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Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries #1
The Red Thumb Mark
The clever and thrilling debut of literature’s first forensic detective
In all of London, there are few who know more about science than Dr. John Thorndyke, and fewer still who know more about crime. A “medical jurispractitioner” equally at home in the lab or the courtroom, he has made his name confronting the deadliest criminals in England with irrefutable proof of their guilt. In the case of the red thumb mark, however, Thorndyke must set his singular mind to saving an innocent man.
A cache of diamonds has been stolen out of a shipping firm’s safe, and the only evidence is a perfect thumbprint left in a pool of blood. The print is a match to Reuben Hornby, nephew of the firm’s owner. Hornby insists that he had nothing to do with the theft, however, and asks Dr. Thorndyke to find the real culprit. With all the evidence pointing in one direction, only he is brilliant enough to look the other way.
This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
In all of London, there are few who know more about science than Dr. John Thorndyke, and fewer still who know more about crime. A “medical jurispractitioner” equally at home in the lab or the courtroom, he has made his name confronting the deadliest criminals in England with irrefutable proof of their guilt. In the case of the red thumb mark, however, Thorndyke must set his singular mind to saving an innocent man.
A cache of diamonds has been stolen out of a shipping firm’s safe, and the only evidence is a perfect thumbprint left in a pool of blood. The print is a match to Reuben Hornby, nephew of the firm’s owner. Hornby insists that he had nothing to do with the theft, however, and asks Dr. Thorndyke to find the real culprit. With all the evidence pointing in one direction, only he is brilliant enough to look the other way.
This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1544925123
235 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1907
125 people are currently reading
1240 people want to read
About the author
R. Austin Freeman
597 books84 followersRichard Freeman was born in Soho, London on 11 April 1862, the son of Ann Maria (nee Dunn) and Richard Freeman, a tailor. He was originally named Richard, and later added the Austin to his name.
He became a medical trainee at Middlesex Hospital Medical College, and was accepted as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
He married Annie Elizabeth Edwards in 1887; they had two sons. After a few weeks of married life, the couple found themselves in Accra on the Gold Coast, where he was assistant surgeon. His time in Africa produced plenty of hard work, very little money and ill health, so much so that after seven years he was invalided out of the service in 1891. He wrote his first book, 'Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman', which was published in 1898. It was critically acclaimed but made very little money.
On his return to England he set up an eye/ear/nose/throat practice, but in due course his health forced him to give up medicine, although he did have occasional temporary posts, and in World War I he was in the ambulance corps.
He became a writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke. The first of the books in the series was 'The Red Thumb Mark' (1907). His first published crime novel was 'The Adventures of Romney Pringle' (1902) and was a collaborative effort published under the pseudonym Clifford Ashdown. Within a few years he was devoting his time to full-time writing.
With the publication of 'The Singing Bone' (1912) he invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective's attempt to solve the mystery). Thereafter he used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels.
A large proportion of the Dr Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but often quite arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.
He died in Gravesend on 28 September 1943.
He became a medical trainee at Middlesex Hospital Medical College, and was accepted as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
He married Annie Elizabeth Edwards in 1887; they had two sons. After a few weeks of married life, the couple found themselves in Accra on the Gold Coast, where he was assistant surgeon. His time in Africa produced plenty of hard work, very little money and ill health, so much so that after seven years he was invalided out of the service in 1891. He wrote his first book, 'Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman', which was published in 1898. It was critically acclaimed but made very little money.
On his return to England he set up an eye/ear/nose/throat practice, but in due course his health forced him to give up medicine, although he did have occasional temporary posts, and in World War I he was in the ambulance corps.
He became a writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke. The first of the books in the series was 'The Red Thumb Mark' (1907). His first published crime novel was 'The Adventures of Romney Pringle' (1902) and was a collaborative effort published under the pseudonym Clifford Ashdown. Within a few years he was devoting his time to full-time writing.
With the publication of 'The Singing Bone' (1912) he invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective's attempt to solve the mystery). Thereafter he used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels.
A large proportion of the Dr Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but often quite arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.
He died in Gravesend on 28 September 1943.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
September 18, 2023
Wow, Freeman doesn't use one sentence when ten will do! This novel well written, but I think this would have worked better pruned into a novella.
& the technical explanations just bored me.
& the technical explanations just bored me.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
April 3, 2021
The first in the absorbing and original Dr Thorndyke series. The author does a wonderful, if meticulous, job of showing how crimes were committed, by having Dr Thorndyke and his colleagues research and experiment in a lab. The series is set at the turn of the century and I have read a few others but now own the complete works, so look forward to reading them all.
October 30, 2019
I am having a sort of mystery reviewing spree on one of my FB groups, because of a recent meeting on the future of mystery writing in Malayalam which I attended. It brought back fond memories of a largely misspent youth huddled up in my room, following intrepid sleuths, mysterious strangers and femme fatales across foreign lands when I should have been out, soaking in the sunshine and vitamins. Well, nothing to be done about it now, I suppose - except enjoying chewing the cud.
Dr. Thorndyke was one sleuth who escaped my scanner, maybe because he had passed out of the common Indian reader's sphere of interest by the time I started reading. Well, nothing that couldn't be remedied in this digital era - and imagine my delight when I found his whole collection available for a pittance on Kindle!
Dr. Thorndyke is different from the usual fictional detective. He is a doctor-turned-lawyer who assists the interests of justice in the field of medical jurisprudence; therefore, his whole interest is centred on clues found at the site of the crime, and the scientific analysis of the same. In this day and age of forensics and CSI, this would seem commonplace, but remember that these stories were written at the turn of the last century.
In this first novel, the good doctor rescues a poor soul, about to be convicted for a crime he didn't commit on the strength of a bloody thumbprint at the site of the crime. (It was the time when the importance of fingerprints had first been discovered, and this was obviously a big thing.) To all and sundry it looks like an open and shut case - until Thorndyke proves in court how it is not. The court scenes, and how the doctor slowly establishes his case, are a delight to read.
These mysteries are not so much "whodunit" as "howdunit" - the identity of the real villain is easily guessable, but not the way that the crime has been committed (Doroty Sayers also followed the same style). I understand that this is called the "inverted" mystery and that the author, R. Austin Freeman, invented it. It's enjoyable to match your wits against the scientific sleuth, but would this technique work across a large number of stories? I have to read further and see.
Apart from the story, I enjoyed the author's opinion of criminal justice and his observations about the much-less-than-ideal prisons of Victorian England.
And oh? The narrator, Dr. Jervis, is an idiot like all his predecessor sleuthing assistants. His presence, apart from narrating the tale, is to provide the perfect foil for Dr. Thorndyke's cleverness and to fall in love with the first pretty girl he comes across.
Dr. Thorndyke was one sleuth who escaped my scanner, maybe because he had passed out of the common Indian reader's sphere of interest by the time I started reading. Well, nothing that couldn't be remedied in this digital era - and imagine my delight when I found his whole collection available for a pittance on Kindle!
Dr. Thorndyke is different from the usual fictional detective. He is a doctor-turned-lawyer who assists the interests of justice in the field of medical jurisprudence; therefore, his whole interest is centred on clues found at the site of the crime, and the scientific analysis of the same. In this day and age of forensics and CSI, this would seem commonplace, but remember that these stories were written at the turn of the last century.
In this first novel, the good doctor rescues a poor soul, about to be convicted for a crime he didn't commit on the strength of a bloody thumbprint at the site of the crime. (It was the time when the importance of fingerprints had first been discovered, and this was obviously a big thing.) To all and sundry it looks like an open and shut case - until Thorndyke proves in court how it is not. The court scenes, and how the doctor slowly establishes his case, are a delight to read.
