The 12.30 from Croydon (U.S. title: Wilful and Premeditated) is a detective novel by Freeman Wills Crofts first published in 1934.

[1][2] The final chapters of the novel are set in a courtroom and during a private function at a hotel, where a résumé of the whole case is given in front of a small group of police detectives, solicitors, and barristers.

Swinburn's business is hit by the Great Depression just like any other company, but when he asks his uncle for a loan to be able to avoid bankruptcy he is appalled to find that the old man, obviously no longer able to understand trends in the world economy, is unwilling to grant him a substantial sum to overcome his financial difficulties.

Swinburn knows that he and his cousin Elsie will each inherit half of Crowther's fortune, so he does not see why he cannot have some of the money a bit earlier—"an advance on his legacy".

His unrequited love for a young woman called Una Mellor helps him come to a quick decision.

However, some time later he is approached by Weatherup, Crowther's butler, who claims he has seen him exchange the bottles, and who starts blackmailing him.

In particular, Swinburn's rationalization along utilitarian argumentative patterns must be mentioned in this context: Then he told himself that all this morality business was only an old wives' tale.

[Chapter VII] Crofts's Detective-Inspector Joseph French, who appears in several of his novels, keeps in the background during the action of The 12.30 from Croydon.

He does solve the case, and explains how he did it in the final chapters of the novel, but the emphasis of the book is on the thoughts and deeds of the criminal.

Christopher Adams, of the Birmingham Gazette, thought that it was a "gripping book", and would be remembered due to its "distinctive method of construction".