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Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries #3
The Vanishing Man
John Bellingham is a world-renowned archaeologist who goes missing mysteriously after returning from a voyage to Egypt where fabulous treasures have been uncovered. Bellingham seems to have disappeared leaving clues, which lead all those hunting down blind alleys. But when the piercing perception of the brilliant Dr Thorndyke is brought to bear on the mystery, the search begins for a man tattooed with the Eye of Osiris in this strange, tantalisingly enigmatic tale.
R. Austin Freeman is the doyen of the scientific division of detective writing, is best known for his character Dr John Thorndyke. A close and careful investigator and the outstanding medical authority in the field of detective fiction, R. Austin Freeman not only tested the wits of the reader but also inspired many modern detective forensic methods. Much of his long life was spent as a physician and surgeon at the Middlesex Hospital, London. He also held posts in West Africa and later was a medical officer at Holloway Prison. The most famous of the Edwardian detective writers, he rescued the detective story from "thrillerdom" and made it acceptable to a more discerning class of reader.
R. Austin Freeman is the doyen of the scientific division of detective writing, is best known for his character Dr John Thorndyke. A close and careful investigator and the outstanding medical authority in the field of detective fiction, R. Austin Freeman not only tested the wits of the reader but also inspired many modern detective forensic methods. Much of his long life was spent as a physician and surgeon at the Middlesex Hospital, London. He also held posts in West Africa and later was a medical officer at Holloway Prison. The most famous of the Edwardian detective writers, he rescued the detective story from "thrillerdom" and made it acceptable to a more discerning class of reader.
210 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1911
About the author
R. Austin Freeman
506 books77 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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December 11, 2017
“Horrible discovery in a watercress-bed!”
One November day in 1902, John Bellingham disappears from the study of a friend's house where he had been waiting for his friend to return home. Two years later, there has still been no sign of him and his potential heirs are left in limbo, unable to execute his rather strange will. And then pieces of a dismembered skeleton begin to show up in odd places. Meantime, young Dr Paul Berkeley, our narrator, has fallen in love with Ruth Bellingham, the missing man's niece, whose father is one of the potential heirs. He persuades Ruth's father, Godfrey Bellingham, to allow Dr John Thorndyke, an expert in medical jurisprudence, to look into the case. It's up to Thorndyke to find a way to identify the remains and to find out what was behind Bellingham's disappearance.
I've read a couple of Thorndyke short stories before, but this was my first full length novel, and it turned out to be not at all what I was expecting. Because of the heavy emphasis on Thorndyke being a scientific investigator, I thought it might be rather dry; and I knew that Freeman was famous for the “inverted” story, where the reader gets to see the villain commit the crime before watching the detective solve it. But this novel is laid out as a traditional mystery and is full of wit, with a charming romance between Berkeley and Ruth to give it warmth. I loved it. Actually, don't tell anyone but I fell a little in love with young Dr Berkeley myself.
The plot is complex, not so much as to whodunit – the pool of potential suspects is very small – but as to how it was done and perhaps more importantly why it was done in the way it was. There's a lot in it about Egyptology since several of the characters are linked by their involvement in that field, and a lot more about methods of identifying bodies when there's not much left of them but bones. The missing man's will provides another level of complexity, since he specified conditions with regards to where his body should be buried – not easy to fulfil unless his corpse turns up and can be convincingly identified. I believe Thorndyke's sidekick, Jervis, is usually the narrator of these books, but although he appears in this one he only plays a small part. Berkeley acts as the main sidekick and major character – as a medical doctor he's ideally placed to act as Godfrey's representative at inquests, etc.
In his discussion of this story in The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, Martin Edwards says that “the 'love interest' did not appeal to every reader; even Dorothy L Sayers – a fervent admirer of Freeman – deplored it.” Edwards also says “the prose lacks sparkle”. Oh dear! It appears I have to disagree with both Sayers and Edwards – I loved the elegance of the prose, which reminded me quite a lot of Conan Doyle's easy style, and the wit in Berkeley's observations of the other characters made me chuckle aloud several times. And I adored the romance! Ruth is a lovely love interest – she's humorous and intelligent, strong and self-reliant. She feels remarkably modern considering the book was written in 1911, and Berkeley's initial admiration is of her brain and character rather than of her looks or feminine delicacy. And Berkeley's own realisation that he's falling in love is done with a lot of beautifully self-deprecating wit and charm. Considering Ms Sayers is responsible for one of the sappiest romances in the history of crime fiction, with the adoring Lord Peter Wimsey languishing after his ladylove for several books, I think she has a bit of a cheek, quite frankly! 😉
In among the more serious characterisation and the scientific stuff, there are a couple of great humorous set pieces that provide a bit of light relief, such as the obstreperous jury member at the inquest, or the maid servant incapable of giving a direct answer to any question, or the various patients Berkeley sees in his professional capacity. Admittedly these smack a little of the golden age snobbery that tends to mock the working classes, but here it's done with so much warmth I couldn't find it in me to take offence. I did guess a couple of pieces of the solution but was still in the dark as to motive and exactly how the intricate details of the plot all fitted together until Thorndyke explained all in a typical denouement scene at the end. All together, a very enjoyable read that has left me keen to get to know Freeman and Thorndyke better.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
One November day in 1902, John Bellingham disappears from the study of a friend's house where he had been waiting for his friend to return home. Two years later, there has still been no sign of him and his potential heirs are left in limbo, unable to execute his rather strange will. And then pieces of a dismembered skeleton begin to show up in odd places. Meantime, young Dr Paul Berkeley, our narrator, has fallen in love with Ruth Bellingham, the missing man's niece, whose father is one of the potential heirs. He persuades Ruth's father, Godfrey Bellingham, to allow Dr John Thorndyke, an expert in medical jurisprudence, to look into the case. It's up to Thorndyke to find a way to identify the remains and to find out what was behind Bellingham's disappearance.
I've read a couple of Thorndyke short stories before, but this was my first full length novel, and it turned out to be not at all what I was expecting. Because of the heavy emphasis on Thorndyke being a scientific investigator, I thought it might be rather dry; and I knew that Freeman was famous for the “inverted” story, where the reader gets to see the villain commit the crime before watching the detective solve it. But this novel is laid out as a traditional mystery and is full of wit, with a charming romance between Berkeley and Ruth to give it warmth. I loved it. Actually, don't tell anyone but I fell a little in love with young Dr Berkeley myself.
The plot is complex, not so much as to whodunit – the pool of potential suspects is very small – but as to how it was done and perhaps more importantly why it was done in the way it was. There's a lot in it about Egyptology since several of the characters are linked by their involvement in that field, and a lot more about methods of identifying bodies when there's not much left of them but bones. The missing man's will provides another level of complexity, since he specified conditions with regards to where his body should be buried – not easy to fulfil unless his corpse turns up and can be convincingly identified. I believe Thorndyke's sidekick, Jervis, is usually the narrator of these books, but although he appears in this one he only plays a small part. Berkeley acts as the main sidekick and major character – as a medical doctor he's ideally placed to act as Godfrey's representative at inquests, etc.
In his discussion of this story in The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, Martin Edwards says that “the 'love interest' did not appeal to every reader; even Dorothy L Sayers – a fervent admirer of Freeman – deplored it.” Edwards also says “the prose lacks sparkle”. Oh dear! It appears I have to disagree with both Sayers and Edwards – I loved the elegance of the prose, which reminded me quite a lot of Conan Doyle's easy style, and the wit in Berkeley's observations of the other characters made me chuckle aloud several times. And I adored the romance! Ruth is a lovely love interest – she's humorous and intelligent, strong and self-reliant. She feels remarkably modern considering the book was written in 1911, and Berkeley's initial admiration is of her brain and character rather than of her looks or feminine delicacy. And Berkeley's own realisation that he's falling in love is done with a lot of beautifully self-deprecating wit and charm. Considering Ms Sayers is responsible for one of the sappiest romances in the history of crime fiction, with the adoring Lord Peter Wimsey languishing after his ladylove for several books, I think she has a bit of a cheek, quite frankly! 😉
“'Orrible discovery at Sidcup!”
I turned wrathfully – for a London street-boy's yell, let off at point-blank range, is, in effect, like the smack of an open hand – but the inscription on the staring yellow poster that was held up for my inspection changed my anger into curiosity.
“Horrible discovery in a watercress-bed!”
Now, let prigs deny it if they will, but there is something very attractive in a “horrible discovery.” It hints at tragedy, at mystery, at romance. It promises to bring into our grey and commonplace life that element of the dramatic which is the salt that our existence is savoured withal. “In a watercress-bed,” too! The rusticity of the background seemed to emphasise the horror of the discovery, whatever it might be.
In among the more serious characterisation and the scientific stuff, there are a couple of great humorous set pieces that provide a bit of light relief, such as the obstreperous jury member at the inquest, or the maid servant incapable of giving a direct answer to any question, or the various patients Berkeley sees in his professional capacity. Admittedly these smack a little of the golden age snobbery that tends to mock the working classes, but here it's done with so much warmth I couldn't find it in me to take offence. I did guess a couple of pieces of the solution but was still in the dark as to motive and exactly how the intricate details of the plot all fitted together until Thorndyke explained all in a typical denouement scene at the end. All together, a very enjoyable read that has left me keen to get to know Freeman and Thorndyke better.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
July 17, 2021
This is my original review from years ago which still stands.