These mysteries are not so much "whodunit" as "howdunit" - the identity of the real villain is easily guessable, but not the way that the crime has been committed (Doroty Sayers also followed the same style). I understand that this is called the "inverted" mystery and that the author, R. Austin Freeman, invented it. It's enjoyable to match your wits against the scientific sleuth, but would this technique work across a large number of stories? I have to read further and see.
Apart from the story, I enjoyed the author's opinion of criminal justice and his observations about the much-less-than-ideal prisons of Victorian England.
When the police have made an arrest they work for a conviction. If the man is innocent, that is his business, not theirs; it is for him to prove it. The system is a pernicious one—especially since the efficiency of a police officer is, in consequence, apt to be estimated by the number of convictions he has secured, and an inducement is thus held out to him to obtain a conviction, if possible; but it is of a piece with legislative procedure in general.
---
My point is that the presumption of innocence is a pure fiction; that the treatment of an accused man, from the moment of his arrest, is that of a criminal.
---
We are going to see an innocent man—a cultivated and honourable gentleman. But the ordinary inmates of Holloway are not innocent men; for the most part, the remand cases on the male side are professional criminals, while the women are either petty offenders or chronic inebriates. Most of them are regular customers at the prison—such is the idiotic state of the law—who come into the reception-room like travellers entering a familiar hostelry, address the prison officers by name and demand the usual privileges and extra comforts—the 'drunks,' for instance, generally ask for a dose of bromide to steady their nerves and a light in the cell to keep away the horrors. And such being the character of the inmates, their friends who visit them are naturally of the same type—the lowest outpourings of the slums; and it is not surprising to find that the arrangements of the prison are made to fit its ordinary inmates. The innocent man is a negligible quantity, and no arrangements are made for him or his visitors.
And oh? The narrator, Dr. Jervis, is an idiot like all his predecessor sleuthing assistants. His presence, apart from narrating the tale, is to provide the perfect foil for Dr. Thorndyke's cleverness and to fall in love with the first pretty girl he comes across.
June 26, 2022
This is a fun piece of vintage entertainment: Freeman writes more fluently than some GA authors and Thorndyke and his sidekick are companionable characters, even if they draw very obviously on Sherlock Holmes and Watson.
However, the plot is simple and transparent, and there's no real mystery to be solved, only the how-was-it-done which can get a bit bogged down in technical show offery. There are various gadgets in the book which Austin Freeman clearly relishes but they're a bit yawny for me.
The romance is sweet, though, even if it follows a faithful trajectory (think Watson and Mary, Hastings and 'Cinderella'). I'd read another when in the mood for vintage detectives.
However, the plot is simple and transparent, and there's no real mystery to be solved, only the how-was-it-done which can get a bit bogged down in technical show offery. There are various gadgets in the book which Austin Freeman clearly relishes but they're a bit yawny for me.
The romance is sweet, though, even if it follows a faithful trajectory (think Watson and Mary, Hastings and 'Cinderella'). I'd read another when in the mood for vintage detectives.
June 8, 2024
3,5 stars. Some parts are quite boring, but it's the first in a series of books, so I ignored that and I intend to continue reading the sequels.
SYNOPSIS: "The Red Thumb Mark is the novel that introduces to the world one of the greatest "scientific" detectives in all literature: Dr. John Thorndyke.
The novel concerns Thorndyke's attempts to clear the name of a young man accused of stealing diamonds from a safe. A thumb mark (finger print) near the scene of the crime is the only evidence against the young man, but it is decidedly damning. Add a little romance, a sinister villian lurking in the background, and you have the ingredients that make up this story.
Watching Thorndyke break down the evidence against the young man is a fascinating expereince. Though a person could argue that too much detail is given to the "science" aspect, you have to understand that these scenes are the backbone of this type of detective story."
(https://www.simonandschuster.com/book...)
SYNOPSIS: "The Red Thumb Mark is the novel that introduces to the world one of the greatest "scientific" detectives in all literature: Dr. John Thorndyke.
The novel concerns Thorndyke's attempts to clear the name of a young man accused of stealing diamonds from a safe. A thumb mark (finger print) near the scene of the crime is the only evidence against the young man, but it is decidedly damning. Add a little romance, a sinister villian lurking in the background, and you have the ingredients that make up this story.
Watching Thorndyke break down the evidence against the young man is a fascinating expereince. Though a person could argue that too much detail is given to the "science" aspect, you have to understand that these scenes are the backbone of this type of detective story."
(https://www.simonandschuster.com/book...)
June 17, 2022
Well, this was a pleasant surprise. I had not read any Dr. Thorndyke books before, R. Austin Freeman's long running series, from this, the first in the series - published in 1907, to the last, written in 1942, a year before his death. The author himself became a prolific author only being after invalided out of the Colonial Service, where he took jobs with Holloway Prison and worked as a G.P. before giving up medicine for writing and allowing Dr Thorndyke to put his medical knowledge to good use and enable him to make a living as an author.
Like Holmes, Thorndyke has his 'Watson,' in this case Dr Jervis, who runs into him at the beginning of the book and, having no current job, is asked to assist his friend, a 'medical jurispractionioner' in the various cases he has on hand. That very evening, they are visited by Reuben Hornby, who works for his uncle, a previous metal dealer. His uncle had a package of diamonds taken from the safe and, left behind, is a piece of paper with his thumbprint on it - in blood...
Everyone, including poor Reuben's lawyer, seems to think this is damning in the extreme. Although now, we would think, well, why would you steal a packet of diamonds and leave behind your finger print, the use of fingerprinting was so new and exciting that people collected each other's prints for fun. Which, Reuben's aunt had done. Taking prints from Reuben, and his cousin, Walter. The case seems clear and his fate doomed, but Dr Thorndyke is willing to take the case and, of course, to work out who tried to frame this fine, upstanding young man. Along the way, Thorndyke finds his life is threatened and, in the best Golden Age tradition, there is even a beautiful, young woman for one of our characters to fall in love with.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. I liked the early setting of this mystery - it was London complete with horse drawn carriages and fog, but still, very much London. Freeman's working in the prison system didn't seem to make him overly sympathetic to those within its walls, but overall this was good fun. Unfortunately, the actual criminal was very obvious and Freeman did not offer enough suspects - well, only one possible actually, so even I could work it out. However, it was a first mystery and a very enjoyable read so I will definitely be reading on.
Like Holmes, Thorndyke has his 'Watson,' in this case Dr Jervis, who runs into him at the beginning of the book and, having no current job, is asked to assist his friend, a 'medical jurispractionioner' in the various cases he has on hand. That very evening, they are visited by Reuben Hornby, who works for his uncle, a previous metal dealer. His uncle had a package of diamonds taken from the safe and, left behind, is a piece of paper with his thumbprint on it - in blood...
Everyone, including poor Reuben's lawyer, seems to think this is damning in the extreme. Although now, we would think, well, why would you steal a packet of diamonds and leave behind your finger print, the use of fingerprinting was so new and exciting that people collected each other's prints for fun. Which, Reuben's aunt had done. Taking prints from Reuben, and his cousin, Walter. The case seems clear and his fate doomed, but Dr Thorndyke is willing to take the case and, of course, to work out who tried to frame this fine, upstanding young man. Along the way, Thorndyke finds his life is threatened and, in the best Golden Age tradition, there is even a beautiful, young woman for one of our characters to fall in love with.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. I liked the early setting of this mystery - it was London complete with horse drawn carriages and fog, but still, very much London. Freeman's working in the prison system didn't seem to make him overly sympathetic to those within its walls, but overall this was good fun. Unfortunately, the actual criminal was very obvious and Freeman did not offer enough suspects - well, only one possible actually, so even I could work it out. However, it was a first mystery and a very enjoyable read so I will definitely be reading on.
January 11, 2022
I enjoyed The Red Thumb Mark a lot. First published in 1907 it does show its age in many ways, but the language and style engaged me and in places amused me greatly, so I found it a very enjoyable read.
