reputation had declined, this book was still hailed by critics, as a cornerstone of the genre.2 Crofts had been working as a railway engineer before writing the novel, but its success launched him as one of the leading writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. He later went on to create the character of Inspector French of Scotland Yard who appeared in a long-running series of novels.

References

References

  1. Reilly p.396
  2. Evans p.148
External links
Bibliography

Bibliography

  • Evans, Curtis. Masters of the "Humdrum" Mystery: Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the British Detective Novel, 1920-1961. McFarland, 2014.
  • Herbert, Rosemary. Whodunit?: A Who's Who in Crime & Mystery Writing. Oxford University Press, 2003.
  • Reilly, John M. Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers. Springer, 2015.