I'm sure that some readers will find the mass of detail that Freeman creates around Thorndyke a bit tiresome. I, however, really enjoy it. As I have said before they are a bit formulaic but oh so clever. Thorndyke's explanation at the end of this one is masterful. The story was a bit slow getting going and for once I did figure out what happened from Thorndyke's clues. None of this detracted from my enjoyment. The Kindle dictionary is useful here as there are plenty of old words that are very rarely used today. Highly recommended.
I'm sure that some readers will find the mass of detail that Freeman creates around Thorndyke a bit tiresome. I, however, really enjoy it. As I have said before they are a bit formulaic but oh so clever. Thorndyke's explanation at the end of this one is masterful. The story was a bit slow getting going and for once I did figure out what happened from Thorndyke's clues. None of this detracted from my enjoyment. The Kindle dictionary is useful here as there are plenty of old words that are very rarely used today. Highly recommended.
February 12, 2008
2nd in Freeman's Dr. Thorndyke series, this one's a real puzzler! For those of you who enjoy the classics (and I do mean classics) this one is quite good and really sucks you in from the start. This book has not received favorable reviews by armchair detective purists, but I thought it was great.
The story starts as Dr. Jervis (Thorndyke's sidekick), who is filling in for a vacationing physician, gets word that there is a man who needs his attention. A carriage is waiting to take Jervis; it is closed meaning no windows, no door handles and he has to go in the dark to visit the patient, the ostensible reason being that the patient does not want to see a doctor and wants to preserve his anonymity. Jervis sees the man and diagnoses morphine poisoning, but the man who brought Jervis there says there's no way it can be morphine poisoning and posits "sleeping sickness" as what's really ailing this guy. Jervis does what he can, then on seeing his friend Dr. Thorndyke, tells him about the very weird circumstances regarding his visit to the patient. Another storyline surfaces: a young man represented by his solicitor comes to Thorndyke with a story about his uncle's will that was changed for some reason just a few days before his death; the new will seems to be genuine but he can't understand why there would be a change. Thorndyke is asked to look into the case. The storylines merge, and soon it becomes obvious that the two cases are related (well, obvious to the reader and to Thorndyke, but Jervis remains ignorant).
I really enjoyed reading this book; Thorndyke's detection is scientifically based so he's not a detective in the "flatfoot" sense but it doesn't detract from the story. You have to keep in mind that this was a time when detecting was a science and that a lot of the methods used in these books were just being pioneered at the time. And, frankly, the book provided me with a few hours of entertainment, and that's all I can really ask.
The story starts as Dr. Jervis (Thorndyke's sidekick), who is filling in for a vacationing physician, gets word that there is a man who needs his attention. A carriage is waiting to take Jervis; it is closed meaning no windows, no door handles and he has to go in the dark to visit the patient, the ostensible reason being that the patient does not want to see a doctor and wants to preserve his anonymity. Jervis sees the man and diagnoses morphine poisoning, but the man who brought Jervis there says there's no way it can be morphine poisoning and posits "sleeping sickness" as what's really ailing this guy. Jervis does what he can, then on seeing his friend Dr. Thorndyke, tells him about the very weird circumstances regarding his visit to the patient. Another storyline surfaces: a young man represented by his solicitor comes to Thorndyke with a story about his uncle's will that was changed for some reason just a few days before his death; the new will seems to be genuine but he can't understand why there would be a change. Thorndyke is asked to look into the case. The storylines merge, and soon it becomes obvious that the two cases are related (well, obvious to the reader and to Thorndyke, but Jervis remains ignorant).
I really enjoyed reading this book; Thorndyke's detection is scientifically based so he's not a detective in the "flatfoot" sense but it doesn't detract from the story. You have to keep in mind that this was a time when detecting was a science and that a lot of the methods used in these books were just being pioneered at the time. And, frankly, the book provided me with a few hours of entertainment, and that's all I can really ask.
September 9, 2020
Actual rating: 4,75 / 5 🌟
Quào quào quao!! Lại là một cuốn thấy mọi người rate có 3 sao thôi nên ngại nhưng cuối cùng làm mình quá bất ngờ! KHÔNG NGHĨ CUỐN SÁCH LẠI HAY TỚI NHƯ VẦY!!!!
Chủ đề trinh thám pháp lý (mà dạo này mình khá ưng qua tác giả Robert Dugoni) + chủ đề Ai Cập huyền bí khảo cổ học + tình tiết bí ẩn nhưng bánh cuốn cực kì = Quá hoàn hảo!
Mặc dù cái bìa sách lẫn tiêu đề làm nhiều người sẽ lầm tưởng rằng cuốn sách này chủ yếu sẽ xoay quanh vấn đề về xác ướp, lăng mộ, bối cảnh ở Ai Cập v..v... nhưng không hề, mọi thứ về Ai Cập được nhắc tới khá ít, chủ yếu chỉ nhắc nhiều về vụ mất tích bí ẩn cùng vụ án, cùng những vấn đề pháp lí liên quan tới di chúc chia gia tài là nhiều. Tuy vậy nhưng cuốn sách không hề kém gây cấn đi một giây nào nên mình đọc khá nhanh (trong 3 ngày là xong!!) Hay lắm luôn!
Nhìn lại mới thấy cuốn này ra mắt năm 1911, vậy cũng liệt vào hàng classics rồi nhờ, nhưng văn phong của tác giả lại không đặc trưng như dòng văn kinh điển thời bấy giờ mà đọc vào tưởng như văn hiện đại đang viết trong bối cảnh những năm đầu 1900 vậy nên mình càng ưng hơn. Trinh thám cổ điển pha chút lịch sử quá chất! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Chỉ một điểm trừ duy nhất mình không cho trọn 5 sao là vì quá ít chi tiết liên quan đến Ai Cập, khảo cổ và các thứ, đoạn giới thiệu sau sách đúng lừa tình mà :<
Quào quào quao!! Lại là một cuốn thấy mọi người rate có 3 sao thôi nên ngại nhưng cuối cùng làm mình quá bất ngờ! KHÔNG NGHĨ CUỐN SÁCH LẠI HAY TỚI NHƯ VẦY!!!!
Chủ đề trinh thám pháp lý (mà dạo này mình khá ưng qua tác giả Robert Dugoni) + chủ đề Ai Cập huyền bí khảo cổ học + tình tiết bí ẩn nhưng bánh cuốn cực kì = Quá hoàn hảo!
Mặc dù cái bìa sách lẫn tiêu đề làm nhiều người sẽ lầm tưởng rằng cuốn sách này chủ yếu sẽ xoay quanh vấn đề về xác ướp, lăng mộ, bối cảnh ở Ai Cập v..v... nhưng không hề, mọi thứ về Ai Cập được nhắc tới khá ít, chủ yếu chỉ nhắc nhiều về vụ mất tích bí ẩn cùng vụ án, cùng những vấn đề pháp lí liên quan tới di chúc chia gia tài là nhiều. Tuy vậy nhưng cuốn sách không hề kém gây cấn đi một giây nào nên mình đọc khá nhanh (trong 3 ngày là xong!!) Hay lắm luôn!
Nhìn lại mới thấy cuốn này ra mắt năm 1911, vậy cũng liệt vào hàng classics rồi nhờ, nhưng văn phong của tác giả lại không đặc trưng như dòng văn kinh điển thời bấy giờ mà đọc vào tưởng như văn hiện đại đang viết trong bối cảnh những năm đầu 1900 vậy nên mình càng ưng hơn. Trinh thám cổ điển pha chút lịch sử quá chất! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Chỉ một điểm trừ duy nhất mình không cho trọn 5 sao là vì quá ít chi tiết liên quan đến Ai Cập, khảo cổ và các thứ, đoạn giới thiệu sau sách đúng lừa tình mà :<
January 11, 2011
Sometimes one is disappointed when reading a “classic” wondering just what it was that made others rate a book so highly. That has happened to this reviewer often enough to make approaching “must-reads” and “classics” filled with trepidation. In this case, however, the reasons why so many have included this book on their lists of “great mysteries” are obvious. This is a delightfully written, nicely-placed and eminently fair example of detective fiction.
Freeman makes the interesting choice of having the book written from the point of view of Paul Berkeley, a recently qualified doctor and former student of Thorndyke. Jervis, the narrator of the first two Thorndyke books, has not disappeared but it is no longer through his eyes that the reader witnesses events. This allows the narrator to not see all that Thorndyke does without making him irredeemably slow and unteachable. Thus there are times that the reader, already familiar with Thorndyke’s methods, will be able to infer more from things that Berkeley hears, sees or read than does he.
Beyond here there lie spoilers.
In addition to providing the reader with an excellent story of deduction and reasoning Freeman also writes one of the few believable and sympathetic love stories this reviewer has come across in the detective and mystery stories written at this time. Ruth is not simply a sweet Victorian girl she has a believable personality and an interesting mind. One understands exactly why Berkeley is drawn to her and one can watch the way their relationship progresses from being strangers, to individuals with shared interests, to becoming friends and then realizing that they have fallen love. None of it is strained nor is it extraneous. Berkeley is given believable motivations for his actions through the book.
Freeman plays so fairly with his readers that if the reader is well-versed in the detective fiction of the time they will have suspicions and inklings of understanding before at the end the truth is revealed. Yet this in no way diminishes from the enjoyment of following the story and from finding out the indications and clues one missed. No anvils are used nor does the author fall back on obfuscation.