Dr. Thorndyke was a very early fictional practitioner of forensic science. Readers were somewhat familiar with some forensic practices through Holmes, of course, but Thorndyke is far more systematic and Austin Freeman is careful to be thorough and accurate in his descriptions of the practice as it was then. To the modern reader, this can make the narrative somewhat slow and stodgy in places, but I didn’t mind that at all; somehow a long, detailed description of the process of taking fingerprints in Edwardian times, although familiar, still held my attention. The plot here is pretty basic, with a villain who is blindingly obvious from quite early on and a romantic arc which would be at home in any Richard Curtis film (or Jane Austen novel, for that matter), but it is the style which appealed to me.
The book is narrated by Thorndyle’s friend and assistant, Dr. Jervis, who bears more than superficial resemblance to Dr. Watson in his role and in his obtuseness. On the first page, he is walking through the Inns Of Court and admiring the scene when “...the empty frame of the portico became occupied by a figure, and one so appropriate, in its wig and obsolete habiliments, to the old-world surroundings that it seemed to complete the picture, and I lingered idly to look at it,” which gives a good flavour of the style. I loved that – especially “obsolete habiliments” – and went on to enjoy the whole book. It can be rather rich fare sometimes, but if you like that little extract I think you’ll like the book.
I shall need a break and a few palate-cleansers before reading another Thorndyke mystery, but I shall definitely be back for more and I can recommend this.
Dr. Thorndyke was a very early fictional practitioner of forensic science. Readers were somewhat familiar with some forensic practices through Holmes, of course, but Thorndyke is far more systematic and Austin Freeman is careful to be thorough and accurate in his descriptions of the practice as it was then. To the modern reader, this can make the narrative somewhat slow and stodgy in places, but I didn’t mind that at all; somehow a long, detailed description of the process of taking fingerprints in Edwardian times, although familiar, still held my attention. The plot here is pretty basic, with a villain who is blindingly obvious from quite early on and a romantic arc which would be at home in any Richard Curtis film (or Jane Austen novel, for that matter), but it is the style which appealed to me.
The book is narrated by Thorndyle’s friend and assistant, Dr. Jervis, who bears more than superficial resemblance to Dr. Watson in his role and in his obtuseness. On the first page, he is walking through the Inns Of Court and admiring the scene when “...the empty frame of the portico became occupied by a figure, and one so appropriate, in its wig and obsolete habiliments, to the old-world surroundings that it seemed to complete the picture, and I lingered idly to look at it,” which gives a good flavour of the style. I loved that – especially “obsolete habiliments” – and went on to enjoy the whole book. It can be rather rich fare sometimes, but if you like that little extract I think you’ll like the book.
I shall need a break and a few palate-cleansers before reading another Thorndyke mystery, but I shall definitely be back for more and I can recommend this.
July 17, 2022
The first in the Dr Thorndyke mysteries it introduces the doctor and his assistant Mr Jervis. A packet of valuable diamonds have been stolen and the only clue is a thumb mark made in blood left behind which points to the nephew of the holder of the diamonds. It is up to Dr Thorndyke and team to provide evidence to the contrary. It was pretty easy to spot the real culprit, but if you like the Sherlock Holmes stories, this will be a good read.
August 26, 2021
Sherlock Holmes meets Perry Mason meets SCI. Interesting rip off of the Sherlock Holmes genre. Since Freeman wrote the Thorndyke mysteries while Doyle still churned out Holmes mysteries, the derivative nature of his stories would have been that much more obvious to readers.
Unlike Holmes, Thorndyke is presented as a medical doctor and scientific mind, but many of the trappings of the tale parallel Holmes stories including the dense biographer. This particular volume is additionally burdened with a soporific court scene.
That said, the scientific background for this 1907 story, including its critique of the uncorroborated use of finger prints, will entertain modern readers.
An interesting read.
Unlike Holmes, Thorndyke is presented as a medical doctor and scientific mind, but many of the trappings of the tale parallel Holmes stories including the dense biographer. This particular volume is additionally burdened with a soporific court scene.
That said, the scientific background for this 1907 story, including its critique of the uncorroborated use of finger prints, will entertain modern readers.
An interesting read.
February 7, 2025
It’s all about the evidence…
A chance meeting between two old friends, Dr John Thorndyke and Dr Christopher Jervis, leads to Thorndyke inviting Jervis to dine with him that evening. Thorndyke is an expert in medical jurisprudence, often called in not just to give expert evidence in trials, but when help is needed in solving a crime. This evening their meal is interrupted by a defence lawyer who has brought along his client, Mr Reuben Hornby, who has been charged with stealing a parcel of diamonds from the safe of his uncle, by whom he is employed. The evidence against him seems to be absolute – there were some drops of blood in the safe, clearly left by the thief, who had carelessly got the blood on his thumb and left a nice clear thumb print. The police fingerprint experts had confirmed the thumb in question belonged to Mr Reuben Hornby beyond a shadow of a doubt. To the police the matter is simple – the thumb print shows that Reuben was the person who opened the safe, and no other evidence is required. Dr Thorndyke does not agree – to him, this is one explanation, certainly, but not the only possible one. He agrees to investigate and, since Jervis is currently unemployed, he asks Jervis to work with him on the case.
This was Thorndyke’s debut and Freeman’s first mystery novel. Thorndyke and Jervis clearly owe much to their predecessors, Holmes and Watson, although Thorndyke is excessively interested in the science of crimes and poor Jervis serves no function at all except to hang around and fall in love with the first pretty woman to come along, who happens to be a close friend of the Hornby family. It is remarkable that Jervis managed to get a medical degree since he makes Watson look like an intellectual giant. The solution to this mystery is heavily signalled and blindingly obvious from very early on – Thorndyke knows whodunit and the reader knows whodunit, but somehow Jervis doesn’t work it out till almost the last page. Although Thorndyke could name the thief this would not convince the police, so the bulk of the book is devoted to him proving that the presence of Reuben’s thumb print can be explained scientifically in a way that shows him not to be the thief.
Like in a lot of these very early mystery novels (this one was published in 1907), what probably seemed new and original to contemporary readers doesn’t have the same impact today. Pages and pages about the statistical unlikeliness of two people having identical fingerprints may have been interesting once, but not now, and frankly I doubt if anyone who reads crime novels couldn’t suggest several different ways for a false print to be left at the scene of a crime. So the level of detail over this point soon wore out my patience and I began to skim the science stuff.
Fortunately there are other elements to enjoy. The writing is very good, and both Thorndyke and Jervis are likeable chaps, if somewhat smug about their own intellectual superiority (justified in Thorndyke’s case, but not so much in poor Jervis’). The romance between Jervis and Miss Juliet Gibson is quite appealing, and there is some humour in the story, mostly provided unintentionally by Thorndyke’s assistant, Polton. Like many writers of the time, Freeman makes good use of the famous London fogs as a screen for nefarious deeds and there are some moments of danger that add a level of tension.
This is one of those cases where I’m glad I jumped into a series midway because, although I enjoyed this debut to an extent, if it had been the first Thorndyke mystery I’d read, I may not have felt inspired to read more. However, I’d previously read and thoroughly enjoyed The Eye of Osiris which is the third book in the series, written four years after this one. In it, the plot is more complex, it is full of wit and humour, the romance element has more charm, and Freeman had obviously learned how to hide the solution rather better. So despite not being madly wowed by this one, I’m still looking forward to getting to know Thorndyke and Jervis better. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
A chance meeting between two old friends, Dr John Thorndyke and Dr Christopher Jervis, leads to Thorndyke inviting Jervis to dine with him that evening. Thorndyke is an expert in medical jurisprudence, often called in not just to give expert evidence in trials, but when help is needed in solving a crime. This evening their meal is interrupted by a defence lawyer who has brought along his client, Mr Reuben Hornby, who has been charged with stealing a parcel of diamonds from the safe of his uncle, by whom he is employed. The evidence against him seems to be absolute – there were some drops of blood in the safe, clearly left by the thief, who had carelessly got the blood on his thumb and left a nice clear thumb print. The police fingerprint experts had confirmed the thumb in question belonged to Mr Reuben Hornby beyond a shadow of a doubt. To the police the matter is simple – the thumb print shows that Reuben was the person who opened the safe, and no other evidence is required. Dr Thorndyke does not agree – to him, this is one explanation, certainly, but not the only possible one. He agrees to investigate and, since Jervis is currently unemployed, he asks Jervis to work with him on the case.
