I had never heard of Dr. Thorndyke and R. Austin Freeman, and now I’m happy I know both. Being familiar with Sherlock Holmes, I found out that the two detectives resemble each other in some ways. The sidekick in the form of Jervis, the quickness of solving cases, and the deduction were some of the more obvious points. The biggest difference was the niceness of Dr. Thorndyke. He seemed more of a likeable person, complementing people and showing more concern.

The stories were all highly enjoyable. Some of them gave a point of view from the murder and murderer, giving you the knowledge Dr. Thorndyke doesn’t have (the case of Oscar Brodski). The way Thorndyke deducts and gets to conclusions and solvings of the cases is remarkable. I didn’t predict the way Thordyke thought and couldn’t find the clues in any way. Such clever twists were done marvelous by R. Austin Freeman, giving me the feeling of surprise.

Some of the stories were a little dreading in the beginning, starting with the story explained in the beginning, which was a long story (the mandarin’s pearl). The switch to case solving went really fast on the other side, giving a stream of answers at once, which made the stories complete and fun in the end. I thought it was amazing that R. Austin Freeman managed to create such an amount of short stories about detective cases, feeling myself that a detective story needs a lot of explaining and plot to give a good complete case. Freeman actually managed to do that in short stories, and a lot of different ones. I felt like the story was complete at the end, having solved the case and touching all the important points of the case.

Could not help but to compare with Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" - very similar elements and crime solving, though with the aid of a few more modern gadgets than Holmes had access to.

A steady ready - did enjoy those stories where you already know who did it - but then the narrative of Thorndyke's ""Watson"" - Dr Christopher Jervis, takes over.

All in all, a nice way to fritter away an afternoon.

Austin Freeman was very modern for the time he wrote these stories, this collection is an amazing selection of solutions from science. Wonderful stories from a fabulous wordsmith

Dr. Thorndyke is an early 20th century doctor who today would be called a forensic scientist, The novels and stories are a delight and genre devotees will be overjoyed to find another Golden Age series to read. While some phrases and attitudes may be a little cringeworthy, most readers are sophisticated enough to understand that these were written long ago. I highly recommend this book and hope Dover brings out more titles in the series.

R. Austin Freeman was an Edwardian surgeon and author famous as the originator of the inverted detective story; we're given the crime and the narrative is built around catching the criminal instead of a traditional "whodunit".
He wrote a number of other fiction and nonfiction works, but is rightfully remembered best for his Dr. Thorndyke novels and stories.
The stories included in this collection have weathered remarkably well. They're still readable and compare favorably with other period works. All 8 of the included stories have aged very well, and he manages to write without ìnfusing his work with his personal philosophy and beliefs (which haven't stood the test of time).

I was familiar with most of the stories in one format or another but was thankful that Dover has collected them together and re-released them in a new edition with a nice forward/intro by E. F. Bleiker. This edition also includes source notes for the original publications.

Well worth a reread if you've read them before, and if you haven't you're in for a real treat.

Even the great Raymond Chandler said of Freeman "This man Austin Freeman is a wonderful performer. He has no equal in his genre..."

Five stars for the stories and supporting information in this edition.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.

I tried to get into these stories, but just could not... I love the original Sherlock tales, and am a fan of Victoriana in its myriad forms. But the setup, language, and format of the Dr. Thorndyke stories just did not draw me in. I don't know if it is because of the inverse formula - crime first, and only after all of that is laid out, do you even see Dr. Thorndyke - or the drier, more formal language ("withal" appeared untold times in the first two stories alone), but I simply could not enter into Dr. Thorndyke's world the way I do Sherlock's...

I have been obsessed with Golden Age detective stories since I was 9 years old and found a box set of five Agatha Christie novels at a neighbor's garage sale. I was immediately hooked on detective stories, spreading out to encompass other greats like Arthur Conan Doyle and more contemporary crime fiction writers like Anne Perry, Robert B. Parker and Michael Connelly. I even delved into the adventurous side with Clive Cussler and the opposite, more gentle sub-genre, the cozy mystery. If there was any sleuthing going on, I was in line, eyes at the ready to read any and all that came my way. Everything from Trixie Belden to Dr. Kay Scarpetta....loved it all!

But, I missed a few great, classic writers while stampeding my way through many great writers of mysteries and mayhem. For instance, I had never read anything by Jacques Futrelle until this year. Futrelle wrote detective stories in the early 1900s. His well-known character, Professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Duren, was known as the The Thinking Machine. Futrelle died in the Titanic disaster in 1912 after publishing 7 detective novels and 50 short stories. I eagerly devoured Futrelle's writing, amazed that I had never come across his works before. I had the same feeling when I saw this anthology of Dr. Thorndyke stories available for review. Another great mystery writer that was new to me! I pounced eagerly on the chance to review this "best of'' collection. I'm glad I did!!

R. Austin Freeman wrote 22 novels and 40 short stories starring Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke from 1907 to 1942. Thorndyke is a doctor who uses his medical knowledge and experience to investigate crimes. Freeman's stories give details about the crime itself first, then follow Thorndyke as he unravels the mystery using scientific methods. I'm not sure how I missed Freeman's work during my 40 years of avid mystery reading....but I'm ecstatic that I have another classic detective character to enjoy! This anthology of stories whetted my appetite for enjoying the other books and stories featuring Dr. Thorndyke.

The 8 stories included in this anthology are: The Case of Oscar Brodski, A Case of Premeditation, The Echo of A Mutiny, The Mandarin's Pearl, The Blue Sequin, The Moabite Cipher, The Aluminum Dagger, and 31 New Inn.