This reader regretted the moment when the last page was turned and the story ended but then was cheered by the knowledge that there is another Thorndyke book on the “to read” shelf.
Freeman makes the interesting choice of having the book written from the point of view of Paul Berkeley, a recently qualified doctor and former student of Thorndyke. Jervis, the narrator of the first two Thorndyke books, has not disappeared but it is no longer through his eyes that the reader witnesses events. This allows the narrator to not see all that Thorndyke does without making him irredeemably slow and unteachable. Thus there are times that the reader, already familiar with Thorndyke’s methods, will be able to infer more from things that Berkeley hears, sees or read than does he.
Beyond here there lie spoilers.
In addition to providing the reader with an excellent story of deduction and reasoning Freeman also writes one of the few believable and sympathetic love stories this reviewer has come across in the detective and mystery stories written at this time. Ruth is not simply a sweet Victorian girl she has a believable personality and an interesting mind. One understands exactly why Berkeley is drawn to her and one can watch the way their relationship progresses from being strangers, to individuals with shared interests, to becoming friends and then realizing that they have fallen love. None of it is strained nor is it extraneous. Berkeley is given believable motivations for his actions through the book.
Freeman plays so fairly with his readers that if the reader is well-versed in the detective fiction of the time they will have suspicions and inklings of understanding before at the end the truth is revealed. Yet this in no way diminishes from the enjoyment of following the story and from finding out the indications and clues one missed. No anvils are used nor does the author fall back on obfuscation.
This reader regretted the moment when the last page was turned and the story ended but then was cheered by the knowledge that there is another Thorndyke book on the “to read” shelf.
September 10, 2016
The Eye of Osiris (1911) by R. Austin Freeman is the tantalizing tale of a missing world-renowned archaeologist. John Bellingham returned from a trip to Egypt only to immediately disappear from his cousin's home. Or did he? When the story appears in the newspaper, Dr. Thorndyke, the medical/legal detecting wizard, points out to his medical jurisprudence students that, should the question of proving Bellingham's death ever arise, much will depend on when officials can fix the last moment he was alive. From the newspaper account, it would appear that Bellingham was last alive at his cousin's house. But the article also mentions that a scarab which was a recognized ornament on the archeologist's watch-chain had been found on the grounds belonging to the missing man's brother Godfrey. IF the scarab was noticed on the watch-chain by anyone at the cousin's house, then there would be reason to assume that Bellingham had gone to his brother's afterwards. If the absence of the scarab had been noted, then it would be safe to assume that the housemaid at Mr. Hurst's home (the cousin) was the last person to see him alive. At this point, it is all an intellectual puzzle to Thorndyke.
Fast-forward two years. Dr. Paul Berkeley, one of the students in the medical jurisprudence class, is filling in for an older doctor who has taken a much-needed vacation. He arrives at the home of Godfrey Bellingham, who has moved to London for unknown reasons, and circumstances bring him into Bellingham's confidence over the matter of John Bellingham's will. You see, Bellingham was never heard from again after he apparently walked out of his cousin's house, and now Hurst and the family lawyer, Mr. Jellicoe, want Godfrey to allow them to have him declared deceased and put the will forward for probate. But the will is a legal nightmare. It would seem that John Bellingham wanted his brother Godfrey to inherit, but then set conditions that made it virtually impossible for him to do so--which means that Hurst will inherit instead. Hurst offers Godfrey a deal--agree to petition for the will to be probated, Hurst will inherit, and will guarantee Godfrey and his daughter a stipend of 400 pounds a year. And, Godfrey must agree that those provisions will stand even if John or his body is found and the terms of the will (allowing Godfrey to inherit) can be met. Godfrey steadfastly refuses.
Berkeley has taken a fancy to Godfrey's daughter Ruth and he convinces the Bellinghams to allow him to give Dr. Thorndyke all information on the case. Thorndyke is thoroughly intrigued and begins to form theories about the whereabouts of John Bellingham.Then bits of a man's skeleton begin popping up in various places--bits that might belong to John Bellingham. But none of the bits include portions of the body that contain elements that might actually identify the bones as Bellingham's. Thorndyke becomes even more intrigued and sets out to prove his theory about the mystery. There are several things to prove: Is John Bellingham dead--and, if so, was he murdered? If he was murdered, who did it and why? And, finally, where is John Bellingham (or his body) now?
This is another fine intellectual puzzle by Freeman. Thorndyke is perhaps a little long-winded in his scientific lectures, but all is forgiven when the reader gets to enjoy the comic scenes in the coroner's inquest (where it is to be decided if the bones are Bellingham and, if so, how he met his death) and the probate court. Mr. Pope, one of the members of the coroner's jury is priceless--subjecting every witness to his stolid questions and disbelief of anything but the most obvious of proofs. He plays merry hell with Mr. Jellicoe's and Mr. Hurst's plan to get the bones identified as Bellingham's by raising enough doubt that the inquest is adjourned.
It has been a lot of fun getting reacquainted with Freeman's work this year (I just recently read The Silent Witness as well). My last excursion was with The Red Thumb Mark long ago and far away (before I ever started writing up reviews) and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that one. I'll be looking forward to reading the other Thorndyke books I have sitting on the TBR pile and I highly recommend him, especially to those who enjoy the Holmes stories.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
Fast-forward two years. Dr. Paul Berkeley, one of the students in the medical jurisprudence class, is filling in for an older doctor who has taken a much-needed vacation. He arrives at the home of Godfrey Bellingham, who has moved to London for unknown reasons, and circumstances bring him into Bellingham's confidence over the matter of John Bellingham's will. You see, Bellingham was never heard from again after he apparently walked out of his cousin's house, and now Hurst and the family lawyer, Mr. Jellicoe, want Godfrey to allow them to have him declared deceased and put the will forward for probate. But the will is a legal nightmare. It would seem that John Bellingham wanted his brother Godfrey to inherit, but then set conditions that made it virtually impossible for him to do so--which means that Hurst will inherit instead. Hurst offers Godfrey a deal--agree to petition for the will to be probated, Hurst will inherit, and will guarantee Godfrey and his daughter a stipend of 400 pounds a year. And, Godfrey must agree that those provisions will stand even if John or his body is found and the terms of the will (allowing Godfrey to inherit) can be met. Godfrey steadfastly refuses.
Berkeley has taken a fancy to Godfrey's daughter Ruth and he convinces the Bellinghams to allow him to give Dr. Thorndyke all information on the case. Thorndyke is thoroughly intrigued and begins to form theories about the whereabouts of John Bellingham.Then bits of a man's skeleton begin popping up in various places--bits that might belong to John Bellingham. But none of the bits include portions of the body that contain elements that might actually identify the bones as Bellingham's. Thorndyke becomes even more intrigued and sets out to prove his theory about the mystery. There are several things to prove: Is John Bellingham dead--and, if so, was he murdered? If he was murdered, who did it and why? And, finally, where is John Bellingham (or his body) now?
This is another fine intellectual puzzle by Freeman. Thorndyke is perhaps a little long-winded in his scientific lectures, but all is forgiven when the reader gets to enjoy the comic scenes in the coroner's inquest (where it is to be decided if the bones are Bellingham and, if so, how he met his death) and the probate court. Mr. Pope, one of the members of the coroner's jury is priceless--subjecting every witness to his stolid questions and disbelief of anything but the most obvious of proofs. He plays merry hell with Mr. Jellicoe's and Mr. Hurst's plan to get the bones identified as Bellingham's by raising enough doubt that the inquest is adjourned.
It has been a lot of fun getting reacquainted with Freeman's work this year (I just recently read The Silent Witness as well). My last excursion was with The Red Thumb Mark long ago and far away (before I ever started writing up reviews) and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that one. I'll be looking forward to reading the other Thorndyke books I have sitting on the TBR pile and I highly recommend him, especially to those who enjoy the Holmes stories.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
November 18, 2012
The Eye of Osiris, published in 1911, was the second of R. Austin Freeman’s many Dr Thorndyke mystery novels. And a very good mystery it is too.
R. Austin Freeman (1862-1943) is unfortunately little know today except to devotees of vintage crime but this English writer was one of the masters of the detective story and Dr Thorndyke was his greatest creation. Freeman was a qualified doctor and he made considerable and effective use of his medical knowledge in his fiction.
Thorndyke is the scientific detective par excellence, a lecturer in medical jurisprudence. He is interested in facts which he organises with an almost brutal meticulousness. He has little time for speculation and no time at all for leaps of intuition. He is not even concerned overmuch with motives. Give him the acts and he will find the one person who could have committed the crime, whose guilt would be consistent with those facts.
The Eye of Osiris is concerned with the mysterious disappearance of Mr John Bellingham. A man of regular habits does not call at his cousin’s house, find him not at home, tell the maid that he will await his return, and then simply vanish. But that is what Mr John Bellingham appears to have done.
Dr Thorndyke initially has no involvement in this case. He reads about it in the newspaper and notes it as being an excellent example of a point he has just been making to his students - the crucial importance in such a case of establishing the last time (and the last place) at which the presumed victim can be said with absolute certainty to have been still alive. He discusses it with his young assistant Dr Jervis and with a former student, Dr Paul Berkeley (who happens to be the novel’s narrator).
