His attention to detail and his concentration on the mechanics of detection makes him the forerunner of the "police procedural" school of crime fiction. However, it has also given rise to a suggestion of a certain lack of flair – Julian Symons describing him as of "the humdrum school". This may explain why his name has not remained as familiar as other more colourful and imaginative Golden Age writers, although he had 15 books included in the Penguin Books "green" series of the best detective novels and 36 of his books were in print in paperback in 2000. "These stories are known to have been published but no copies of the publications concerned are believed to exist today" Free @ Last TV, who produced the Sky1/Acorn TV series "Agatha Raisin" are developing a television series based on the Inspector French novels. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography