The Maelstrom by Frank Froest is “a rattling good detective story that will please those who like to read the details of the criminal hunt, with a love story involved, that is also interesting. Hallet, an American newspaper man, is surprised in a London fog …. ” The story was made into a silent film of the same name in 1917. His first novel, The Grell Mystery (1913), was voted the best detective story of 1915 and also made into a film. He also wrote The Crime Club (1915).
Before beginning his writing career, Frank Castle Froest started as a London police constable in 1879, promoted to Inspector at Scotland Yard in 1894, then Chief Inspector in 1903, and finally Superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from 1906 to his retirement in 1912. He worked many important cases in his career and was larger than life in person. Called the man with iron hands, he could tear a pack of playing cards in half and snap a sixpence like a biscuit!
Book publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, New York
Book copyright: Frank Froest, 1916; Edward J. Clode, 1916;
Book edition: First American edition. Published in England under the title Rogue’s Syndicate.
Pages: 362 (386 bound pages)
Size: 5″ x 7-5/8″
Dust jacket: Yes, with booklist on reverse
Illustrations: None
Back matter: 2 pages
Digital edition © 2006 Curtis Philips. All Rights Reserved.