Two years later the mystery is still involved and Dr Berkeley finds himself having a chance (but momentous for all concerned) encounter with the Bellingham family. He is called in to treat the vanished man’s brother, Godfrey Bellingham, who is now living in poverty. And he discovers there is much more to this case that was apparent two years earlier. John Bellingham made a fiendishly difficult will, a will that could restore Godfrey’s fortunes, or leave him condemned to perpetual penury. An acrimonious legal case is now imminent. Dr Berkeley also happens to fall in love with Godfrey’s daughter Ruth.
Godfrey is a proud man, unwilling to accept help that he cannot pay for, but Dr Berkeley eventually persuades him that if his old mentor Dr Thorndyke were to accept the case it would not be charity since the case is so complex and so likely to produce interesting legal precedents that he would actually be doing Dr Thorndyke a favour by allowing him to become involved. Which is at least partly true - Thorndyke really is eager to get to grips with what should prove a most challenging case.
The challenge is firstly to establish if John Bellingham really has been murdered, secondly to find out who murdered him, and thirdly to find a way of fulfilling an apparently impossible clause in the will.
Oddly enough almost everybody involved in this affair shares a passion for Egyptology, a factor that will assume considerable importance.
Dr Thorndyke himself is by no means a colourful personage- the fascination of the character lies in his methods rather than his personality.
Freeman manages to combine a classic puzzle mystery novel (the Thorndyke novels can in some ways be seen as launching the golden age of detective fiction) with a love story. His style is not flashy but nor is it dull.
The great strength of the novel lies in the plotting which is ingenious enough and complicated enough to satisfy any fan of the puzzle-style of mystery story.
Highly recommended.
R. Austin Freeman (1862-1943) is unfortunately little know today except to devotees of vintage crime but this English writer was one of the masters of the detective story and Dr Thorndyke was his greatest creation. Freeman was a qualified doctor and he made considerable and effective use of his medical knowledge in his fiction.
Thorndyke is the scientific detective par excellence, a lecturer in medical jurisprudence. He is interested in facts which he organises with an almost brutal meticulousness. He has little time for speculation and no time at all for leaps of intuition. He is not even concerned overmuch with motives. Give him the acts and he will find the one person who could have committed the crime, whose guilt would be consistent with those facts.
The Eye of Osiris is concerned with the mysterious disappearance of Mr John Bellingham. A man of regular habits does not call at his cousin’s house, find him not at home, tell the maid that he will await his return, and then simply vanish. But that is what Mr John Bellingham appears to have done.
Dr Thorndyke initially has no involvement in this case. He reads about it in the newspaper and notes it as being an excellent example of a point he has just been making to his students - the crucial importance in such a case of establishing the last time (and the last place) at which the presumed victim can be said with absolute certainty to have been still alive. He discusses it with his young assistant Dr Jervis and with a former student, Dr Paul Berkeley (who happens to be the novel’s narrator).
Two years later the mystery is still involved and Dr Berkeley finds himself having a chance (but momentous for all concerned) encounter with the Bellingham family. He is called in to treat the vanished man’s brother, Godfrey Bellingham, who is now living in poverty. And he discovers there is much more to this case that was apparent two years earlier. John Bellingham made a fiendishly difficult will, a will that could restore Godfrey’s fortunes, or leave him condemned to perpetual penury. An acrimonious legal case is now imminent. Dr Berkeley also happens to fall in love with Godfrey’s daughter Ruth.
Godfrey is a proud man, unwilling to accept help that he cannot pay for, but Dr Berkeley eventually persuades him that if his old mentor Dr Thorndyke were to accept the case it would not be charity since the case is so complex and so likely to produce interesting legal precedents that he would actually be doing Dr Thorndyke a favour by allowing him to become involved. Which is at least partly true - Thorndyke really is eager to get to grips with what should prove a most challenging case.
The challenge is firstly to establish if John Bellingham really has been murdered, secondly to find out who murdered him, and thirdly to find a way of fulfilling an apparently impossible clause in the will.
Oddly enough almost everybody involved in this affair shares a passion for Egyptology, a factor that will assume considerable importance.
Dr Thorndyke himself is by no means a colourful personage- the fascination of the character lies in his methods rather than his personality.
Freeman manages to combine a classic puzzle mystery novel (the Thorndyke novels can in some ways be seen as launching the golden age of detective fiction) with a love story. His style is not flashy but nor is it dull.
The great strength of the novel lies in the plotting which is ingenious enough and complicated enough to satisfy any fan of the puzzle-style of mystery story.
Highly recommended.
October 11, 2017
A wonderful mystery with just the right spookiness to hold your attention right through. The suspense builds and builds right to the end and the conclusion perfect. What could be better than a mystery all tied up with archaeologists?
April 15, 2013
Loved it. Wish I had read it when I first bought it over 30 years ago. (Why did I wait so long?) Yes, the language, especially in dialogs, was a bit formal and stilted to a modern ear. Yes, the gender attitudes were old-fashioned. (What else would I expect in a book written in the 1911?) But the storyline was interesting, the author made me care about the characters, and the background information on Egyptian mummies and the beginnings of the profession of forensic pathology were all fascinating. It satisfied my "mystery itch" and I'll be looking for Freeman's other books in this series. Used-book stores, HERE I COME!
January 20, 2018
Even though I figured out the solution before the end of this 3rd book in the Thorndyke series, I enjoyed seeing how Thorndyke managed to prove it & to learn his reasoning. I look forward to reading more of this series!
February 14, 2017
Tôi chỉ thấy nó hay ở hai chương cuối cùng. May là nó còn hay đấy nhé. :))
Đầu tiên là khen đã:
Trinh thám cổ điển - trinh thám pháp y. Chủ đề mới, đọc rất lạ, khá thú vị. Thêm nữa là mớ kiến thức tác giả nhồi vào cuốn này hơi không dễ đọc cho lắm. Thật ra thì em cũng đọc và biết thế, chứ có phải chuyên ngành đâu mà phán đúng - sai. Thêm nữa là phần suy luận ở 2 chương cuối, quá đỉnh, quá hay. (Chỉ hai chương cuối thôi đấy.) thêm nữa đó còn là một cái kết bất ngờ. Tôi không nghĩ là hắn và cái chết sự thực nó lại là như vậy.
Xét về tính lịch sử thì đây là một tác phẩm khá lâu đời, ra đời khá sớm, vậy nên để nói cho công bằng, thì những gì được viết, được nêu ra, được suy diễn lập luận là cực kì đáng kể đấy. Thậm chí khi mà đã đọc khá nhiều các thể loại trinh thám các kiểu rồi, thì về yếu tố pháp y, suy diễn, tôi vẫn khen.
Nhật Hướng PR cũng tốt, giấy đẹp, bìa đẹp.
Sau đây là chê này:
Có những cuốn sách thật là hoàn hảo, chẳng có tý lỗi nào, riêng mảng này thì Nhã Nam, Phụ nữ, IPM làm khá lắm. Nhưng đương nhiên là cũng trừ Hướng Nhật ra. Lỗi đánh máy làm mất cả chữ. "Đx" là cái gì? Và từ gì nữa quên mất tiêu. Lỗi dịch giả thì hoàn toàn có thể thông cảm được, nhưng biên tập viên thì...họ bê nguyên bản thảo vào không chỉnh sửa hay sao ấy - hơi mất lòng nhưng tính tớ nó cứ thẳng toe vậy. Mình không chê dịch giả, nhưng thiết nghĩ đây vẫn chưa phải là một bản dịch rất tốt. Nhưng cũng thông cảm cho dịch giả khá nhiều bởi lẽ: các thiên tài trinh thám cổ điển viết văn thường rất tệ, tính văn chương trong tác phẩm của họ gần như chẳng có gì: từ agatha đến queen và giờ thêm cả R.austin freeman. Đọc mà muốn lật cả bàn.
Rồi phải đến 3/4 cả cuốn sách cứ xoay quanh câu chuyện tình cảm của chàng và nàng, chàng ấn tượng với nàng dư lào, bắt đầu yêu dư lào, tán tỉnh dư lào, gặp trắc trở dư lào, cuối cùng chúng ta cũng hạnh phíc bên nhau khi vụ án được sáng tỏ. Mà chàng không phải là người khám phá ra vụ án nhé. Và nhất là vị thầy giáo pháp y tài giỏi của chúng ta lại quá ít đất diễn. Mà freeman miêu tả hoặc kể lể cũng là thảm hoạ. Ấy nhưng vẫn còn khá hơn giai đoạn đầu của Queen.
Và tiếp theo, cái bối cảnh Ai Cập các kiểu như chỉ để làm màu, à mà rõ ràng chỉ để làm màu, tôi cứ ngỡ mình biết đâu sẽ được tiếp xúc với kiến thức dạt dào về đất nước Ai Cập cổ, nhưng tất cả những gì tác giả làm được chỉ là vẽ lên một vỏ bọc mỏng mà thôi. Và...đương nhiên là chẳng có gì đáng nói. À những làm thế nó cũng có lý do cả, còn là cái cớ để hình thành mấu chốt tác phẩm luôn ấy chứ.
Nói chung là thật sự là phải kiên nhẫn kiên nhẫn vô cùng để thấy được vàng ở trong cát, không kiên nhẫn là thế nào cũng mệt mỏi chán ngán với mấy câu chuyện tình yêu lãng mạn của anh và chị. Thêm nữa là những bạn quen với seri hành động, hoành tá tràng các kiểu, trinh thám hiện đại ấy mà, Queen các ấy còn cố được chứ cuốn này các ấy mà muốn cố thì gian nan phết.
