The Pit-Prop Syndicate

<p><i>The Pit-Prop Syndicate</i> is a story from the beginning of the golden age of crime fiction. Seymour Merriman, a British wine merchant on business in France, happens upon a syndicate manufacturing pit-props—beams used to prop up mine tunnels—but his eye is caught by one odd detail: their lorry’s numberplate mysteriously changes. With the help of his friend Hilliard from the Excise department they dig deeper and uncover a dangerous conspiracy.</p> <p><a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/freeman-wills-crofts">Freeman Wills Crofts</a> was a civil engineer, turned author of crime fiction. Though somewhat forgotten today, his style was widely appreciated at the time, and still finds fans of those who like a puzzle where all the loose ends are tied up. During his career he wrote over thirty crime novels; <i>The Pit-Prop Syndicate</i>, published in 1922, was his third.</p>