A Certain Dr. Thorndyke

R. Austin Freeman

John Osborne is a young gentleman who has left England for some, as of yet, unknown reason. He settles in Adaffia, an ends-of-the-earth type of town on the Gold Coast. Almost immediately he gets into a fight defending the only other white man in town, a drunken trader. And we see that Osborne is a tremendous fighter skilled at ju-jitsu, boxing, wrestling and strategy. These skills will come into play again and again, in a mutiny, a rebellion and other struggles with formidable opponents. His adventures at one point throw him into the company of a willful young lady who has an appetite for danger, and she and Osborne fall in love. Meanwhile back in England, a certain Dr. Thorndyke is investigating the crime that Osborne is supposed to have committed. This second half of the book is just as much fun as the first, involving bizarre searches for clues and meticulous examinations of minutiae, from mustache hairs to wormwood dust.

As a Thief in the Night

R. Austin Freeman

R. Austin Freeman was one of the best mystery writers ever and this book is one to prove it. Harold Monkhouse is a very sick man but no one including his doctor seems to know what is wrong with him. When he is found dead of arsenic poisoning, his brother demands an investigation and everyone in the household is a suspect. Who was behind this cruel death; the loving wife, Barbara; her friend, Madeline or Wallingford, the rather eccentric secretary? They all inherit something when Harold Monkhouse dies. Rupert, their loyal friend enlists the help of Dr. Thorndyke who with a lot of twists and turns solves the case. In researching the crime, Thorndyke and his charming assistant Polton do some fascinating analyses with X-rays. And the reader learns a lot about the versatility of arsenic in the hands of a creative murderer.

A Silent Witness

R. Austin Freeman

All the Dr. Thorndyke books are outstanding. This one is no exception. In this installment, the action centers on one Dr. Humphrey Jardine, who is the narrator of the story, and who himself is the focus of several strange events. Jardines troubles begin with a casual walk, where he comes across the body of a man and runs to fetch the police, only to come back and find that the dead man has disappeared. The police can find no trace that the man was ever there, so Jardine takes it upon himself to examine the scene for clues. His findings lead him into a very strange adventure which can only be solved with the technical expertise of Dr. Thorndyke, but not before Jardine finds his life in danger, and not just once.

Death at the Inn

R. Austin Freeman

John Gillum arrives in London from Australia apparently a wealthy man and then proceeds to cheerfully gamble his entire fortune away. During this period he cultivates the friendship of Mortimer, the bank official after meeting him at the scene of a murder near the bank. He mentions in conversation that he felt suicide was a very understandable option to someone who had lost everything. When Gillums body is found, the inquest duly returns a verdict of suicide and blackmail is suspected of being a contributory factor. However Gillums cousin is so convinced that he would never have killed himself, he engages Thorndyke to try to find the blackmailers and bring all the issues to light. The problem is, no one knows who the blackmailers are or even what the man was being blackmailed for.

Dr. Thorndyke Intervenes

R. Austin Freeman

This is a delightful Thorndyke mystery full of suspicious happenings, like the ugly human head found in a box checked at a railway station cloakroom. Other peculiar things are afoot too. A rich American gentleman has come to London to make a claim for an earldom, based on some far-fetched evidence. His lawyers seem particularly unsavory. And theres been a daring robbery of precious platinum, with a British vessel somehow implicated. The plot evolves around all these suspicious goings-on. It takes the clever Dr. Thorndyke to discover how they interrelate. The good doctor must solve these seemingly unrelated cases using his usual bag of forensic tricks and a few new ones for good measure. The crooks involved are unusually clever, but as usual, justice is served when... Dr. Thorndyke Intervenes!

Dr. Thorndykes Case-Book

R. Austin Freeman

This book is a collection of short stories about one of Sherlock Holmes most prominent rivals: Dr. Thorndyke and Jervis. Doyles characters may be better, but Freeman spins a lot of mysteries based on reasoning.

Dr. Thorndykes Crime File. A Selection of His Most Celebrated Cases

R. Austin Freeman

Dr. John Thorndike is a fictional detective in a series of novels. He is a medical lawyer a doctor by origin, he turned to the bar and became one of the first, in modern terms, forensic experts. His decisions were based on his method of collecting all possible data.

Flighty Phyllis

R. Austin Freeman

This little novel is a total departure from the Dr. Thorndyke mysteries, the classic British detective novels that made Freemans reputation. The heroine is a perfectly proper but adventurous young woman named Phyllis, who takes over her cousin Charlies chambers in Clifford Inn. The presence of some of Charlies clothes in the closet gives her the idea of dressing as a man for a fancy dress ball. Unfortunately, Phyllis looks just like the charming Charlie when wearing his clothes, and this gets her into some difficulties, because Charlie is a bit of a scalawag. Phyllis as Phil gets into fights, performs heroic acts and falls in love with a man who thinks shes just his pal. Her adventures are tremendous fun. From impersonating a man to discovering mysterious trap doors, Flighty Phyllis is an entertaining glimpse at the times and trials of a wayward woman.