Nhưng dù sao thì, tớ vẫn khuyên mua, nên đọc nhiều thể loại cho phong phú.
Tặng cuốn này hai chữ: "cũng được"
Khổ quá, tại chê lấn át mất khen rồi.
December 12, 2019
Một cuốn trinh thám Pháp y được viết từ hơn 100 năm trước, có thể gọi là tiên phong của dòng này. Nhịp truyện hơi chậm, nhẹ nhàng pha tí tình cảm cổ điển. Được phần phá án mạch lạc logic kết hợp phân tích pháp y khá hay.
Chấm 7,5/10. Freeman có lẽ đọc tuyển tập truyện ngắn -vừa sẽ thích hơn và hạn chế được sự dài dòng.
Chấm 7,5/10. Freeman có lẽ đọc tuyển tập truyện ngắn -vừa sẽ thích hơn và hạn chế được sự dài dòng.
January 1, 2022
Dr. Thorndyke, doctor-turned-lawyer-turned detective, is again on full cry in this tale involving a missing man, an Egyptian amulet and a strange will.
The Thorndyke mysteries are dry, like the sleuth's nature; he follows only the hard evidence, and is not interested in the psychology of the criminal. Consequently there are no brilliant conversations with clues hidden away in obscure phrases like you find in the Christie novels; nor are there any strange and atmospheric locales you are apt to find in the Conan Doyle stories. The good doctor weighs the evidence, and his methodically brilliant mind reconstructs the crime based on the possibilities; and arrives at the most possible solution for which he then searches corroborative evidence. This is a very sound system even though rather unexciting.
In the book under review, John Bellingham, a world-renowned archaeologist, goes missing after returning from a foreign trip. He visits his cousin Hurst's house when the latter is out; shown into the parlour by the housemaid, he disappears without a trace before Hurst returns. An amulet from his watch-chain is found on the grounds of his brother's residence; but again, there is no evidence of he ever having been there.
The disappearance takes on suspicious overtones as Bellingham's strange will comes to light. The bulk of his fortune is to go to his brother Godfrey, provided he is buried in a certain geographical area; otherwise, it is to go to Hurst. Naturally, suspicion falls on both men. And when the parts of a skeleton starts appearing in various parts of the country, the plot naturally thickens.
Instead of Jervis, Thorndyke's usual companion, this story is narrated by Paul Berkeley for a change. He is also cast in the same mould as all detective sidekicks, however; a man of ordinary intellect serving only to highlight the sleuth's brilliance - and provide the romantic interest.
I correctly solved half of the puzzle. I could have solved it in full had I exercised my intellect a bit more. This is one story where the author plays fair with the reader.
The Thorndyke mysteries are dry, like the sleuth's nature; he follows only the hard evidence, and is not interested in the psychology of the criminal. Consequently there are no brilliant conversations with clues hidden away in obscure phrases like you find in the Christie novels; nor are there any strange and atmospheric locales you are apt to find in the Conan Doyle stories. The good doctor weighs the evidence, and his methodically brilliant mind reconstructs the crime based on the possibilities; and arrives at the most possible solution for which he then searches corroborative evidence. This is a very sound system even though rather unexciting.
In the book under review, John Bellingham, a world-renowned archaeologist, goes missing after returning from a foreign trip. He visits his cousin Hurst's house when the latter is out; shown into the parlour by the housemaid, he disappears without a trace before Hurst returns. An amulet from his watch-chain is found on the grounds of his brother's residence; but again, there is no evidence of he ever having been there.
The disappearance takes on suspicious overtones as Bellingham's strange will comes to light. The bulk of his fortune is to go to his brother Godfrey, provided he is buried in a certain geographical area; otherwise, it is to go to Hurst. Naturally, suspicion falls on both men. And when the parts of a skeleton starts appearing in various parts of the country, the plot naturally thickens.
Instead of Jervis, Thorndyke's usual companion, this story is narrated by Paul Berkeley for a change. He is also cast in the same mould as all detective sidekicks, however; a man of ordinary intellect serving only to highlight the sleuth's brilliance - and provide the romantic interest.
I correctly solved half of the puzzle. I could have solved it in full had I exercised my intellect a bit more. This is one story where the author plays fair with the reader.
June 1, 2017
Điểm 8/10
Tiểu thuyết trinh thám cổ điển đáng đọc
Mạch truyện hơi chậm rãi nhưng không tạo cảm giác chán cho người đọc. Người tham gia điều tra là một bác sĩ pháp y với sự cộng tác của hai người khác cũng là bác sĩ. Nội dung xoay quanh bản di chúc của một nhà khảo cổ học đã mất tích. Vụ án đã xảy ra được 2 năm nhưng gần như bị lãng quên vì không có chuyển biến. Xen giữa cuộc điều tra là chuyện tình cảm của nhân vật tôi (bác sĩ cộng tác với người điều tra) và cô gái có liên quan đến vụ án.
Những diễn biến và tình tiết truyện khá hợp lý, mang đậm chất cổ điển. Tuy nhiên, động cơ của thủ phạm mặc dù không phải vô lý nhưng nó quá đặc biệt nên độc giả không có nhiều cơ hội để suy luận logic. Nếu động cơ của thủ phạm "bình thường" hơn thì tác phẩm này sẽ thú vị hơn rất nhiều.
Bản dịch tiếng Việt này có khá nhiều lỗi chính tả nên một số độc giả kỹ tính đã có nhiều phản hồi không hài lòng về khâu biên tập.
Tiểu thuyết trinh thám cổ điển đáng đọc
Mạch truyện hơi chậm rãi nhưng không tạo cảm giác chán cho người đọc. Người tham gia điều tra là một bác sĩ pháp y với sự cộng tác của hai người khác cũng là bác sĩ. Nội dung xoay quanh bản di chúc của một nhà khảo cổ học đã mất tích. Vụ án đã xảy ra được 2 năm nhưng gần như bị lãng quên vì không có chuyển biến. Xen giữa cuộc điều tra là chuyện tình cảm của nhân vật tôi (bác sĩ cộng tác với người điều tra) và cô gái có liên quan đến vụ án.
Những diễn biến và tình tiết truyện khá hợp lý, mang đậm chất cổ điển. Tuy nhiên, động cơ của thủ phạm mặc dù không phải vô lý nhưng nó quá đặc biệt nên độc giả không có nhiều cơ hội để suy luận logic. Nếu động cơ của thủ phạm "bình thường" hơn thì tác phẩm này sẽ thú vị hơn rất nhiều.
Bản dịch tiếng Việt này có khá nhiều lỗi chính tả nên một số độc giả kỹ tính đã có nhiều phản hồi không hài lòng về khâu biên tập.
January 29, 2012
London, late 1890's, early 1900's, science, murder mystery, Egyptian antiquities, Dr. John Thorndyke (no Holmesian addictions) as a professor of medicine and 'pathological sleuth'. What's not to like? And a little to learn about murder, the problem of survivorship, a bit of a love story, too. Well-written, quite good!
August 2, 2013
This is author R. Austin Freeman's third Thorndyke book, published in 1911. The Vanishing Man is the US title; in the UK it's known as The Eye of Osiris. Available here (Vanishing Man) and here (Eye) at Gutenberg.
When you have the disappearance of someone early in a book you somehow know that later in the book there will have to be a reappearance in some form or another. That means that there's not going to be a mystery of the sort where the reader's going to be working every minute to try and solve something - you can see what's coming long before the author will serve it up. So with this sort of mystery you just sit back and enjoy the form. It will also help if you are a fan of Eqyptology and bookish research types, as the story contains plenty of both. Since I've loved the field since King Tut first toured the US in the 1970s (which I missed and regretted it bitterly), I enjoyed the 1900s version of the science that so many characters had an amateur interest in. (The gentleman historian/archeologist is definitely A Thing in this story.)
There's a love story, which would seem overly gushy if this wasn't written in 1911. Actually the love story - and much of the book - felt as if it could have been set in Dicken's London, because it seemed that old fashioned here and there. Then again, you could say that about parts of London which seem stuck in older historical times.
The worst I can say about this is that it moves slowly, and you will have no problem guessing quite soon things which seem deeply mysterious to the main characters. For me the best parts were reading the descriptions of London neighborhoods, pondering the daily rounds of a local doctor, and enjoying a female character that was positively shown to be a bookish expert.
Quotes:
Chapter 8, Miss Bellingham feels strongly about an Egyptian mummy in the museum:
Chapter 9:
Ch 13, every now and then I did have to look up something:
Ch 15, Miss Bellingham and our narrator/hero have a chat in a cemetery:
When you have the disappearance of someone early in a book you somehow know that later in the book there will have to be a reappearance in some form or another. That means that there's not going to be a mystery of the sort where the reader's going to be working every minute to try and solve something - you can see what's coming long before the author will serve it up. So with this sort of mystery you just sit back and enjoy the form. It will also help if you are a fan of Eqyptology and bookish research types, as the story contains plenty of both. Since I've loved the field since King Tut first toured the US in the 1970s (which I missed and regretted it bitterly), I enjoyed the 1900s version of the science that so many characters had an amateur interest in. (The gentleman historian/archeologist is definitely A Thing in this story.)
There's a love story, which would seem overly gushy if this wasn't written in 1911. Actually the love story - and much of the book - felt as if it could have been set in Dicken's London, because it seemed that old fashioned here and there. Then again, you could say that about parts of London which seem stuck in older historical times.
