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R. Austin Freeman (1862–1943)

Author of The Red Thumb Mark

178+ Works 2,544 Members 123 Reviews 6 Favorited

About the Author

Richard Austin Freeman enjoyed a prolific career that saw him gain qualification as pharmacist and surgeon, pull off a diplomatic coup along the Gold Coast of Africa, work for Holloway Prison and become a formidable man of fiction. For the first twenty-five years of his writing career, Freeman was show more to dominate and remain unrivalled in the world of detective fiction, introducing the well-loved and highly memorable Dr Thorndyke. Through the creation of this character, Richard Austin Freeman continues to be read as an extremely popular addition to the world of the mystery novel. show less
Disambiguation Notice:

R. Austin Freeman also wrote books with John James Pitcairn under the joint pseudonym Clifford Ashdown, some of which have now been re-issued under Freeman's name. Please do not combine Ashdown with Freeman. Thank you.

(nor) R. Austin Freeman also wrote books with John James Pitcairn under the joint pseudonym Clifford Ashdown, some of which have now been re-issued under Freeman's name. Please do not combine Ashdown with Freeman. Thank you.

Image credit: R. Austin Freeman (1862-1943) (AP Watt)

Series

Works by R. Austin Freeman

The Red Thumb Mark (1907) 281 copies
The Eye of Osiris (1911) 227 copies
The Mystery of 31 New Inn (1912) 166 copies
John Thorndyke's Cases (1909) 100 copies
Mr. Pottermack's Oversight (1930) 97 copies
A Silent Witness (1914) 89 copies
The Singing Bone (1912) 87 copies
The D'Arblay Mystery (1926) 58 copies
As a Thief in the Night (1928) 55 copies
The Uttermost Farthing (1914) 55 copies
The Penrose Mystery (1936) 54 copies
A Certain Dr. Thorndyke (1927) 53 copies
The Stoneware Monkey (1938) 52 copies
Helen Vardon's Confession (1922) 52 copies
The Cat's Eye (1923) 52 copies
Dr. Thorndyke Intervenes (1933) 45 copies
Mr. Polton Explains (1940) 45 copies
Felo De Se (Dr. Thorndyke) (1937) 43 copies
The Jacob Street Mystery (1942) 42 copies
The Shadow of the Wolf (1925) 41 copies
Pontifex, Son and Thorndyke (1931) 37 copies
The Puzzle Lock (1925) 36 copies
The Magic Casket (1927) 36 copies
When Rogues Fall Out (1932) 35 copies
The Great Portrait Mystery (1918) 27 copies
Flighty Phyllis (1928) 14 copies
The Golden Pool (1905) 12 copies
The Unwilling Adventurer (2008) 10 copies
Una carrozza nella notte (2007) 2 copies
Dr. Thorndyke (2014) 2 copies
The Other Eye of Osiris (1999) 2 copies
Thorndyke: Novels 1-4 (2022) 1 copy
The Old Lag 1 copy
Dödslågan 1 copy
Punane pöidlajälg (2013) 1 copy
Crime no parque (1995) 1 copy