This was Thorndyke’s debut and Freeman’s first mystery novel. Thorndyke and Jervis clearly owe much to their predecessors, Holmes and Watson, although Thorndyke is excessively interested in the science of crimes and poor Jervis serves no function at all except to hang around and fall in love with the first pretty woman to come along, who happens to be a close friend of the Hornby family. It is remarkable that Jervis managed to get a medical degree since he makes Watson look like an intellectual giant. The solution to this mystery is heavily signalled and blindingly obvious from very early on – Thorndyke knows whodunit and the reader knows whodunit, but somehow Jervis doesn’t work it out till almost the last page. Although Thorndyke could name the thief this would not convince the police, so the bulk of the book is devoted to him proving that the presence of Reuben’s thumb print can be explained scientifically in a way that shows him not to be the thief.
Like in a lot of these very early mystery novels (this one was published in 1907), what probably seemed new and original to contemporary readers doesn’t have the same impact today. Pages and pages about the statistical unlikeliness of two people having identical fingerprints may have been interesting once, but not now, and frankly I doubt if anyone who reads crime novels couldn’t suggest several different ways for a false print to be left at the scene of a crime. So the level of detail over this point soon wore out my patience and I began to skim the science stuff.
Fortunately there are other elements to enjoy. The writing is very good, and both Thorndyke and Jervis are likeable chaps, if somewhat smug about their own intellectual superiority (justified in Thorndyke’s case, but not so much in poor Jervis’). The romance between Jervis and Miss Juliet Gibson is quite appealing, and there is some humour in the story, mostly provided unintentionally by Thorndyke’s assistant, Polton. Like many writers of the time, Freeman makes good use of the famous London fogs as a screen for nefarious deeds and there are some moments of danger that add a level of tension.
This is one of those cases where I’m glad I jumped into a series midway because, although I enjoyed this debut to an extent, if it had been the first Thorndyke mystery I’d read, I may not have felt inspired to read more. However, I’d previously read and thoroughly enjoyed The Eye of Osiris which is the third book in the series, written four years after this one. In it, the plot is more complex, it is full of wit and humour, the romance element has more charm, and Freeman had obviously learned how to hide the solution rather better. So despite not being madly wowed by this one, I’m still looking forward to getting to know Thorndyke and Jervis better. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
January 30, 2015
Fingerprints. A single print, being unique - not even identical twins have the same fingerprints - that single print found in the right place at the right time is sufficient to disclose the perpetrator of a crime.
Actually, there are those who claim that identifying and matching fingerprints is not sufficiently scientific and so the fingerprint doesn't carry the weight in court that it did only a decade ago. DNA is now the sexy evidence.
In The Red Thumbmark by R Austin Freeman, published in 1907, 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 prosecution's case, based on that same fingerprint.
It does not take Dr Thorndyke to figure out who the criminal is. The mystery in this wonderful detective tale is who the lovely heroine is in love with. The answer may surprise you.
Actually, there are those who claim that identifying and matching fingerprints is not sufficiently scientific and so the fingerprint doesn't carry the weight in court that it did only a decade ago. DNA is now the sexy evidence.
In The Red Thumbmark by R Austin Freeman, published in 1907, 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 prosecution's case, based on that same fingerprint.
It does not take Dr Thorndyke to figure out who the criminal is. The mystery in this wonderful detective tale is who the lovely heroine is in love with. The answer may surprise you.
June 8, 2022
I really enjoyed this first Dr. Thorndyke mystery, more than the short stories I have read by this author. The introduction to my Otto Penzler ebook says Freeman was “among the greatest of all writers of the pure detective story…and was notable for his creation of Dr. Thorndyke, the world’s most distinguished scientific detective.”
Thorndyke is trained as a doctor and lawyer, and has immersed himself in forensic investigative techniques, so I sometimes found the technical descriptions of an ingenious device used to attack someone, or a method to produce or analyze fingerprints a bit of a slog. But as I listened to the excellently narrated audiobook while reading, I could simply increase the speed a bit to get through the dull bits. As this is the first Thorndyke mystery, Freeman sets the stage, having our hero meet an old medical school friend, Dr. Christopher Jervis, in the opening scene, and invite him to dinner.
While Jervis is visiting, a new client and his attorney come to ask Thorndyke’s assistance in the title case. He enlists Jervis’ help, and the introduction explains Jervis becomes “…his aide and chronicler, and [serves along with] Nathaniel Polton, [Thorndyke’s] laboratory assistant, butler, photographer, and jack of all trades. Polton is ingenious and has great technical knowledge, but Jervis, who carefully observes and records all the details of each case, inevitably fails to see their significance.”
So, the stage is set, the case is introduced - a young gentleman, Reuben Hornby, works for his uncle, a precious metals dealer. Shipments of gold come in, and sometimes diamonds, from Africa, and usually sent right to a bank for safekeeping. Occasionally it is too late when they arrive, and they must be kept in an office safe on the premises. Reuben has been accused of stealing a cache of diamonds stolen from the uncle’s safe, betrayed by a single thumbmark in blood left on a receipt left in the safe. Reuben solemnly declares his innocence - can Thorndyke help?
It was very entertaining following along with Thorndyke and company building their client’s defense, although the detective usually keeps his theories to himself, to the frustration of Jervis and Polton. They, along with the reader and Hornby’s friends and family, have to wait for the exciting courtroom climax at the end to learn what the detective has come up with - no spoilers! I enjoyed this classic mystery for the Reading the Detectives group’s upcoming challenge read for July.
I look forward to reading more Thorndyke cases, as I think the technical details of these mysteries work best in a longer book, as opposed to a short story, where they tend to bog down and overwhelm the narrative.
Thorndyke is trained as a doctor and lawyer, and has immersed himself in forensic investigative techniques, so I sometimes found the technical descriptions of an ingenious device used to attack someone, or a method to produce or analyze fingerprints a bit of a slog. But as I listened to the excellently narrated audiobook while reading, I could simply increase the speed a bit to get through the dull bits. As this is the first Thorndyke mystery, Freeman sets the stage, having our hero meet an old medical school friend, Dr. Christopher Jervis, in the opening scene, and invite him to dinner.
While Jervis is visiting, a new client and his attorney come to ask Thorndyke’s assistance in the title case. He enlists Jervis’ help, and the introduction explains Jervis becomes “…his aide and chronicler, and [serves along with] Nathaniel Polton, [Thorndyke’s] laboratory assistant, butler, photographer, and jack of all trades. Polton is ingenious and has great technical knowledge, but Jervis, who carefully observes and records all the details of each case, inevitably fails to see their significance.”
So, the stage is set, the case is introduced - a young gentleman, Reuben Hornby, works for his uncle, a precious metals dealer. Shipments of gold come in, and sometimes diamonds, from Africa, and usually sent right to a bank for safekeeping. Occasionally it is too late when they arrive, and they must be kept in an office safe on the premises. Reuben has been accused of stealing a cache of diamonds stolen from the uncle’s safe, betrayed by a single thumbmark in blood left on a receipt left in the safe. Reuben solemnly declares his innocence - can Thorndyke help?