The worst I can say about this is that it moves slowly, and you will have no problem guessing quite soon things which seem deeply mysterious to the main characters. For me the best parts were reading the descriptions of London neighborhoods, pondering the daily rounds of a local doctor, and enjoying a female character that was positively shown to be a bookish expert.
Quotes:
Chapter 8, Miss Bellingham feels strongly about an Egyptian mummy in the museum:
"This is my friend," she said. "Let me present you to Artemidorus, late of the Fayyum. Oh, don't smile!" she pleaded. "I am quite serious. Have you never heard of pious Catholics who cherish a devotion to some long-departed saint? That is my feeling towards Artemidorus, and if you only knew what comfort he has shed into the heart of a lonely woman; what a quiet, unobtrusive friend he has been to me in my solitary, friendless days, always ready with a kindly greeting on his gentle, thoughtful face, you would like him for that alone. And I want you to like him and to share our silent friendship. Am I very silly, very sentimental?"And there is history for this: here is Artemidorus' portrait, found on the exterior of his mummy.
...We stood awhile gazing in silence at the mummy—for such, indeed, was her friend Artemidorus. But not an ordinary mummy. Egyptian in form, it was entirely Greek in feeling; and brightly coloured as it was, in accordance with the racial love of colour, the tasteful refinement with which the decoration of the case was treated made those around look garish and barbaric. But the most striking feature was a charming panel portrait which occupied the place of the usual mask. This painting was a revelation to me. Except that it was executed in tempera instead of oil, it differed in no respect from modern work. There was nothing archaic or even ancient about it. With its freedom of handling and its correct rendering of light and shade, it might have been painted yesterday; indeed, enclosed in an ordinary gilt frame, it might have passed without remark in an exhibition of modern portraits.
Chapter 9:
"Speaking of bitumen," said I, "reminds me of a question that has occurred to me. You know that this substance has been used a good deal by modern painters and that it has a very dangerous peculiarity; I mean its tendency to liquefy, without any very obvious reason, long after it has dried."I am now dying to know if that story of Reynolds' picture is true.
"Yes, I know. Isn't there some story about a picture of Reynolds' in which bitumen had been used? A portrait of a lady, I think. The bitumen softened, and one of the lady's eyes slipped down on to her cheek; and they had to hang the portrait upside down and keep it warm until the eye slipped back into its place. But what was your question?"
"I was wondering whether the bitumen used by the Egyptian artists has ever been known to soften after this great lapse of time."
"Yes, I think it has. I have heard of instances in which the bitumen coatings of mummy cases have softened under certain circumstances and become quite 'tacky.' But, bless my soul! here am I gossiping with you and wasting your time, and it is nearly a quarter to nine!"
Ch 13, every now and then I did have to look up something:
Hither I betook myself after a protracted lunch and a meditative pipe, and, being the first to arrive—the jury having already been sworn and conducted to the mortuary to view the remains—whiled away the time by considering the habits of the customary occupants of the room by the light of the objects contained in it. A wooden target with one or two darts sticking in it hung on the end wall and invited the Robin Hoods of the village to try their skill; a system of incised marks on the oaken table made sinister suggestions of shove-halfpenny; and a large open box, filled with white wigs, gaudily coloured robes and wooden spears, swords and regalia, crudely coated with gilded paper, obviously appertained to the puerile ceremonials of the Order of Druids.Happily there is a wikipedia page for shove-halfpenny.
Ch 15, Miss Bellingham and our narrator/hero have a chat in a cemetery:
"I don't think I have ever been here before; and yet there is something about the place that seems familiar." I looked around, cudgelling my brains for the key to the dimly reminiscent sensations that the place evoked; until, suddenly, I caught sight of a group of buildings away to the west, enclosed within a wall heightened by a wooden trellis.
"Yes, of course!" I exclaimed. "I remember the place now. I have never been in this part before, but in that enclosure beyond which opens at the end of Henrietta Street, there used to be and may be still, for all I know, a school of anatomy, at which I attended in my first year; in fact, I did my first dissection there."
"There was a certain gruesome appropriateness in the position of the school," remarked Miss Bellingham. "It would have been really convenient in the days of the resurrection men. Your material would have been delivered at your very door. Was it a large school?"
"The attendance varied according to the time of the year. Sometimes I worked there quite alone. I used to let myself in with a key and hoist my subject out of a sort of sepulchral tank by means of a chain tackle. It was a ghoulish business. You have no idea how awful the body used to look, to my unaccustomed eyes, as it rose slowly out of the tank. It was like the resurrection scenes that you see on some old tombstones, where the deceased is shown rising out of his coffin while the skeleton, Death, falls vanquished with his dart shattered and his crown toppling off.
"I remember, too, that the demonstrator used to wear a blue apron, which created a sort of impression of a cannibal butcher's shop. But I am afraid I am shocking you."
"No, you are not. Every profession has its unpresentable aspects, which ought not to be seen by out-siders. Think of a sculptor's studio and of the sculptor himself when he is modelling a large figure or group in the clay. He might be a bricklayer or a road-sweeper if you judge by his appearance. This is the tomb I was telling you about."
January 14, 2023
This is an interesting book for several reasons. Not the least of these is Freeman’s grasp of the science of his day. I hadn’t realized that the art of X-ray photography was so advanced in 1911. Freeman also seems to have understood at least the rudiments of ancient Egyptian history and practices. He also writes about London with charm and verve.
The book fails in a couple of significant areas. I was able to deduce the big reveal of it several chapters before its actual revelation. What’s worse, the book is generally cool and logical until love enters the plot, at which point his prose becomes so overblown as to be called purple. Too bad!
The book fails in a couple of significant areas. I was able to deduce the big reveal of it several chapters before its actual revelation. What’s worse, the book is generally cool and logical until love enters the plot, at which point his prose becomes so overblown as to be called purple. Too bad!
December 6, 2019
Truyện hơi dài hơn cần thiết với tiết tấu nhẹ nhàng. Khi đọc phải nhớ bối cảnh là đầu thế kỷ 20, chứ giờ thì vụ này 5 phút là công an làm xong.
July 7, 2021
Good prose,, good characterization, sufficient world building, good story, no theme.
The pacing grinds to a halt near the end, but overall a decent read. Although Thorndyke is the better detective, I prefer Holmes for his eccentricity.
The pacing grinds to a halt near the end, but overall a decent read. Although Thorndyke is the better detective, I prefer Holmes for his eccentricity.
November 28, 2019
I guess the author regrets marrying Jervis off in the first book, because here he has changed narrators in favor of Paul Berkeley, a basically identical character who is single and ready to instantly fall in love with a pale and tragic Egyptologist wrongfully accused of murder.
The mystery was pretty good (although shockingly light on microscope work for this series), and the characters had some great moments together (I love Jervis and Thorndyke's sense of humor and obvious affection for each other), but I'm really not enjoying all the pagetime spent on romance. If it's going to be one Grand Romance With A Tragic And Beautiful Maiden Under The Shadow Of A Wrongful Accusation Of Murder per novel, I might have to stick to the short stories.
The mystery was pretty good (although shockingly light on microscope work for this series), and the characters had some great moments together (I love Jervis and Thorndyke's sense of humor and obvious affection for each other), but I'm really not enjoying all the pagetime spent on romance. If it's going to be one Grand Romance With A Tragic And Beautiful Maiden Under The Shadow Of A Wrongful Accusation Of Murder per novel, I might have to stick to the short stories.
January 25, 2018
Once again Dr Thorndyke finds himself intrigued by a big conundrum of a mystery, accompanied by Polton, his trusty butler-cum-lab-assistant and his colleague Jervis.
An Egyptologist, John Bellingham, has vanished, seemingly into thin air leaving a will so badly constructed that, should he be proven to be dead, his principal beneficiaries will end up in penury.
Two years later various bits of a male skeleton start turning up in the streams and watercress-beds of Woodford and Eltham, rousing the interest of the fabulous Dr Thorndyke, an early forensic investigator with a mind like a steel trap.
Freeman has an amazing talent for characterisation, particularly in his minor characters who are often deftly defined not by their physical characteristics but by what they say and how they say it. So far, the outstanding characters have been women. In this adventure I was much taken with Miss Bellingham's servant Miss Oman whose brief appearances are a joy to read.
There are also small tour-de-forces of characterisation in the Coroner's Court, where the proceedings are persistently questioned by the village cobbler, who happens to be on the jury. In the Probate Court we have a Miss Dobbs, a maid, who has to testify that she opened the front door to the missing man on the day he disappeared and showed him into a study. She is a perfect comic vignette and completely recognisable as a character even today.
Freeman, however, as in 'The Red Thumb Mark', also feels the need to introduce a whirlwind and possibly doomed romance. One wishes he hadn't.
The narrator, young Dr Berkley, a friend of Dr Thorndyke's, has become involved with the family of John Bellingham, the missing man. He finds himself pining over John's niece, a literary researcher. I find these sections quite irritating. There are idyllic and extended periods of tedious mutual bliss which leads to a point where Berkley exposes his long-felt want. Miss Bellingham is horrified, crushes her knuckles to an open mouth and wails 'It can never be!' (although expanded to a soliloquy of sorts) before running away full pelt sobbing through the Egyptian section of the British Museum.
The plot, outside of the sundered tryst, is brilliant and kept me guessing until the end.
