Editorial Reviews. Review. 'The Ace of Detectives' -- The Times 'This man Austin Freeman is a For The Defence: Dr. Thorndyke by [Freeman, R. Austin].
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There is not much description given, but even in today's horror movies I don't know how much can beat out having your head squashed into a bloody pancake by a giant solid object falling on it. The initial premise of Similar to the last book, I was intrigued to start and became less enthused the more I read. The initial premise of Andrew trying to figure out how to deal with cousin Ronald was interesting enough. The 'murder' was not surprising. And I know there would subsequently be no story if Andrew had not made at least some of the decisions he had, but every single choice he made was awful!
Freeman was a good writer in the sense that he provided sufficient motive for Andrew to make the decisions he did, so you can't call Andrew an outright moron exactly. But it was painful to read, and the involvement of Thorndyke near the end felt rather anti-climatic to me. There were no plot twists, not even one, like there usually is, and I could smell the ending from a mile away. I've read 4 Thorndyke novels back to back now, so maybe I need a break again--and I will be taking one. But Freeman is starting to lose his charm for me.
I hope at least one of the last 5 remaining books will have that originality that I enjoyed when I first came across him.
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Jul 15, Patricia rated it really liked it Shelves: This might technically be a mystery, but since it's in the perspective of the suspect, Andrew Barton, you know the explanations of what really happened all along. It was interesting to see how he got himself into a huge predicament; his decisions gave rise to a solid case of circumstantial evidence against him. He should have been more smart, but he was literally scared out of his wits. I enjoyed this for the most part, but it is somewhat of a let down when you come to the end already knowing al This might technically be a mystery, but since it's in the perspective of the suspect, Andrew Barton, you know the explanations of what really happened all along.
I enjoyed this for the most part, but it is somewhat of a let down when you come to the end already knowing all the facts. He was a likeable character, though, and it was relieving to see him get back to a peaceful life. Mar 18, Kathy rated it really liked it. Thorndyke is the CSI of his day. Most of the book is taken up with the account of how an innocent man gets himself thoroughly entangled in what looks like the certainty that he will be hanged, either for the death of a man he saw only once, or amazingly, for his own death! But, of course, Dr.
Thorndyke is able to extricate him from this awful situation and triumph yet again. Polly rated it really liked it Jun 11, Anthon Eff rated it really liked it Jun 26, Karen rated it liked it Jan 03, Nick Fuller rated it really liked it Jun 26, Lauren rated it it was amazing Dec 17, BookishDreamer rated it liked it Jan 21, Lela rated it liked it Jun 30, Rebekah Giese Witherspoon rated it liked it Nov 23, Miranda47 rated it it was amazing Jul 11, A Silent Witness The Mystery Of 31 New Inn.
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For the Defence, Dr. Buy the eBook Price: Unavailable in Russia This item can't be purchased in Russia. Or, get it for Kobo Super Points! Ratings and Reviews 0 0 star ratings 0 reviews. Overall rating No ratings yet. How to write a great review Do Say what you liked best and least Describe the author's style Explain the rating you gave Don't Use rude and profane language Include any personal information Mention spoilers or the book's price Recap the plot. Close Report a review At Kobo, we try to ensure that published reviews do not contain rude or profane language, spoilers, or any of our reviewer's personal information.
Would you like us to take another look at this review? No, cancel Yes, report it Thanks! But the story rolls on smoothly through it all. In real life, the identity of the criminal is a question of supreme importance for practical reasons; but in fiction, where no such reasons exist, I conceive the interest of the reader to be engaged chiefly by the demonstration of unexpected consequences of simple actions, of unsuspected causal connections, and by the evolution of an ordered train of evidence from a mass of facts apparently incoherent and unrelated.
The reader's curiosity is concerned not so much with the question "Who did it? Is there a writer working today who could even construct a paragraph like this, let alone express the sentiments it contains? The first concerns the adventures of Andrew Barton, whose inferiority complex, stemming from a broken nose, ultimately causes him to fall into a very nasty dilemma: It has been said that tragedy is only comedy gone wrong, and the bones of the story are not too dissimilar from those of a Wodehouse novel. Unfortunately, the second half is rather flat.
Thorndyke is one of Freeman's weakest books. It is not really a mystery. In fact, it does not fall into any well defined genre, although it has some affinities with Freeman's inverted tales. The book can be summarized as follows. Through a hideous series of disastrous coincidences, an innocent man loses his identity, and becomes accused of a crime. He hires Thorndyke as his lawyer, and Thorndyke straightens the whole mess out. The coincidences show some mild ingenuity: In some ways the book resembles a Freeman inverted tale. As in the true inverteds, the first half of the tale shows us everything through the accused's eyes, giving us a step by step account of his actions.
The latter part of the book shows Thorndyke establishing what really happened, collecting a great deal of scientific evidence to support his ideas. As in the true inverteds, there are no mysteries concealed from the reader, who sees everything just as the protagonist does. However, this novel's paradigm is quite different from the inverteds' in key ways, ways that make the form weaker, and less interesting. In true inverteds, Thorndyke does much detective work to discover the truth.
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Here, he does not need to do anything of the sort. The protagonist simple tells him the whole story: Thorndyke is simply given the whole case on the platter. So Thorndyke does no detective work in the true sense. His only job is to gather scientific evidence that the protagonist's far-fetched sounding story is in fact true.
This is not an especially difficult or interesting task. In fact, most people would not have the slightest difficulty coming up with the evidence Thorndyke finds. Similarly, the hero of this book does not do anything to actively commit or cover up a crime. He is simply buffeted about by fate. The other big problem with this novel is its sheer unpleasantness as a piece of storytelling. The nightmarish events that befall the hero are distressing to think about.
They are certainly not fun in any sense. Our hero also feels completely isolated from other people. He is unutterably unwilling to trust them in any way. This sense of social isolation and alienation casts a shadow over many of Freeman's books, especially his later ones. Mike Grost For the Defence: To turn text into a link, highlight the text, then click on a page or file from the list above.
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