Freeman Wills Crofts crimes are solved with dogged diligence and attention to detail . . . they seem to have improved with age. INDEPENDENTA detective novel by Mr. Wills Crofts is always an event to those who know Mr. Crofts is among the few muscular writers of detective fiction. He has never let me down. HAROLD NICHOLSON, DAILY EXPRESS From the Back Cover THE PUZZLE OF THE PURPLE SICKLEThe suicide of a sales clerk at the box office of a London cinema leaves another girl in fear for her life. Persuaded to seek help from Scotland Yard, Miss Darke confides in Inspector Joseph French about a gambling scam by a mysterious trio of crooks and that she believes her friend was murdered.