Highly recommended. He's a hidden gem, this Freeman chap.
An Egyptologist, John Bellingham, has vanished, seemingly into thin air leaving a will so badly constructed that, should he be proven to be dead, his principal beneficiaries will end up in penury.
Two years later various bits of a male skeleton start turning up in the streams and watercress-beds of Woodford and Eltham, rousing the interest of the fabulous Dr Thorndyke, an early forensic investigator with a mind like a steel trap.
Freeman has an amazing talent for characterisation, particularly in his minor characters who are often deftly defined not by their physical characteristics but by what they say and how they say it. So far, the outstanding characters have been women. In this adventure I was much taken with Miss Bellingham's servant Miss Oman whose brief appearances are a joy to read.
There are also small tour-de-forces of characterisation in the Coroner's Court, where the proceedings are persistently questioned by the village cobbler, who happens to be on the jury. In the Probate Court we have a Miss Dobbs, a maid, who has to testify that she opened the front door to the missing man on the day he disappeared and showed him into a study. She is a perfect comic vignette and completely recognisable as a character even today.
Freeman, however, as in 'The Red Thumb Mark', also feels the need to introduce a whirlwind and possibly doomed romance. One wishes he hadn't.
The narrator, young Dr Berkley, a friend of Dr Thorndyke's, has become involved with the family of John Bellingham, the missing man. He finds himself pining over John's niece, a literary researcher. I find these sections quite irritating. There are idyllic and extended periods of tedious mutual bliss which leads to a point where Berkley exposes his long-felt want. Miss Bellingham is horrified, crushes her knuckles to an open mouth and wails 'It can never be!' (although expanded to a soliloquy of sorts) before running away full pelt sobbing through the Egyptian section of the British Museum.
The plot, outside of the sundered tryst, is brilliant and kept me guessing until the end.
Highly recommended. He's a hidden gem, this Freeman chap.
July 7, 2018
This is my first review of a R. Austin Freeman novel. I read this book as 1 of 100 books used by Martin Edwards in - The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books - that he uses to show the development of Crime Fiction 1901-1950. The narrator of the story is Paul Berkeley a locum tenens for his friend Dr. Barnard (GP in central London) while he is on holiday. Paul is a former student of Dr Thorndyke and fellow student of Thorndyke's assistant Jervis (these I presume are regular characters of Austin Freeman's novels). All three team up to help Godfrey Bellingham & his daughter Ruth who are knocking on the door of poverty because Godfrey's brother John (who supplies them with money) has disappeared and his death cannot be proven without a body and this is further complicated by John's Will which stipulates that Godfrey has to have John buried within specifically names parishes or forfeit the inheritable money & property to their cousin Mr. Hurst. The Egyptian element of the story is mostly confined to the fact that most of the Bellingham family are Egyptologists. The story is very much in keeping with Victorian & Edwardian novels - namely it is quite lengthy (323 pages in Swallow Tail Books version that I read from). However it is very easy to read, and the story and plot-line flow naturally - even though Austin Freeman uses quite a wide ranging and high grade vocabulary. This novel shows how the new science of Forensic evidence e.g. x-rays and the recording accurately of all details even down to snail/worm eggs on bones had made it's way into the crime novel. The novel has the feeling of a more modern version of a Sherlock Holmes story crossed with a lengthy Wilkie Collins novel - but with a much much scientific standpoint rather than Sherlock's magic moments of ratiocination. There is a love affair in the novel, and yes it's a bit melodramatic in parts (but it's not a very large part of the novel). There's also quite a lot of humour in this novel - with much of it still being amusing to modern day readers - as well as a frank discussion on sexual attraction. Although I would have preferred that the novel wasn't as lengthy as it was, I still enjoyed reading it. I would give this novel 7.5 out of 10.
July 17, 2023
Although at times agonisingly slow, The Eye of Osiris aka The Vanishing Man is a fascinating example of Dr Thorndyke at work albeit that until late on there is not as much of his scientific investigation as there is of his cool application of logic to the known facts. One might protest at the endless-seeming discussion of bones but as they are for much of the time the main source of “evidence” perhaps it is understandable.
In essence John Bellingham has disappeared leaving an outrageously worded will and leaving his potential heirs in limbo. These include his brother and niece whose plight is summed up thus:
“…he instructed his solicitor to pay me an allowance in quarterly instalments during the rest of his life; and it was understood that, on his death, the entire estate should devolve on me, or if I died first, on my daughter, Ruth. Then, as you know, he disappeared suddenly, and as the circumstances suggested that he was dead, and there was no evidence that he was alive, his solicitor—a Mr. Jellicoe—found himself unable to continue the payment of the allowance. On the other hand, as there was no positive evidence that my brother was dead, it was impossible to administer the will.'”
Incidentally there is an instance of illogicality there as the normally punctilious Mr Jellicoe-whose forensic logic almost matches that of Thorndyke-would have realised. He had instructions from a client for that client’s lifetime and so should have paid the allowance to Geoffrey Bellingham until John’s corpse was found or his death legally presumed.
The characterisation in this novel is rather good , even extending to relatively minor characters,and the love story of Ruth and Dr Paul Berkeley(another of Thorndyke’s erstwhile students and not as impetuously dim as some) is both charming and real. There are also interesting descriptions of pre WW1 London.
Overall an enjoyable plot with an enterprising solution.
In essence John Bellingham has disappeared leaving an outrageously worded will and leaving his potential heirs in limbo. These include his brother and niece whose plight is summed up thus:
“…he instructed his solicitor to pay me an allowance in quarterly instalments during the rest of his life; and it was understood that, on his death, the entire estate should devolve on me, or if I died first, on my daughter, Ruth. Then, as you know, he disappeared suddenly, and as the circumstances suggested that he was dead, and there was no evidence that he was alive, his solicitor—a Mr. Jellicoe—found himself unable to continue the payment of the allowance. On the other hand, as there was no positive evidence that my brother was dead, it was impossible to administer the will.'”
Incidentally there is an instance of illogicality there as the normally punctilious Mr Jellicoe-whose forensic logic almost matches that of Thorndyke-would have realised. He had instructions from a client for that client’s lifetime and so should have paid the allowance to Geoffrey Bellingham until John’s corpse was found or his death legally presumed.
The characterisation in this novel is rather good , even extending to relatively minor characters,and the love story of Ruth and Dr Paul Berkeley(another of Thorndyke’s erstwhile students and not as impetuously dim as some) is both charming and real. There are also interesting descriptions of pre WW1 London.
Overall an enjoyable plot with an enterprising solution.
January 17, 2014
This book contains less science-talk than the first Thorndyke-novel. The Red Thumb Mark had so many pages dedicated to explanations of the scienctific background of the case that even I almost got slightly bored. The Eye of Osiris still has enough to deserve the description "it's like Sherlock Holmes but with real science" but not so much that people who don't geek out about forensics as much as I do are in danger of getting bored.
Though sadly, by not focussing on the forensic aspects as much it becomes rather obvious that the case is...just slightly above average. I managed to guess parts far in advance and felt there was to much padding till the characters arrived at the same conclusion. Especially the love-story was quite unneccessary and took up too much space. The author also somewhat overdid it with fun and quirky characters. Too many pop up as witnesses etc. and while they are quite funny I wouldn't have needed them all.
Nevertheless there were enough things I didn't guess to keep me entertained and Thorndyke remains quite likeable (and not as unapproachable as e.g. Holmes sometimes is)
Though sadly, by not focussing on the forensic aspects as much it becomes rather obvious that the case is...just slightly above average. I managed to guess parts far in advance and felt there was to much padding till the characters arrived at the same conclusion. Especially the love-story was quite unneccessary and took up too much space. The author also somewhat overdid it with fun and quirky characters. Too many pop up as witnesses etc. and while they are quite funny I wouldn't have needed them all.
Nevertheless there were enough things I didn't guess to keep me entertained and Thorndyke remains quite likeable (and not as unapproachable as e.g. Holmes sometimes is)
July 8, 2021
This is a 1911 book by British author Richard Austin Freeman. The U.S. title of this book is “The Vanishing Man”. Osiris is the name of an ancient Egyptian God. The story has a setting in London in October 1902 and spans a couple of years. The version I read comes with an introduction written by Otto Penzler providing a good history of Freeman’s life, his key works and his contributions to the mystery genre and his claim to fame as the inventor of the “inverted” detective story first introduced in his collection of short stories called “The Singing Bone”. The Eye of Osiris features Freeman’s famous series detective, Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke (who is both a doctor and a lawyer). Thorndyke’s real strength is he is a scientific detective and a forensic scientist who uses science and logic to solve crimes. Like Sherlock Holmes, Thorndyke has a “Watson” in his friend Christopher Jervis (who is also a doctor). Dr. Thorndyke is also assisted by his butler Nathaniel Polton who serves as his lab assistant (although Polton does not play a significant role in this book). This book is narrated from the first-person point of view of Dr. Paul Berkeley, a young doctor and former student of Dr. Thorndyke. The book is well written although it being a Victorian-era novel, it does carry a fair amount of Victorian sentimentality and occasional long-windedness, as well as a Victorian romance sub-plot.