It was very entertaining following along with Thorndyke and company building their client’s defense, although the detective usually keeps his theories to himself, to the frustration of Jervis and Polton. They, along with the reader and Hornby’s friends and family, have to wait for the exciting courtroom climax at the end to learn what the detective has come up with - no spoilers! I enjoyed this classic mystery for the Reading the Detectives group’s upcoming challenge read for July.
I look forward to reading more Thorndyke cases, as I think the technical details of these mysteries work best in a longer book, as opposed to a short story, where they tend to bog down and overwhelm the narrative.
July 14, 2018
I just recently reread this classic of British crime fiction, in exploring the subgenre of "scientific detectives" in the history of crime fiction.
The Red Thumb Mark is the first of twenty one full-length novels to feature Dr. John Thorndyke; there are also a number of short story collections in which he does his scientific magic. Freeman noted in the introduction to his 1909 Dr. Thorndyke's Cases that his stories have, "for the most part, a medico-legal motive," and that the methodology used in solving them is similar to what is "employed in actual practice by medical jurists." According to Mike Grost, whose A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection is one of my go-to places online and visited quite often when I am looking for books to read, Freeman was the "founder" of the "school of detectival realism." In that same introduction to Dr. Thorndyke's Cases, Freeman goes on to say that "the experiments described have in all cases been performed by me," so obviously this is a man whose feet were firmly on the ground sciencewise; he was someone who knew what he was talking about.
The case of The Red Thumb Mark centers around the theft of a parcel of diamonds ("stones of exceptional size and value" from the safe belonging to a Mr. John Hornby. Whoever stole them seems to have either cut or scratched his thumb in the process, leaving "two drops of blood" at the bottom of the safe. Along with a couple of "bloody smears" left on a paper, there was also a "remarkably clear imprint" of a bloody thumb mark. Hornby's nephew Reuben has been blamed for the crime. Unfortunately for him, he'd earlier provided his aunt with a thumbprint for her Thumbograph (sort of like an autograph book using thumbprints) which matched the print from the safe. Fortunately, while his lawyer advises him to "plead guilty and throw himself on the mercy of the court..." since there was no possible way for a defense case to stand up against the evidence, Reuben swears that he is innocent, and Dr. Thorndyke agrees to take the case.
I wish I had a lot of time to reflect on what's in this book aside from the mystery at hand and Thorndyke's scientific work. I'll just buzz through a few things here -- Thorndyke's views on the presumption of an accused man's innocence, the problem of "hooligans" on the streets of London, and criticism of the Edwardian judicial system. Reader beware: the solution is easy to figure out, but that's okay -- there's plenty of other things going on this book that completely make it a worthwhile read.
for the whole scientific detective sampler, you can click here:
http://www.crimesegments.com/2018/07/...
The Red Thumb Mark is the first of twenty one full-length novels to feature Dr. John Thorndyke; there are also a number of short story collections in which he does his scientific magic. Freeman noted in the introduction to his 1909 Dr. Thorndyke's Cases that his stories have, "for the most part, a medico-legal motive," and that the methodology used in solving them is similar to what is "employed in actual practice by medical jurists." According to Mike Grost, whose A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection is one of my go-to places online and visited quite often when I am looking for books to read, Freeman was the "founder" of the "school of detectival realism." In that same introduction to Dr. Thorndyke's Cases, Freeman goes on to say that "the experiments described have in all cases been performed by me," so obviously this is a man whose feet were firmly on the ground sciencewise; he was someone who knew what he was talking about.
The case of The Red Thumb Mark centers around the theft of a parcel of diamonds ("stones of exceptional size and value" from the safe belonging to a Mr. John Hornby. Whoever stole them seems to have either cut or scratched his thumb in the process, leaving "two drops of blood" at the bottom of the safe. Along with a couple of "bloody smears" left on a paper, there was also a "remarkably clear imprint" of a bloody thumb mark. Hornby's nephew Reuben has been blamed for the crime. Unfortunately for him, he'd earlier provided his aunt with a thumbprint for her Thumbograph (sort of like an autograph book using thumbprints) which matched the print from the safe. Fortunately, while his lawyer advises him to "plead guilty and throw himself on the mercy of the court..." since there was no possible way for a defense case to stand up against the evidence, Reuben swears that he is innocent, and Dr. Thorndyke agrees to take the case.
I wish I had a lot of time to reflect on what's in this book aside from the mystery at hand and Thorndyke's scientific work. I'll just buzz through a few things here -- Thorndyke's views on the presumption of an accused man's innocence, the problem of "hooligans" on the streets of London, and criticism of the Edwardian judicial system. Reader beware: the solution is easy to figure out, but that's okay -- there's plenty of other things going on this book that completely make it a worthwhile read.
for the whole scientific detective sampler, you can click here:
http://www.crimesegments.com/2018/07/...
May 27, 2013
Dr John Evelyn Thorndyke's first case; he is a doctor turned lawyer who specialises in forensic evidence and he brings all his experience to bear in this case involving Mr John Hornby and his firm of jewellers.
He has two other family members with him in the firm, Reuben and Walter Hornby, and when precious stones go missing from the safe, to which only these three people and one other have keys, the two younger Hornbys are obvious suspects.
After some investigation, Reuben is so much under suspicion that he is arrested and imprisoned. The police are convinced that he is guilty, Thorndyke, along with his assistant Dr Jervis, is not as convinced and begins to uncover evidence that he hopes will prove Reuben's innocence.
Miss Juliet Gibson, who lives with the elder Hornbys and is attracted to Reuben, is concerned about her friend and she involves herself with Thorndyke in providing background evidence to assist in the case. And one of the artefacts that is used to assist is something called a Thumbograph, in which thumb prints of various people, particularly of the Hornby family, are recorded.
This Thumbograph turns out to be a crucial piece of evidence and Thorndyke attempts to convince the judge and jury that his explanation of thumb prints within the book and on a piece of paper that had been found in the safe is the right one.
Despite vehement arguments to the contrary he is persuasive enough so that Reuben is released, to continue his relationship with Miss Gibson and Thorndyke goes away happy. Reuben, having been declared innocent, it remains for the perpetrator of the crime to be identified ... he is not but there is a suggestion that it might have been ... well, read it and see who that is!
He has two other family members with him in the firm, Reuben and Walter Hornby, and when precious stones go missing from the safe, to which only these three people and one other have keys, the two younger Hornbys are obvious suspects.
After some investigation, Reuben is so much under suspicion that he is arrested and imprisoned. The police are convinced that he is guilty, Thorndyke, along with his assistant Dr Jervis, is not as convinced and begins to uncover evidence that he hopes will prove Reuben's innocence.
Miss Juliet Gibson, who lives with the elder Hornbys and is attracted to Reuben, is concerned about her friend and she involves herself with Thorndyke in providing background evidence to assist in the case. And one of the artefacts that is used to assist is something called a Thumbograph, in which thumb prints of various people, particularly of the Hornby family, are recorded.
This Thumbograph turns out to be a crucial piece of evidence and Thorndyke attempts to convince the judge and jury that his explanation of thumb prints within the book and on a piece of paper that had been found in the safe is the right one.
Despite vehement arguments to the contrary he is persuasive enough so that Reuben is released, to continue his relationship with Miss Gibson and Thorndyke goes away happy. Reuben, having been declared innocent, it remains for the perpetrator of the crime to be identified ... he is not but there is a suggestion that it might have been ... well, read it and see who that is!
August 24, 2025
I have just re-read this after many years and enjoyed as much as ever. This is the first of the Thorndyke novels and introduces us to the great man, his sidekick Jervis and the ever faithful and ingenious factotum Polton.
Thorndyke is a doctor and a barrister and specialises in medical jurisprudence. In fact he is the be-all and end-all of expert witnesses. He lives in his chambers where he has his office and upstairs there is a laboratory, workshop, photographic studio and darkroom etc. all presided over by Polton. They specialise in "impossible cases"
There follow a good number of more novels and short stories all demonsrating the fertile imagination of the author.
