Title Matter

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Freeman Wills Crofts was born in Dublin in 1879.  He attended the Methodist College Belfast and Campbell College.

His novel "The Starvel Hollow Tragedy" appeared in 1927 and has twenty chapters:
1:    The Tragedy
2:    The Inquest
3:    Mr. Tarkington Develops a Theory
4:    Inspector French Goes North
5:    French Picks Up a Scent
6:    Talloires, Lac D’Annecy
7:    Posthumous Evidence
8:    Dr. Philpot’s Story
9:    The Value of Analysis
10:  Whymper Speaks at Last
11:  A Startling Theory
12:  A Somewhat Gruesome Chapter
13:  The Piece of Yellow Clay
14:  The Secret of The Moor
15:  French Baits His Trap
16:  A Double Recall
17:  Concerning Wedding Rings
18:  Cumulative Evidence
19:  The Last Lap
20:  Conclusion

List of all his novels:
    The Cask (1920)
    The Ponson Case (1921)
    The Pit-Prop Syndicate (1922)
    The Groote Park Murder (1923)
    Inspector French's Greatest Case (1924)
    The Cheyne Mystery (1926) a.k.a. Inspector French and the Cheyne Mystery
    Inspector French and the Starvel Tragedy (1927) a.k.a. The Starvel Hollow Tragedy
    The Sea Mystery (1928)
    The Box Office Murders (1929) a.k.a. The Purple Sickle Murders
    Sir John Magill's Last Journey (1930)
    Mystery in the Channel (1931) a.k.a. Mystery in the English Channel
    Sudden Death (1932)
    Death on the Way (1932) a.k.a. Double Death
    The Hog's Back Mystery (1933) a.k.a. The Strange Case of Dr. Earle
    The 12:30 from Croydon (1934) a.k.a. Wilful and Premeditated
    Mystery on Southampton Water (1934) a.k.a. Crime on the Solent
    Crime at Guildford (1935) a.k.a. The Crime at Nornes
    The Loss of the Jane Vosper (1936)
    Man Overboard! (1936) a.k.a. Cold-Blooded Murder
    Found Floating (1937)
    The End of Andrew Harrison (1938) a.k.a. The Futile Alibi
    Antidote to Venom (1938)
    Fatal Venture (1939) a.k.a. Tragedy in the Hollow
    Golden Ashes (1940)
    James Tarrant, Adventurer (1941) a.k.a. Circumstantial Evidence
    The Losing Game (1941) a.k.a. A Losing Game
    Fear Comes to Chalfont (1942)
    The Affair at Little Wokeham (1943) a.k.a. Double Tragedy
    Enemy Unseen (1945)
    Death of a Train (1946)
    Young Robin Brand, Detective (1947) A Juvenile Detective Novel
    Silence for the Murderer (1949)
    French Strikes Oil (1951) a.k.a. Dark Journey
    Anything to Declare? (1957)

Crofts was not only a railway engineer and writer, but also an accomplished musician: organist and choirmaster in Killowen Parish Church, Coleraine, St Patrick's Church, Jordanstown and the parish church of St Martin's in Blackheath.