Spoiler Alert. The story starts with the strange disappearance of the rich John Bellingham, a famous archeologist and Egyptologist. On October 14, 1902, John left London for Europe. He apparently returned on November 23, 1902, left his luggage at Charing Cross, and visited his cousin George Hurst. Since Hurst was out when John visited, Hurst’s new servant asked John to wait in the study. Later, it was discovered John has disappeared from the study, never seen again. Two years later, Hurst brought a lawsuit to try to have John presumed dead and his will be probated, and the estate distributed to him. Berkeley (who is in love with Ruth Bellingham, the daughter of Godfrey Bellingham, who is the brother of the missing John), asked Thorndyke for help to fend off Hurst to protect Godfrey’s right. It turns out John has a very badly crafted will done by his solicitor Mr. Jellicoe. While everyone knows John intends to leave everything to his brother Godfrey, his will has a provision that says Godfrey only inherit if John’s body is buried in certain approved locations. If that condition is not met, the estate goes to his cousin Hurst. If John’s body is never found and if the court allows John to be presumed dead, Hurst will inherit. Two years after John’s disappearance, Hurst and Jellicoe petitioned the court to try to have John declared dead but was turned down because it was too soon and there is no evidence to suggest John is dead. Soon after, dismembered body parts started showing up in various lands owned or controlled by Godfrey. While the bones are consistent with a man of John’s size, the few significant parts that would allow a definitive identification were all missing (the skull, a missing third finger on the left hand where John has a ring with the Eye of Osiris on it; the kneecaps where John had done some operations on, etc). Nonetheless, both the public and the police suspected those are John’s bones and it was either Ruth or Godfrey who murdered him.
Thorndyke found it odd that a famous lawyer like Jellicoe would allow such a badly constructed will to be executed. Overall the will makes it more likely than not that Godfrey will not be able to inherit. As Thorndyke dug into it, he realizes John was actually last seen on October 14 when he was with Jellicoe instead of on November 23 when he was purportedly last seen by a new servant at Hurst’s house who has never met John before. Shortly after October 14, Jellicoe, per the instruction of John, donated an Egyptian mummy of Sobek Hotep to the British Museum. Thorndyke then went to see the mummy, used an x-ray machine and x-rayed the mummy (consider this is a 1911 book so it must be cutting edge technology by then). By looking at the x-ray, Thorndyke discovered it contains a body that has all John’s features, his dental work, his tattoo of the Eye of Osiris on his chest, his kneecaps injuries, etc). Thorndyke, together with Inspector Badger of Scotland Yard, confronted Jellicoe. Jellicoe then gave a full confession. He was asked by John to draft a will with the strange burial provision. He saw an opportunity to enrich himself so he deliberately crafted the language by structuring who are the executors (it is the executor who decides where the body can be buried) to make it very likely that John’s brother Godfrey will not inherit (and therefore John’s cousin George Hurst will likely inherit) by failing to meet the burial clause. In 1902, when the will was still being drafted, everyone knew John intend Godfrey to inherit everything. So, Hurst (who was in financial difficulty at the time) was willing to sell to Jellicoe two-third of his possible claim from John’s will (which he valued at nothing because of Godfrey’s prior claim) for 5000 pounds. In 1904, Jellicoe claimed John had an accident and broke his neck after falling down some stairs. Jellicoe was afraid police will blame it on him so he devised an elaborate plot. He opened up the mummy case that John was going to donate to the British Museum and removed the mummy bones. He then embalmed and preserved John’s body using taxidermy techniques and put his body inside the mummy case. After that, he donated that mummy case (with John’s body) to the museum for display. Later, he started scattering the mummy bones to let the police to find them to try to prove that it was John’s bones they have found in those places and therefore the burial clause has not been met. After Jellicoe confessed, he took poison and committed suicide. Thorndyke was able to help Godfrey to inherit by coming up with the argument that since John’s body is entombed in a mummy case inside the British Museum, it qualify as burial in one of the approved places as set forth in the will.
Spoiler Alert. The story starts with the strange disappearance of the rich John Bellingham, a famous archeologist and Egyptologist. On October 14, 1902, John left London for Europe. He apparently returned on November 23, 1902, left his luggage at Charing Cross, and visited his cousin George Hurst. Since Hurst was out when John visited, Hurst’s new servant asked John to wait in the study. Later, it was discovered John has disappeared from the study, never seen again. Two years later, Hurst brought a lawsuit to try to have John presumed dead and his will be probated, and the estate distributed to him. Berkeley (who is in love with Ruth Bellingham, the daughter of Godfrey Bellingham, who is the brother of the missing John), asked Thorndyke for help to fend off Hurst to protect Godfrey’s right. It turns out John has a very badly crafted will done by his solicitor Mr. Jellicoe. While everyone knows John intends to leave everything to his brother Godfrey, his will has a provision that says Godfrey only inherit if John’s body is buried in certain approved locations. If that condition is not met, the estate goes to his cousin Hurst. If John’s body is never found and if the court allows John to be presumed dead, Hurst will inherit. Two years after John’s disappearance, Hurst and Jellicoe petitioned the court to try to have John declared dead but was turned down because it was too soon and there is no evidence to suggest John is dead. Soon after, dismembered body parts started showing up in various lands owned or controlled by Godfrey. While the bones are consistent with a man of John’s size, the few significant parts that would allow a definitive identification were all missing (the skull, a missing third finger on the left hand where John has a ring with the Eye of Osiris on it; the kneecaps where John had done some operations on, etc). Nonetheless, both the public and the police suspected those are John’s bones and it was either Ruth or Godfrey who murdered him.
Thorndyke found it odd that a famous lawyer like Jellicoe would allow such a badly constructed will to be executed. Overall the will makes it more likely than not that Godfrey will not be able to inherit. As Thorndyke dug into it, he realizes John was actually last seen on October 14 when he was with Jellicoe instead of on November 23 when he was purportedly last seen by a new servant at Hurst’s house who has never met John before. Shortly after October 14, Jellicoe, per the instruction of John, donated an Egyptian mummy of Sobek Hotep to the British Museum. Thorndyke then went to see the mummy, used an x-ray machine and x-rayed the mummy (consider this is a 1911 book so it must be cutting edge technology by then). By looking at the x-ray, Thorndyke discovered it contains a body that has all John’s features, his dental work, his tattoo of the Eye of Osiris on his chest, his kneecaps injuries, etc). Thorndyke, together with Inspector Badger of Scotland Yard, confronted Jellicoe. Jellicoe then gave a full confession. He was asked by John to draft a will with the strange burial provision. He saw an opportunity to enrich himself so he deliberately crafted the language by structuring who are the executors (it is the executor who decides where the body can be buried) to make it very likely that John’s brother Godfrey will not inherit (and therefore John’s cousin George Hurst will likely inherit) by failing to meet the burial clause. In 1902, when the will was still being drafted, everyone knew John intend Godfrey to inherit everything. So, Hurst (who was in financial difficulty at the time) was willing to sell to Jellicoe two-third of his possible claim from John’s will (which he valued at nothing because of Godfrey’s prior claim) for 5000 pounds. In 1904, Jellicoe claimed John had an accident and broke his neck after falling down some stairs. Jellicoe was afraid police will blame it on him so he devised an elaborate plot. He opened up the mummy case that John was going to donate to the British Museum and removed the mummy bones. He then embalmed and preserved John’s body using taxidermy techniques and put his body inside the mummy case. After that, he donated that mummy case (with John’s body) to the museum for display. Later, he started scattering the mummy bones to let the police to find them to try to prove that it was John’s bones they have found in those places and therefore the burial clause has not been met. After Jellicoe confessed, he took poison and committed suicide. Thorndyke was able to help Godfrey to inherit by coming up with the argument that since John’s body is entombed in a mummy case inside the British Museum, it qualify as burial in one of the approved places as set forth in the will.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2022
Como las anteriores me ha parecido una prosa muy entretenida y con unos giros hasta el final del libro, lo que más me gusta es la resolución que da el doctor Thorndyke al caso, siempre lógica y bien trabajada.
En este libro ha sido bastante largo el inicio, no es hasta pasada la primera mitad que entra en acción el doctor para resolver el caso.
El narrador en esta entrega es Paul Berkeley, un discípulo del mismo. Sigue siendo Jervis su ayudante.
Leído febrero 2022.
Valoración 9/10.
En este libro ha sido bastante largo el inicio, no es hasta pasada la primera mitad que entra en acción el doctor para resolver el caso.
El narrador en esta entrega es Paul Berkeley, un discípulo del mismo. Sigue siendo Jervis su ayudante.
Leído febrero 2022.
Valoración 9/10.
January 21, 2018
A decent enough Edwardian detective story, with interesting period detail, pleasantly convoluted sentences and dashes of bone-dry wit. But ultimately the thin plot is stretched out beyond its natural breaking point and the legalistic exposition at the end is exceptionally dull. So in spite of providing me with a good deal of entertainment, the novel leaves me feeling a bit let down.
May 14, 2011
Okay I liked this one, mystery wise much better. Once again great characters and entertaining story. However, the romantic subplot although sweet, has the same feel to it as previous books. Still, Dr. Thorndyke will keep you guessing and entertained.
June 25, 2012
I liked this one better than the first. Quite nice to listen to (free audiobook on librivox). As the first, the technical details, which I imagine were quite innovative and exciting at the time, drag a little but still a great read/listen.
November 10, 2015
A little tiresome in its evocation of the I-f**king-love-science tropes of a bygone age—let's sit around with our pipes contemplating our own enlightenment—but a fun, early piece of golden age mystery for anyone trying to space out their remaining Christies.
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