Collected Short Stories Featuring Doctor John Thorndyke Volume 1: Fifteen Criminal Investigations of an Edwardian Forensic Scientist

The first of three volumes of tales of crime and deduction

Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke was the principal character in a huge collection of detective fiction published between 1905 and 1942- the final novel appearing shortly before the death of his creator, the British author Dr. Richard Austin Freeman. Almost all of Freeman's literary output concerned his doctor detective and the similarities between author and character are marked. Indeed, Freeman used some of his own experiences as the foundation of some of his stories. There are 21 novels and 40 short stories featuring Dr. Thorndyke, but this Leonaur collection focusses on the shorter fiction, bringing them together in their entirety within three companion volumes. Thorndyke was originally a medical doctor, but in due course 'turned to the bar', becoming (according to the author) a 'medical jurispractioner'. Though the term was archaic, we understand the role in modern criminology readily. Freeman actually undertook the experiments he described to ensure they were legitimate. Whilst not as familiar, to many readers, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective, it is difficult not to draw comparisions between Holmes and Thorndyke, though to what degree readers can decide for themselves! Enjoy then the adventures and decisive logic of the character once described as, ' the most impressive of the fictional sleuths'.

In volume one readers will discover, 'Pandora's Box', 'The Blue Sequin', 'The Magic Casket', 'The Dead Hand' and many other enthralling cases.

Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.