It is virtually impossible to review the plot without giving the game away but suffice it to say this is a great start to a great series. Very highly recommended.
I can't imagine why nobody has ever made a TV series of these books.
Thorndyke is a doctor and a barrister and specialises in medical jurisprudence. In fact he is the be-all and end-all of expert witnesses. He lives in his chambers where he has his office and upstairs there is a laboratory, workshop, photographic studio and darkroom etc. all presided over by Polton. They specialise in "impossible cases"
There follow a good number of more novels and short stories all demonsrating the fertile imagination of the author.
It is virtually impossible to review the plot without giving the game away but suffice it to say this is a great start to a great series. Very highly recommended.
I can't imagine why nobody has ever made a TV series of these books.
June 17, 2017
It's a bit of a retrofest this. One can purchase Freeman's 21 Doctor Thorndyke novels and the entire short stories for Kindle on Amazon for £1.49. It's a bit of a bargain.
Thorndyke is a kind of post-Holmes forensic detective who is employed in the main as proactive expert witness, using science and the technology of the day to deduce and demonstrate how certain crimes were committed.
In this instance Thorndyke gets involved when the nephew of a jeweller is charged with the theft of diamonds from his uncle's safe. His bloody thumbprint was found on a slip of paper inside the empty safe.
Thorndyke, convinced of the man's innocence, sets out to set up a case for the defence based on his scientific investigation.
It becomes clear that Thorndyke is on the right track when attempts on his life are made.
This book is truly fascinating, since it is in its own way an example of steampunk written at the appropriate time. (I accept that these works are Georgian rather than Victorian, but society and technology are not markedly changed.)
At one point a walking stick is revealed as a pump action gun that fires hypodermic bullets. Freeman describes the mechanics of the bullet (which uses its momentum to thrust out a needle and inject the victim) so well that if I had the equipment I could make it myself.
The novel is perhaps hampered by an overemphasis on the narrator's growing ardour for Miss Gibson, a friend of the accused. Indeed the denouement abandons any details of what happened to the guilty party in favour of allowing the happy couple to gush at each other breathlessly and declare their deathless love. I hope there's less of this sort of thing in successive volumes. It's slightly sickening.
On the whole though it's cracking stuff. In the foreword Freeman tells us that he made Thorndyke tall and handsome because there's far too many ugly detectives about.
Thorndyke, Jervis (the narrator, employed to help Thorndyke with the case) and Thorndyke's 'man' Polton, speak fluidly and poetically. I'm wondering if people actually spoke to each other this way back then. I'd like to think so.
'My dear Jervis,' he exclaimed. as we clasped hands warmly. 'this is a great and delightful surprise. How often have I thought of my old comrade and wondered if I should ever see him again, and lo! here he is, thrown up on the sounding beach of the Inner Temple, like the proverbial bread cast upon the waters.'
'Your surprise, Thorndyke, is nothing to mine,' I relied, 'for your bread has at least returned as bread; whereas i am in the position of a man who, having cast his bread upon the waters, sees it return in the form of a buttered muffin or as a Bath bun. I left a respectable medical practitioner and I find him transformed into a bewiiged and begowned limb of the law.'
(Chapter 1)
Polton, quite apart from cooking and making tea, is also a bit of a whiz in the laboratory and the engineering shed, and can take, develop and print amazing photographs.
It's not difficult to work out who the evil genius is but that's not the point. Some of these concepts must have bordered on Science Fiction at the time to his readership. Could J Austin Freeman be considered one of the forefathers of Steampunk?
Thorndyke is a kind of post-Holmes forensic detective who is employed in the main as proactive expert witness, using science and the technology of the day to deduce and demonstrate how certain crimes were committed.
In this instance Thorndyke gets involved when the nephew of a jeweller is charged with the theft of diamonds from his uncle's safe. His bloody thumbprint was found on a slip of paper inside the empty safe.
Thorndyke, convinced of the man's innocence, sets out to set up a case for the defence based on his scientific investigation.
It becomes clear that Thorndyke is on the right track when attempts on his life are made.
This book is truly fascinating, since it is in its own way an example of steampunk written at the appropriate time. (I accept that these works are Georgian rather than Victorian, but society and technology are not markedly changed.)
At one point a walking stick is revealed as a pump action gun that fires hypodermic bullets. Freeman describes the mechanics of the bullet (which uses its momentum to thrust out a needle and inject the victim) so well that if I had the equipment I could make it myself.
The novel is perhaps hampered by an overemphasis on the narrator's growing ardour for Miss Gibson, a friend of the accused. Indeed the denouement abandons any details of what happened to the guilty party in favour of allowing the happy couple to gush at each other breathlessly and declare their deathless love. I hope there's less of this sort of thing in successive volumes. It's slightly sickening.
On the whole though it's cracking stuff. In the foreword Freeman tells us that he made Thorndyke tall and handsome because there's far too many ugly detectives about.
Thorndyke, Jervis (the narrator, employed to help Thorndyke with the case) and Thorndyke's 'man' Polton, speak fluidly and poetically. I'm wondering if people actually spoke to each other this way back then. I'd like to think so.
'My dear Jervis,' he exclaimed. as we clasped hands warmly. 'this is a great and delightful surprise. How often have I thought of my old comrade and wondered if I should ever see him again, and lo! here he is, thrown up on the sounding beach of the Inner Temple, like the proverbial bread cast upon the waters.'
'Your surprise, Thorndyke, is nothing to mine,' I relied, 'for your bread has at least returned as bread; whereas i am in the position of a man who, having cast his bread upon the waters, sees it return in the form of a buttered muffin or as a Bath bun. I left a respectable medical practitioner and I find him transformed into a bewiiged and begowned limb of the law.'
(Chapter 1)
Polton, quite apart from cooking and making tea, is also a bit of a whiz in the laboratory and the engineering shed, and can take, develop and print amazing photographs.
It's not difficult to work out who the evil genius is but that's not the point. Some of these concepts must have bordered on Science Fiction at the time to his readership. Could J Austin Freeman be considered one of the forefathers of Steampunk?
August 27, 2021
This story is not only surprisingly charming to the reader but also unexpectedly relevant to the contemporary fad for forensic procedurals. Thorndyke seems, in many ways, to having been designed to be an interesting not quite anti-Holmes. Thorndyke does not call into question the necessity for the careful checking of clues and scientific examination of all possible aspects of the crime. What he calls into question is what might called the fetishization of particular forms of scientific findings without considering all the possibilities of how that “evidence" came to be found at the scene of the crime. In this case, Thorndyke, in defending Reuben Hornby, has to counter the automatic assumption of the police that “a finger-print as a kind of magical touchstone, a final proof, beyond which inquiry need not go." Indeed, Thorndyke argues that “this is an entire mistake. A finger-print is merely a fact, a very important and significant one, I admit, but still a fact, which, like any other fact, requires to be weighed and measured with reference to its evidential value.”
Thorndyke does not debunk the science behind fingerprinting nor is he skeptical of the process of scientific investigation. What he does present is the difference between true scientific inquiry and the automatic assumption that having mastered a particular scientific technique one may fall back upon it as if it were written in stone. And indeed, he demonstrates that any technique of investigation will soon be countered by criminals who take it into account and counter it with new techniques of their own. It is particularly interesting to read this book today at a time when many treat DNA evidence with reverence but without real understandings of its strengths and weaknesses. Indeed one wonders what opinions Dr. Thorndyke would have as to the reliability of many of today’s labs and many of today’s experts.
For those who are interested in the details of forensic analysis Freeman devotes a good part of the book to that very aspect of forensics which is most overlooked in most television procedurals; how does one present evidence in a way that is understandable and convincing to juries. For those who are less interested in the scientific aspect of “ratiocination” Freeman includes a wonderful analysis of the Holmesian deductive method as Thorndyke explains not only why his supposition that a figure outside the window was a stationmaster was sound but also why it was, for all that soundness, a mere educated guess.
