The Magic Casket (Dr Thorndyke)

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The first part was a minute and detailed description of a crime, setting forth the antecedents, motives, and all attendant circumstances. The reader had seen the crime committed, knew all about the criminal, and was in possession of all the facts. It would have seemed that there was nothing left to tell, but I calculated that the reader would be so occupied with the crime that he would overlook the evidence.

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And so it turned out. The second part, which described the investigation of the crime, had to most readers the effect of new matter.

Freeman held conservative political views. Social Decay and Regeneration referred to the Russian Revolution as "the Russian catastrophe" and argued society needed to protected from " degenerates of the destructive or " Bolshevik " type. Polton Explains, in some ways his best novel, was written in part in a bomb shelter in , when Freeman was 77 years old. For the first twenty-five years of his career, at least, he dominated the world of British detective fiction.

Freeman was always in the forefront of the form. Today, with Chesterton , who is remembered for other reasons, he is one of the very few Edwardian detective story writers who are still read.

Paperback Editions

He has no equal in his genre, and he is also a much better writer than you might think, if you were superficially inclined, because in spite of the immense leisure of his writing, he accomplishes an even suspense which is quite unexpected There is even a gaslight charm about his Victorian love affairs, and those wonderful walks across London In Bloody Murder , Julian Symons wrote: Reading a Freeman story is very much like chewing dry straw. Two different omnibus editions of the collected Dr. Thorndyke short stories exist.

The British edition is R. She owns a metal casket that was created by a known Japanese thief, and wherever she goes, sinister Japanese people seem to accost her. They seem to be after the casket for some reason or other. But for what possible reason? The general idea behind this twist is a very obvious one—I highly doubt anybody would be surprised. But the details of the solution are brilliant , as Freeman comes up with an interesting twist on an old formula, without resorting to anything as disappointingly obvious as a hidden compartment.

This is another excellent story, in which a man dies under suspicious circumstances, but due to the work of a clever forger, a false death certificate is obtained and the remains are cremated.

Investigating Officers

Thorndyke from analysing the ashes at the request of the insurance company, and coming up with some astounding deductions! Again, the twist is easily spotted, but the fascination lies in how Thorndyke arrives at the truth using science, logic, and his brilliant mind.

This is the most dull story in the collection, as a notorious anti-feminist is murdered on a train, and the evidence seems to implicate a prolific suffragette. The solution is ridiculously elaborate and altogether unbelievable, especially the easy time Thorndyke has solving the case.

This is a grand return to form after the last story, in which a man is found drowned, apparently by accident, in a ditch. This story involves the brutal murder of a young lady, and the natural suspect is a bitter relative. But the person in question has an apparently solid alibi!

Author:Richard Austin Freeman

It may have been a lot more surprising in its time! First, he finds a purse in the road and picks it up with the intention of going to the police station with it… only to be accused by a random woman on the omnibus of purse-snatching! Apparently, the box contained body parts that seem to have belonged to his former lover.

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The dark humour in this tale is fantastic:. Must have dropped it in when she was packing the box. The Pathologist to the Rescue. This is a fantastic story, although any publisher who reprinted it unedited would be a brave soul indeed. Consider this dialogue from a black man referred to, of course, with the N-word: Dat my English name.

Thorndyke Intervenes For the Defence: The Stoneware Monkey Mr. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about DR. Be the first to ask a question about DR. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Jun 28, Pat O'Halloran rated it really liked it.

R. Austin Freeman

It was a long read with a few breaks during it, 21 novels and 40 short stories, but I enjoyed most of them. They are Sherlock Holmes-like in content but with the added interest of early forensic work set in the s. The approach to telling the story varied with each piece, some had the crime laid out first with the solving done later, others started with Thorndyke and led into the crime as he solved it.

I found that made them easier to read. James Sprott rated it liked it Nov 08, S R Lewis rated it it was ok Oct 24, Bernard Lane rated it it was amazing Jan 20, Michael j rated it it was amazing May 02, Eric Marshall rated it it was amazing Dec 06, Kirk rated it it was amazing Jul 18, William Metcalfe rated it it was amazing Apr 17, Mrs Gabrielle Garrod rated it really liked it Oct 18, Ged rated it really liked it May 15, Sarah Cheesman rated it it was amazing Jul 11, Michael Cooke rated it really liked it Jul 13, Gita Kavarana rated it it was amazing Jun 23,

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