Associated Works

The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) — Introduction, some editions — 2,898 copies
English Country House Murders (1989) — Contributor — 481 copies
The Oxford Book of English Detective Stories (1990) — Contributor — 400 copies
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: Early Detective Stories (1970) — Contributor — 311 copies
The Penguin Book of Gaslight Crime (2009) — Contributor, some editions — 180 copies
Blood on the Tracks (2018) — Contributor — 177 copies
Capital Crimes: London Mysteries (2015) — Contributor — 155 copies
Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries (2015) — Contributor — 147 copies
London After Midnight : A Tour of Its Criminal Haunts (1996) — Contributor — 135 copies
Great Detective Stories (Watermill Classics) (1986) — Contributor — 110 copies
Serpents in Eden: Countryside Crimes (2016) — Contributor — 103 copies
Deep Waters: Mysteries on the Waves (2019) — Contributor — 83 copies
The Measure of Malice: Scientific Mysteries (2019) — Contributor — 80 copies
The Mammoth Book of Great Detective Stories (1985) — Contributor — 80 copies
Crime and Mystery Short Stories (2016) — Contributor — 70 copies
The Oxford Book of Detective Stories (2000) — Contributor — 69 copies
14 Great Detective Stories (1949) — Contributor — 57 copies
Tales of Detection (1940) — Contributor — 56 copies
Detective Duos (1997) — Contributor — 51 copies
The Third Omnibus of Crime (1935) — Contributor — 44 copies
Murder in Midsummer (2019) — Contributor — 36 copies
Fourteen Great Detective Stories (1928) — Contributor — 36 copies
Bodies in the Library Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy) (2020) — Contributor — 33 copies
The Boy's Book of Great Detective Stories (1938) — Contributor — 32 copies
Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery, and Horror (1928) — Contributor; Contributor — 32 copies
The World's Great Detective Stories (1927) — Contributor — 31 copies
Famous Stories of Code and Cipher (1965) — Contributor — 30 copies
Agents & Spies Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy) (2018) — Contributor — 29 copies
Murder Takes a Holiday (2020) — Contributor — 28 copies
The Great Book of Thrillers (1935) — Contributor — 27 copies
Rogues' Gallery: The Great Criminals of Modern Fiction (1945) — Contributor — 27 copies
In the Shadow of Sherlock Holmes (2011) — Contributor — 25 copies
Detective Mysteries Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy) (2019) — Contributor — 24 copies
Shot in the Dark (1950) — Contributor — 24 copies
The Pocket Book of Great Detectives (1941) — Contributor — 22 copies
Murder by the Seaside (2022) — Contributor — 22 copies
Great Tales of Detection (1936) — Contributor — 21 copies
A Century of Detective Stories (1935) — Contributor — 20 copies
Great detective stories (1998) — Contributor — 20 copies
The World's Best One Hundred Detective Stories, Volume 7 (1929) — Contributor — 17 copies
Fifty Masterpieces of Mystery (1937) — Contributor — 13 copies
Ten Tales of Detection (1967) — Contributor — 13 copies
The Second Century of Detective Stories (1938) — Contributor — 12 copies
Crime and Detection (1926) — Contributor — 10 copies
My Best Detective Story (1931) — Contributor — 9 copies
Detection Medley (1939) — Contributor — 7 copies
The Times' Red Cross Story Book — Contributor — 6 copies
Sorte orkideer : 13 korte kriminalromaner (1988) — Contributor — 6 copies
Verdens største detektiver II (1995) — Contributor — 5 copies
My Funniest Story (1933) — Contributor — 5 copies
Verdens største detektiver I (1995) — Contributor — 4 copies
Great Unsolved Crimes (1975) — Contributor — 4 copies
Detective-verhalen — Contributor — 3 copies
London After Midnight: A Conducted Tour, Part 2 (1996) — Contributor — 3 copies
Great Stories of Detection (1960) — Contributor — 2 copies
Fra farezonen (1988) — Author, some editions — 2 copies
Crime and Detection (Second Series) — Contributor — 2 copies
Adventure [Vol. 1 No. 3, January 1911] (1911) — Contributor — 1 copy
Verdens beste kriminalhistorier — Contributor — 1 copy
Rex Stout Mystery Magazine — Contributor — 1 copy

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Members

Reviews

An entertaining collection of golden age mysteries, particularly those featuring Dr. Thorndyke.
 
Flagged
M_Clark | Feb 7, 2024 |
I like the old school mysteries from time to time. Not earth-shattering but clever plots written nicely.
 
Flagged
AliceAnna | 5 other reviews | Jul 16, 2023 |
3.5*

While the 'who' in this case seemed quite obvious to me, the 'how' baffled me. I got the strong feeling that Freeman's mysteries will mostly focus on the method of the crime (which is okay with me!).
 
Flagged
leslie.98 | 9 other reviews | Jun 27, 2023 |
While I enjoyed this 4th book in the Dr. Thorndyke series, it seemed unlikely to me that Jervis (who first enters Dr. Thorndyke's employment during the course of the book) couldn't make some connections that struck me as obvious such as his patient Graves had a specific type of injury to his right eye and Jeffery Blackmore had an injury to one of his eyes!.
 
Flagged
leslie.98 | 7 other reviews | Jun 27, 2023 |

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Statistics

Works
178
Also by
76
Members
2,544
Popularity
#10,099
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
123
ISBNs
537
Languages
11
Favorited
6

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