In conclusion: This is an enjoyably written book which avoids unneeded plot complications, does a good job of introducing the reader to Dr. Thorndyke and his methods and may do well to assuage that empty feeling the reader is left with after consuming the last of the Holmes stories.
Thorndyke does not debunk the science behind fingerprinting nor is he skeptical of the process of scientific investigation. What he does present is the difference between true scientific inquiry and the automatic assumption that having mastered a particular scientific technique one may fall back upon it as if it were written in stone. And indeed, he demonstrates that any technique of investigation will soon be countered by criminals who take it into account and counter it with new techniques of their own. It is particularly interesting to read this book today at a time when many treat DNA evidence with reverence but without real understandings of its strengths and weaknesses. Indeed one wonders what opinions Dr. Thorndyke would have as to the reliability of many of today’s labs and many of today’s experts.
For those who are interested in the details of forensic analysis Freeman devotes a good part of the book to that very aspect of forensics which is most overlooked in most television procedurals; how does one present evidence in a way that is understandable and convincing to juries. For those who are less interested in the scientific aspect of “ratiocination” Freeman includes a wonderful analysis of the Holmesian deductive method as Thorndyke explains not only why his supposition that a figure outside the window was a stationmaster was sound but also why it was, for all that soundness, a mere educated guess.
In conclusion: This is an enjoyably written book which avoids unneeded plot complications, does a good job of introducing the reader to Dr. Thorndyke and his methods and may do well to assuage that empty feeling the reader is left with after consuming the last of the Holmes stories.
January 13, 2020
This is the first Dr. Thorndyke novel, from 1907, one of the earliest forensics-based mysteries. A valuable shipment of diamonds goes missing from a safe, and a nice young man is put in the dock for it. As evidence mounts, a renowned forensics expert is called in to help with the defense. The plot twists are easily guessed, the characters speak in a mildly stilted manner that reflects their class(es) and origins, and the forensics seem extremely basic to us now, but this was one of the earliest and still holds up. The writing is smooth, the obligatory love story not intrusive, the forensics solid and well-presented, and the characters of Dr. Thorndyke and Dr. Jervis are likable and seem real.
You can see the debt Freeman owed Doyle, and the one owed to him by Sayers and numerous others. Thorndyke has a “man” named Poulton who is, at the least, Bunter’s very useful Uncle, and Jervis is pretty nearly “son-of-Watson”, including the love story. Thorndyke is extremely Holmesian, withholding almost all information until the denouement, rationalized as being legal discretion, but still used for good effect at the end. The courtroom scene is wonderful.
The net result is an enjoyable reminder of how life - and mysteries - used to be.
You can see the debt Freeman owed Doyle, and the one owed to him by Sayers and numerous others. Thorndyke has a “man” named Poulton who is, at the least, Bunter’s very useful Uncle, and Jervis is pretty nearly “son-of-Watson”, including the love story. Thorndyke is extremely Holmesian, withholding almost all information until the denouement, rationalized as being legal discretion, but still used for good effect at the end. The courtroom scene is wonderful.
The net result is an enjoyable reminder of how life - and mysteries - used to be.
August 22, 2017
A fair reading: good mystery and red herrings, but some sentences were painfully ponderous even for the writing of the time. Then there were the long detailed technical descriptions, discussions, and demonstrations about fingerprints and other technical matters that I am not drawn to in a book. Not usually. But pretty well written, good courtroom drama- I love me a court room drama, gotta read more of them- and all the technical detail was necessary to the plot. Clean, a bit too predictable, but enjoyable enough that I stayed with it.
January 5, 2017
What an excellent writer. This is the first of a mixed series of short stories and novels by Freeman that is pretty extensive and I'm pleased - no - thrilled to have found Freeman [not his real name] and his opus, opi, or in the Latin plural, opera, of which I'm also fond. Many books are free, or nearly, collections abound - many of them criminally inexpensive. Red Thumb is a very good read, but it's the characters, and Freeman's ability to write them so they live that makes this book.
January 27, 2012
Very clever, maybe a little longwinded but that could be the time it was written. Very clearly explained science and Thorndyke and Jervis are very likeable characters. Will read more from this author.
September 26, 2017
3.5*
While the 'who' in this case seemed quite obvious to me, the 'how' baffled me. I got the strong feeling that Freeman's mysteries will mostly focus on the method of the crime (which is okay with me!).
While the 'who' in this case seemed quite obvious to me, the 'how' baffled me. I got the strong feeling that Freeman's mysteries will mostly focus on the method of the crime (which is okay with me!).
July 4, 2022
Intriguing mystery from the Edwardian age. Dr Thorndyke is a medico legal expert who is engaged to prove the innocence of a young man who has been arrested for the theft of some diamonds from his uncle’s firm. The main evidence against him is a thumb print on a piece of paper that was put into the safe with the missing jewels.
This was an absorbing mystery with just the right amount of technical evidence to keep me intrigued without losing my attention, and a really gripping court case to conclude. Thorndyke has his own version of Dr Watson - the bluff Dr Jervis - and he is permitted to offer some help to the great man in his bumbling way.
The culprit is quite obvious from early on, but the details of the evidence and the investigations carried out by Thorndyke are what makes the mystery so compelling. Very enjoyable.
This was an absorbing mystery with just the right amount of technical evidence to keep me intrigued without losing my attention, and a really gripping court case to conclude. Thorndyke has his own version of Dr Watson - the bluff Dr Jervis - and he is permitted to offer some help to the great man in his bumbling way.
The culprit is quite obvious from early on, but the details of the evidence and the investigations carried out by Thorndyke are what makes the mystery so compelling. Very enjoyable.
June 11, 2016
First Sentence: “Conflagratam An 1677.”
A valuable cache has been stolen from the safe of a diamond business owned by John Hornby and newly joined by his two nephews. The safe appears untouched, except for a piece of paper in the bottom and two blood-smeared thumb prints which are identified as belonging to one of the nephews. It is up to Dr. John Thorndyke, and his new assistant Dr. Jervis to prove the young man’s innocence before he’s found guilty and hanged.
Gratefully, the story has no prologue. There is, however, an author’s preface that is well worth reading. Not only is it fascinating in its own right, but it also accustoms one to the style of language used; a much more elegant style than is used today. It is interesting to see how our language has evolved. In Edwardian times, the word “intimately” does not mean nearly what it does today.
From a casual meeting, we are introduced to Thorndyke, an M.D. and D.Sc. who had hoped to become a corner but became a lecturer on medical jurisprudence, as well as Polton, Thorndykes’ manservant and scientific assistant. Our narrator is Jervis, a young general practice physician without a practice. Mrs. John Hornsby, with her flightiness, and Juliet Gibson, long-time companion to Mrs. Hornsby, with her strength of spirit, and her mother, with her flightiness, add an important element to the story.
There is a sense and influence of Sherlock Holmes, including interesting observations on the way people from different professions move. However, what is nice about Thorndyke and Jervis is that their relationship is more equal, but also one of master and apprentice, and certainly, of employer and employee. Thorndyke appreciates and compliments Jervis’ contributions, rather than just views him as a chronicler.
One thing that is particularly nice is that Freeman really explains how Thorndyke reaches the conclusions he does. The information on the various scientific experiments and analyses is fascinating. Although there is one major coincidence, it is acknowledged by the characters as being such. And who doesn’t appreciate a good courtroom scene that ends with a good plot twist
“The Red Thumb Mark” is a very good mystery, pre-dating the “Golden Age,” with a very satisfactory ending. If Freeman is an author unknown to you, it’s well worth becoming acquainted with his books.
