The Stoneware Monkey (Dover Mystery Classics) - Softcover

Freeman, R. Austin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486254712 ISBN 13: 9780486254715

Publisher: Dover Pubns, 1987

Synopsis

A novel of two halves, this story opens with Dr James Oldfield who finds himself caught one night in a police hunt. When he stumbles upon a policeman, struck dead by an unknown assailant, Oldfield determines to piece together what happened, and who Mr Kempster, (a man who turns up at the scene of the crime) may be. What unravels is a story of ingenious theft involving diamonds and the remains of an artist’s body found in a kiln. In the second part, Oldfield engages the help of Dr Thorndyke and together they trace the work of the artist and a valuable stoneware monkey that hides an incredible secret. In the back streets of London amongst colonies of silk weavers, cabinet-makers and craftsmen, Freeman deftly entwines a cunning story infused with palpable suspense. From the father of forensic crime fiction, this plot is full of vivid detail.

About this title

Review:

'The Ace of Detectives' -- Raymond Chandler

'This man Austin Freeman is a wonderful performer -- Raymond Chandler

About the Author:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dover Pubns
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0486254712
• ISBN 13: 9780486254715
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224