The Pit-Prop Syndicate

The Pit-Prop Syndicate is a 1922 thriller novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, a prominent author of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The story follows Seymour Merriman, a wine merchant who, while on a business trip in France, uncovers a conspiracy linked to a sawmill producing pit-props for coal mines. His curiosity is piqued by a suspicious lorry with changing number plates, leading him into a dangerous investigation that reveals the sinister operations of the mill. This novel stands out for its intricate plotting and exploration of organized crime in early 20th-century England and France.