THE RED THUMB MARK (Hist Mys-Dr. John Thorndyke-England-Early 1900s/Edwardian) – VG
Freeman, Richard Austin – 1st in series
Amazon Digital Services, LLC – May 2012
A valuable cache has been stolen from the safe of a diamond business owned by John Hornby and newly joined by his two nephews. The safe appears untouched, except for a piece of paper in the bottom and two blood-smeared thumb prints which are identified as belonging to one of the nephews. It is up to Dr. John Thorndyke, and his new assistant Dr. Jervis to prove the young man’s innocence before he’s found guilty and hanged.
Gratefully, the story has no prologue. There is, however, an author’s preface that is well worth reading. Not only is it fascinating in its own right, but it also accustoms one to the style of language used; a much more elegant style than is used today. It is interesting to see how our language has evolved. In Edwardian times, the word “intimately” does not mean nearly what it does today.
From a casual meeting, we are introduced to Thorndyke, an M.D. and D.Sc. who had hoped to become a corner but became a lecturer on medical jurisprudence, as well as Polton, Thorndykes’ manservant and scientific assistant. Our narrator is Jervis, a young general practice physician without a practice. Mrs. John Hornsby, with her flightiness, and Juliet Gibson, long-time companion to Mrs. Hornsby, with her strength of spirit, and her mother, with her flightiness, add an important element to the story.
There is a sense and influence of Sherlock Holmes, including interesting observations on the way people from different professions move. However, what is nice about Thorndyke and Jervis is that their relationship is more equal, but also one of master and apprentice, and certainly, of employer and employee. Thorndyke appreciates and compliments Jervis’ contributions, rather than just views him as a chronicler.
One thing that is particularly nice is that Freeman really explains how Thorndyke reaches the conclusions he does. The information on the various scientific experiments and analyses is fascinating. Although there is one major coincidence, it is acknowledged by the characters as being such. And who doesn’t appreciate a good courtroom scene that ends with a good plot twist
“The Red Thumb Mark” is a very good mystery, pre-dating the “Golden Age,” with a very satisfactory ending. If Freeman is an author unknown to you, it’s well worth becoming acquainted with his books.
THE RED THUMB MARK (Hist Mys-Dr. John Thorndyke-England-Early 1900s/Edwardian) – VG
Freeman, Richard Austin – 1st in series
Amazon Digital Services, LLC – May 2012
December 14, 2018
Ritorno alla mia vecchia passione per i gialli classici. E' il primo romanzo di Freeman che ho letto e non sarà l'ultimo. In questo caso una impronta scarlatta, perché bagnata di sangue si trova all'interno di una cassaforte dalla quale sono stati sottratti dei diamanti. Il proprietario di questa impronta si dichiara innocente e il Dr. Thorndyke viene chiamato all'opera da un familiare in qualità di esperto forense. In pratica, il dottore diventa l'antesignano dei nostri CSI, RIS e quant'altro. Con ben 100 anni di anticipo Freeman individua nella scienza e nella esatta interpretazione dei fatti provati, la soluzione dei fatti di cronaca nera. Stile asciutto, dritto alla scena principale con pochissime deviazioni e scivoli su avvenimenti personali. Un autore che mi piace, decisamente!
October 4, 2016
Not perfect--but I loved it.
August 9, 2018
Ingenious, very much in the manner of the Holmes stories but with a more genial sleuth, and a somewhat melodramatic romantic subplot.
July 4, 2022
Really good with Holmes and Watson vibes but also insight into legal procedure.
May 12, 2024
The first of a series featuring a scientific detective, John Thorndyke, whose science and reasoning were, honestly, better than Sherlock Holmes, on whom he is clearly based. He's a medico-legal expert, and the books are written as if they're told by his Watson equivalent - also a doctor, brighter than Holmes's Watson, though nothing compared with Thorndyke.
It's an interesting premise: Diamonds have gone missing from a safe, and there's a big honking clue in the form of a fingerprint in blood that matches the safe owner's nephew. Problem is, nobody who knows the nephew believes for a second that he would do such a thing, but fingerprint evidence is generally taken as utterly compelling and incontrovertible. Enter Thorndyke, who looks beneath the surface and discovers, and eventually demonstrates brilliantly in court, that this isn't always the case.
Thorndyke keeps his plans and insights under wraps even from his assistants, so we keep reading in order to find out what they are. I did guess the culprit very early on, and even had a good idea how it might have been done (though not in the detail Thorndyke presents), but I had the motive wrong. My suspicions got stronger as the villain attacked Thorndyke with the intention of killing him and removing his contribution to the case (since only he knew what he was working on); this gave some action to the story. There was also a romance subplot, stronger and more developed than in a lot of books of the period, and because I liked both the course and resolution of it, that compensated somewhat for the fact that I'd guessed the culprit and their method.
Overall, the character work is better than average for the time, and the mystery is enjoyable and unusual, and I'll be reading more in this series. Some modern readers may find the highly-educated prose, with occasional Latin tags and quotations from English literature, offputting; it's the kind of thing Wodehouse parodied in Jeeves and Wooster, where Bertie always gets it wrong. But it's just the way that educated men of the era talked among themselves, and personally, I didn't mind it; it didn't reach the level of seeming pretentious.
It's an interesting premise: Diamonds have gone missing from a safe, and there's a big honking clue in the form of a fingerprint in blood that matches the safe owner's nephew. Problem is, nobody who knows the nephew believes for a second that he would do such a thing, but fingerprint evidence is generally taken as utterly compelling and incontrovertible. Enter Thorndyke, who looks beneath the surface and discovers, and eventually demonstrates brilliantly in court, that this isn't always the case.
Thorndyke keeps his plans and insights under wraps even from his assistants, so we keep reading in order to find out what they are. I did guess the culprit very early on, and even had a good idea how it might have been done (though not in the detail Thorndyke presents), but I had the motive wrong. My suspicions got stronger as the villain attacked Thorndyke with the intention of killing him and removing his contribution to the case (since only he knew what he was working on); this gave some action to the story. There was also a romance subplot, stronger and more developed than in a lot of books of the period, and because I liked both the course and resolution of it, that compensated somewhat for the fact that I'd guessed the culprit and their method.
Overall, the character work is better than average for the time, and the mystery is enjoyable and unusual, and I'll be reading more in this series. Some modern readers may find the highly-educated prose, with occasional Latin tags and quotations from English literature, offputting; it's the kind of thing Wodehouse parodied in Jeeves and Wooster, where Bertie always gets it wrong. But it's just the way that educated men of the era talked among themselves, and personally, I didn't mind it; it didn't reach the level of seeming pretentious.
December 1, 2022
The Red Thumb Mark is by no means a riveting page turner. What we have here isn't even a police procedural, but more so a scientific study of the art of the fingerprint, and how it can be used and manipulated in criminal ways. This idea was probably much more groundbreaking at the time the book was written. Francis Galton, who is referenced several times in the book, published his theories on fingerprints and the probabilities of two individuals possessing identical ones in the 1890s; this book was published in 1907. This is certainly not sufficient time for the concept to attain widespread acceptance and understanding and given how slow court systems tend to be to validate new science, it would have still been a rather novel idea. I suppose that is why the idea of having something like a 'Thumbograph', which is a booklet that allows you to capture the fingerprints of your friends and family, would have been a parlor game for entertainment purposes. That being said, even in 2022, when knowledge around forensic science in general, and fingerprints in particular, is relatively commonplace, there was still plenty that I learned about them. Perhaps this would not be fascinating for everyone, but I enjoyed this book. The characters themselves weren't really anything special though. Dr. Thorndyke, our Sherlock, and Dr. Jervis, our Watson who played both narrator and amateur sleuth, don't feel especially original. I actually think my favorite character was Poulton, Thorndyke's butler, scientific assistant, and mother hen. But the real star of the story, if it's not evident already, is the fingerprint. If that sounds boring to you, I would give this book a skip, but otherwise, it's a refreshingly different mystery to check out.
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