do you love detectives?

[flynn]

hello,
I have been reading Austin Freeman detectives that always fascinated me.
Each volume is in itself complete and stands separate.
Really my wits were baffled when gone through such narration.
some of the volumes include Silent Witness, The Red Thumb Mark, The D'Arblay Mystery, The Jacob street mystery and so on..............

device:kindle for pc

[HarryT]

You know that we have all the "Dr Thorndyke" books right here at MR?

Kindle format:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12821

ePub format:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75389

[Dr. Drib]

I must also point out that those ebooks have been assembled by Harry, and that they look wonderful.


Don

[Mike L]

Flynn, glad to hear you share my liking for R. Austin Freeman. I thought The Red Thumb Mark was brilliant.

But some of his later short stories don't live up to the promise. They come across as Sherlock Holmes clones, with the narrator being more like Dr Watson than Dr Watson. But they're still enjoyable in their own way.

And I agree with Dr Drib. Harry's formatting and proof-reading are excellent.

[HarryT]

Freeman's most notable achievement is inventing the "inverted" detective story, in which the reader is told how the crime was committed at the start of the book, and the rest of the story is the description of how the detective figures it out. Everyone is so familiar with this type of plot today (the "Columbo" TV series is perhaps its best-known example) that it's easy to forget that someone actually invented it, and Freeman is that somebody.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Mike L

Flynn, glad to hear you share my liking for R. Austin Freeman. I thought The Red Thumb Mark was brilliant.

But some of his later short stories don't live up to the promise. They come across as Sherlock Holmes clones, with the narrator being more like Dr Watson than Dr Watson. But they're still enjoyable in their own way.

I'm not sure I'd agree with that characterisation, Mike. Dr Thorndyke is much more what today we'd call a "forensic scientist" than he is a traditional detective. He solves problems primarily by scientific investigation. I think that many of his later books are actually the best; the solutions to the problems certainly surprised me!

It's best, if you can, to read the Dr. Thorndyke books in their published order, because there's a fair amount of continuity between them, with characters from earlier books appearing, and developing, in later ones. My 7-volume collection arranges them in chronological order.

I'm about half-way through proof-reading the final volume of the collection, so probably best to wait for the proofed version before reading that.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm not sure I'd agree with that characterisation, Mike. Dr Thorndyke is much more what today we'd call a "forensic scientist" than he is a traditional detective. He solves problems primarily by scientific investigation. I think that many of his later books are actually the best; the solutions to the problems certainly surprised me!

It's best, if you can, to read the Dr. Thorndyke books in their published order, because there's a fair amount of continuity between them, with characters from earlier books appearing, and developing, in later ones. My 7-volume collection arranges them in chronological order.

I'm about half-way through proof-reading the final volume of the collection, so probably best to wait for the proofed version before reading that.

Thank you, Harry! I've subscribed to the Mobi thread so that I know when the 7th collection has been updated. I have never heard of this series before but it sounds very interesting. I look forward to reading them.

[ShawnM]

Have you read the Sherlock Holmes collection? Anyone who is into detective fiction has to read Sherlock.

Although I recommend not reading "The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes"...it's somewhat of a rough read and not worth the time. Just stop at 'His Last Bow.'

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm not sure I'd agree with that characterisation, Mike. Dr Thorndyke is much more what today we'd call a "forensic scientist" than he is a traditional detective.
...

It's best, if you can, to read the Dr. Thorndyke books in their published order

I take your point, Harry. I started with the Red Thumb Mark, which I think was his first full-lenght story (?) - it was published in 1907. I then went on to one of the short story collections, but to be honest I don't remember if I downloaded it from here or somewhere else. I see there are at least a couple of volumes in the download section here that I haven't seen - l'll get to them in dur course.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by ShawnM

Have you read the Sherlock Holmes collection? Anyone who is into detective fiction has to read Sherlock.

Although I recommend not reading "The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes"...it's somewhat of a rough read and not worth the time. Just stop at 'His Last Bow.'

I liked Casebook myself - I'm listening to the stories on audio, though not in order. Right now, I'm partway through The Sign of Four read by Patrick Tull.

I've enjoyed The Further of Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Bert Coules, featuring titles alluded to in actual Holmes stories.

[ShawnM]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I've enjoyed The Further of Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Bert Coules, featuring titles alluded to in actual Holmes stories.

I'll look into The Further of Adventures of Sherlock Holmes...from the Amazon reviews it seems okay. Is Watson included in it?

[SeaBookGuy]

He sure is!

They're similar adventures to the ACD ones - I really like the dramatizations, although Patrick Tull is doing a good job reading The Sign of Four as a regular audiobook from Watson's point-of-view.

[carpetmojo]

Not sure if this is a "let us know" thread or not, but shall resume yes...
I'm just starting re-reading Robert Wilson's Javier Falcone books - on "The Silent and the Damned" [ re-titled for the US as "The Vanished Hands" . Mmm...]
I'll tackle the rest again too, I'm enjoying his style.

Really very good - I also have fond memories of "A Small Death in Lisbon", not a Falcone novel, Ze CoelhO is the cop here, as I read it while staying in Sintra, and immediately rushed about exploring Lisbon ! It's interesting in that it runs a investigation of a modern crime alongside events in WW2 in Portugal.

All are well worth consideration, very well written, great characters, and amply backed by research, and familiarity with the countries concerned, that doesn't shout at you, just is.

[The Hidden Assassins, The Blind Man of Seville, The Company of Strangers, A Small Death in Lisbon, all on Kindle I know. More in article on Wiki .]

[coderserdar]

i am fan of

hercule poirot (agatha christie)
sherlock holmes (sir arthur conan doyle)
matthew scudder (lawrence block)
brenie rhodenbarr (lawrence block)
kinsey millhone (sue grafton)
pierre niemans (jean christophe grange)
ellery queen (ellery queen)
mike hammer (mickey spillane)

head inspector nevzat (ahmet umit - an author from my country)

briefly, i am a big fan of detective stories

[coderserdar]

Originally Posted by ShawnM

Have you read the Sherlock Holmes collection? Anyone who is into detective fiction has to read Sherlock.

Although I recommend not reading "The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes"...it's somewhat of a rough read and not worth the time. Just stop at 'His Last Bow.'

i agree to you
but in my opinion
in a fight
hercule poirot wins sherlock holmes