These stories are definitely beautiful examples of the classic detective story, but with an added scientific approach. Lots of detail is given about Thorndyke's experiments and equipment, putting more emphasis on the science behind his sleuthing, rather than just powers of deduction. It's CSI 1900's style. I enjoy Freeman's writing. I found it refreshingly different. He brings his readers along for the crime, first detailing how the suspect commits the criminal act before setting Thorndyke on the trail to ferreting out the facts. It's like a backwards detective story. First he shows us who did it, how and why it was done, then details how Thorndyke can deduce that information from evidence at the crime scene.

I enjoyed all 8 of these stories! Despite their age, the stories remain quite readable and interesting. I found Freeman's style of detective story to be engaging and witty. I am definitely going to read the rest of the Dr. Thorndyke stories!

I highly recommend this anthology of Dr. Thorndyke stories to any fan of classic or golden age detective stories. It's an awesome introduction to a great writer and a fabulous classic detective!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy from Dover Publications via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own**

No review possible because unable to read document on my tablet

The eight stories in this volume, including an early, novella-length version of The Mystery of 31 New Inn, will interest new readers of classic detection, serving as a good introduction to Dr Thorndyke, and will delight established readers. The Introduction by E F Bleiler, a distinguished editor and scholar of the genre, has useful biographic and bibliographic information.

The first three stories fall into the category of inverted detective story, a sub-genre invented by Freeman and are of historic interest apart from anything else. They are taken from The Singing Bone (1912/1923). Readers of John Thorndyke’s Early Cases (1909/1931) will already be familiar with the next four which are good examples of Freeman’s scientific detective at work. They are variously locked room, impossible and outrageous. Few will have encountered Thirty-One New Inn in this guise.

Personally I find Dr Thorndyke unendearing but I do appreciate his forensic and investigative skills.Some of my feelings about Freeman’s work is undoubtedly coloured by knowledge of the author’s very right wing politics and writing on eugenics, but these need not trouble the casual reader.

For a modern audience, the style of these tales, sometimes ponderous, may be off-putting but they do repay careful reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dover Publications for the e-book given for review purposes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dover Publications for making this digital galley available for me to read.

Any mystery novel reader who loves the old classic authors will most likely be familiar with R. Austin Freeman and his main character Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke. Freeman was the first author to feature a detective who placed so much emphasis on the scientific investigation of crime and a Thorndyke story will always feature chemical experiments and scientific processes to solve a case. Freeman also lead his colleagues in being the first to present the "inverted" crime, a method he invented. An inverted mystery begins with the crime taking place so the reader knows what has happened but the challenge is to pay enough attention to spot the clues Thorndyke will use to solve the case once he has been called in. There are three inverted mysteries in this collection: "The Case of Oscar Brodski", "A Case of Premeditation" and "The Echo of a Mutiny". These stories appear first in the collection. The remaining stories are "The Mandarin's Pearl", "The Blue Sequin", "The Moabite Cipher", and "The Aluminum Dagger". All straightforward detective stories.

The final story in this collection is "31 New Inn" which is a shortened magazine version of the novel The Mystery of 31 New Inn. This story takes up almost 30% of the entire collection because of the methods in which Thorndyke's working partner, Dr. Christopher Jervis, is involved and the complications of the time line for the actions that take place.

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the stories presented here which are only a portion of the Dr. Thorndyke stories available. When Freeman created Dr. Thorndyke as a barrister as well as a doctor of medicine he placed the character in a position to become a type of forensic and legal expert which kept him knowledgeable about most aspects of the criminal world. Adding Dr. Jervis as a general medical practitioner allowed both characters to have the opportunity to be well placed to observe murder, or possible murder, first hand. These stories are not modern and all have previously appeared in collections dating between 1912 to 1931.

I didn't finish the book, so I'm not rating it. It's a book of 8 short detective stories from, I believe the early 1900's. I only read the first story in the book, and it was so boring. It's supposed to be along the lines of Sherlock Holmes, but it was very dry and uninteresting. One oddity is that the crime is committed first (with all the details of the murder, etc.) and then the second part of the story is this Dr. Thorndyke solving the case, so kind of the opposite of a normal detective story. I wasn't interested in reading the other stories in the book to see if they were any more exciting.

This book is a collection of 8 short stories with Dr. Thorndyke as the main character. These stories were originally published in 1909 to 1912, though one story is apparently set in 1900. They take place in England.

Dr. Thorndyke is a "medical jurispractitioner," so he handles cold cases (when lawyers consult him) as well as recently committed murders. He looks closely at the forensic evidence, carries a portable laboratory, and uses logic to solve his cases. He has a friend, Dr. Jervis, who helps him solve crimes. If this sounds like Sherlock Holmes, it is the same type of character. However, I like Thorndyke better. He's clever, but he doesn't show off like Sherlock does. (Sherlock has a habit of guessing based on high probabilities just so he'll look extremely smart.)

Thorndyke encourages Jervis to learn his methods, shares all of the clues that he finds, and encourages Jervis to puzzle out these clues for himself. This gives the reader a chance to puzzle out the answer as well. Not all of the stories are puzzle mysteries, though. The first three show us the crime from the criminal's perspective, then switches to showing Thorndyke spotting and analyzing the clues. These worked better than I expected and delved a bit into why the criminals acted as they did. I enjoyed and would recommend this book.

The stories contained in this book are:
The Case of Oscar Brodski
A Case of Premeditation
The Echo of the Mutiny
The Mandarin's Pearl
The Blue Sequin
The Moabite Cipher
The Aluminum Dagger
31 New Inn

I decline this review, would not download properly.