The Mystery of Angelina Frood

R. Austin Freeman

Angelina Frood, a striking young ex-actress, has gone missing and her new friend Dr. Strangeways, a good-hearted young doctor and the narrator of the story, is determined to find out what has happened and along the way enlists the assistance of Dr. Thorndyke. The local police Sergeant is hot on the trail, as items of clothing and jewellery belonging to Angelina are discovered. Theres serious trouble ahead, but fortunately Dr. Thorndyke, the great medico-legal expert, will take a keen interest in the young womans troubles, through the championship of Dr. Strangeways. This novel deals with some very modern themes: domestic violence, gender inequalities, drug addiction and advanced methods of forensic science as practiced by Dr. Thorndyke.

The Penrose Mystery

R. Austin Freeman

The Penrose Mystery, fist published in 1936, is definitely up to the high standard of the wonderful Dr. Thorndyke series. Penrose is an eccentric old man in possession of some dazzling gems, which he wont insure. When Dr. Thorndyke is alerted to a burglary at his house, a scrap of paper is found with the word lobster on it along with two Latin words. Meanwhile, Penrose has fled in panic after a car accident. The police believe hes gone into hiding to avoid a manslaughter charge after a hit-and-run accident. Finding him is a forlorn hope, theres so little to go on. But Thorndyke has a way of seeing significance in the merest bits of dirt inside a tire or oddments in a pocket... Polton, Dr. Thorndykes lovable lab assistant, has an important presence in the plot, less this time for his remarkable technical skills than for his fondness for fixing antique clocks.

The Puzzle Lock

R. Austin Freeman

A gang of jewel thieves has come to the attention of the police. Will Dr. Thorndike be able to find the leader and the jewels? It would seem that the jewel merchant has a strong room with a puzzle lock where there are too many combinations to solve. But can it be done.

The Red Thumb Mark

R. Austin Freeman

Originally written in 1907, The Red Thumb Mark opens the series by R. Austin Freeman featuring Dr. Thorndyke, who is a sort of Sherlock-Holmes type character. A single fingerprint is found at the scene of a crime. When the police are able to identify that fingerprint, the case seems closed. But Dr. Thorndyke, the detective/barrister/medical doctor who takes on defense of this suspect, thinks he can disprove the prosecutions case, based on that same fingerprint. It does not take Dr. Thorndyke to figure out who the criminal is. It is up to Dr. John Thorndyke, and his new assistant Dr. Jervis to prove the young mans innocence before hes found guilty and hanged. The mystery in this wonderful detective tale is who the lovely heroine is in love with. The answer may surprise you.

The Shadow of the Wolf

R. Austin Freeman

This novel is an excellent example of the inverted detective story, a modern form that R. Austin Freeman is credited with inventing. You know from the beginning who the guilty party is, but watching Dr. Thorndyke figure it out is amazing. And watching the perpetrator think that he is getting away with his crime, while watching Dr. Thorndyke close in on him is well-done literary irony. The fun comes not from being baffled, but from watching Thorndykes mind at work and observing his scientific methods which include, in this case, geology, petrology, psychology, marine biology, handwriting analysis, and chemical analysis. The crime takes place in a yacht off the coast of Penzance in Cornwall, where a circle of friends are vacationing. The victim is a boorish, overbearing, dishonest brute with money. The murderer is a likable, gentlemanly, talented artist of modest means. Every one likes the murderer, including Dr. Thorndyke.

The Singing Bone

R. Austin Freeman

In this collection of short stories, the reader learns the killers identity long before the brilliant medical detective takes the stage. These are brilliant early examples of open secrets where the question is not who, but how will they be caught?

The Stoneware Monkey

R. Austin Freeman

First, there are two seemingly unrelated events: the murder of a constable in pursuit of a diamond thief and the attempt to poison a potter by using arsenic. The connection lies in the presence of Dr. Oldfield, a Dr. Thorndykes former student, who happened to find the constable body and served as the consulting physician of the potter. Dr. Oldfield once again found a trace of murder: ashes of cremated human human body in the dustbin at the potters studio. The police tries to chase the supposedly real villain, but end up in vain. Facing with these puzzling events, Dr. Thorndyke has his own hypotheses. His inquiries results in the discovery of the real felon while the secret is concealed in the hideous figurine of a stoneware monkey. The Stoneware Monkey has everything that weve come to expect from a Thorndyke novel a highly complex and creative murder, a damsel in distress, telltale fingerprints, chemical analysis, brilliant theorizing by Thorndyke, faulty thinking by everyone else, and a dramatic surprise ending.

The Surprising Experiences of Mr. Shuttlebury Cobb

R. Austin Freeman

Richard Austin Freeman, the doyen of the scientific division of detective writing is best known for his character Dr. John Thorndyke. A close and careful investigator and the outstanding medical authority in the field of detective fiction, R. Austin Freeman not only tested the wits of the reader but also inspired many modern detective forensic methods. Shuttlebury Cobb is a completely different sort of book. In it Freeman demonstrates his sense of humor and whimsy as he follows the strange and always comic adventures of the hero of the title who finds himself caught up by chance in the quest for a mysterious treasure. Charting a series of adventures set in many strange scenarios, Mr. Shuttlebury Cobb is led through the dark and twisted streets of London where he meets a highly gifted stranger, enters secret chambers, and finds a magic mirror. Cobb engages with a secret code and a castaway in a delightful collection designed to while away the hours.

The Unwilling Adventurer

R. Austin Freeman

The pioneering creator of the inverted detective story, R. Austin Freeman was a popular Edwardian author of novels and short stories featuring Dr. Thorndyke, a pathologist-detective. Freemans detective and mystery tales offered an innovative approach to the genre, selling thousands of copies on both sides of the Atlantic. Robert Hawke is a man on the run. After returning from business in London, he finds that a sworn enemy, Will Colville, has been shot dead and the murder weapon belongs to Hawke. But Hawke protests his innocence and is persuaded to go on the run until enough evidence is found to prevent his arrest and conviction. So begins an unwilling adventure where Hawke finds himself setting sail with a vibrant cast of men, casting off for unknown waters and strange islands. And as Hawke embarks on his exotic voyage, enemies abound in the most unlikely of places.

The Uttermost Farthing

R. Austin Freeman

In this tightly plotted novel, we follow the bizarre career of a man who loathes criminals. After Humphrey Challoner finds his wife killed by the bullet of a robber in his home, he vows to catch the man. Mr. Challoner is a wealthy savant, and he saved the fingerprints of the robber as well as some of the robbers strange hair which Challoners wife had in her hand. For twenty years Humphrey hunts for the killer, in the process revenging himself on Londons criminals class in a surprising and gruesome fashion. This Freeman work is not a Dr. Thorndyke mystery. Instead, it is the disturbing account of how a man wreaks vengeance on the miscreant who murdered his wife in a bungled robbery attempt. It also poses the question of how a moral society should deal with criminals.

When Rogues Fall Out

R. Austin Freeman

"When Rogues Fall Out incorporates some wonderful conundrums to hoodwink and hinder the cleverest of crime readers. This book contains three interconnected stories. In the first, a respectable collector of antiques falls victim to temptation. In the second a police inspector is found dead in suspicious circumstances in a railway tunnel. This section includes an interesting essay on the early use of fingerprint evidence. The third is a classic locked room mystery where someone has been making use of a sealed room in a remote country house. All three are resolved together in the last few pages. The rogues of the title include three very different men engaged in stealing and fencing high-quality jewelry. One is a working-class robber; one a refined antiques dealer turned fence; and one a mysterious middleman with the appearance of a gentleman.