Freeman Wills Crofts was part of the golden age of detective fiction, along with the likes of Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler. His most famous creation, Inspector Joseph French of Scotland Yard, appeared in more than 30 novels between 1924 and 1957. Fellow golden age author Raymond Chandler described Crofts as "the soundest builder of them all”, and Agatha Christie included a parody of French in a 1929 collection of short stories. In this story, cinema box office cashiers are dying in mysterious circumstances. With few clues and little time, will Inspector French succeed in capturing the Purple Sickle and his confederates before they can claim another victim? - Summary by ASharma