The Crime Doctor [Paperback]

E.W. Hornung (Author), Frederic Dorr Steele (Illustrator), David Jacobs (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2007

In the tradition of the Great Detective, Sherlock Holmes, we present E.W. Hornung's THE CRIME DOCTOR. John Dollar, a former soldier recovering from a head injury, becomes an amateur sleuth as well as a man of medical science- one with a unique outlook on the criminal mind, and how to treat this growing threat to Crown and Country; and as the villains will discover, he stands ready to use the black arts of subterfuge, disguise, and violence in the service of a good cause. In his exploits throughout Europe, he encounters mystery and deception beginning with a theft from Britain's secretary of state; a race to save a wrongly condemned man; the questionable rehabilitation of a career criminal; a spy with access to the Admiralty's most secret blueprints; an intrigue-ridden Continental train trip; a Swiss trek to aid the surgeon who healed him of his kleptomania, a haunting at an English manor; an encounter with arson-minded suffragettes; and finally, a showdown with a murderous arch-foe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mr. Hornung's new hero is not a committer but a preventer of crime, one whose mission to quote his own words, is to busy himself "in saving people from themselves while they're still worth saving, in that prevention which is not only better than cure, but the vital principle of modern therapeutics in every other direction. In keeping good material out of the prison at all cost." Even, when such action implies becoming more or less an accessory after the fact. This idea of "The Crime Doctor" is an excellent one on which to base a series of stories, and Mr. Hornung uses it skillfully. Doctor Dollar has been led by a startling personal experience to interest himself, first in the possible results of surgical operations upon character, and then in the employment of other means to obviate a potential from becoming an actual criminal. His work in this new branch of the profession is aided by all sorts of sanatorium he runs for the benefit of his especial type of patients, to whom he is both physician and father confessor, many of them being quite unaware that they are being treated for "incipient criminality." Naturally a young man in this position is bound to have adventures, particularly when one of his friends and supporters is so important a personage as the Home Secretary of England, his first encounter with whom provides the book's opening episode. Doctor Dollar frequently finds it necessary to play the part of detective in addition to his other two roles, and does it very successfully. Sometimes, in fact, he is rather more detective than physician, as in the affair of "The Golden Key," and had he not been both the matter of "The Schoolmaster Abroad," would have ended disastrously and he himself failed to pay his debt. He is all these and lover to boot in certain of those cases in which the Lady Vera Molye, the book's frank and spirited heroine, is the central figure. And once or twice he actually does become an accessory after the fact, though surely no one could help sympathizing with his decision in the matter of "One Possessed" and his treatment of "The Second Murderer" ---- whose nerves he wrecks in a way the description of which is one of the most interesting things in the book. He is a agreeable and appealing hero, this "Crime Doctor" with the slight squint and the patch of silver hair above one ear, quick-witted, enthusiastic, a man for whom loaded pistols have no terrors--- does he not walk right up to one in the very beginning and collects a number of them before the end?--- and we suspect that his creator is fond of him and does not intend to let his adventures close with this single volume. Else why is the arch villain of them all, the educated and intelligent criminal contemptuous of "battle, murder and sudden death," more to be feared than a dozen of the merely ignorant and vicious, still at liberty upon the very last page? It has been said that throughout his subsequent life Sheridan was afraid of the author of "The School for Scandal"; and it is probable that Mr. Hornung is in somewhat the same position. With each new book of his comes the chorus, "It's good, but it isn't `Raffles'!" Whether this new hero will prove as popular as that debonair thief only time will tell, but in either case he can congratulate himself upon the fact that Doctor Dollar may very likely bring certain aspects of crime to the attention of people who but for him might never have thought of them. So "The Crime Doctor" has a value outside the fulfillment of its ostensible purpose of providing lively entertainment well suited either to the Summer hammock or the Winter easy chair. -- The New York Times

An excellent addition to any classical detective library...The eight stories contained inThe Crime Doctor are examples of Edwardian crime fiction at its best. Intellect prevails over chaos, and scientific progress can solve all social ills.... This is an attractive volume from a new small press, and a welcome reprint of this lesser-known classic... -- Steven Steinbock, The Strand Magazine

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Idea Men Productions (November 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419678515
• ISBN-13: 978-1419678516
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,358,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am the author of over three dozen works of fiction and non-fiction, including The Mafia's Greatest Hits, The Complete Idiots Guide to the FBI, and Snakes on a Plane: The Complete Quote Book.

Other non-fiction titles include The Shield: Notes From The Barn - The Elite Strike Team Files, Best of Court TV Volumes I-IV, and the western Big Iron.

I am also a longtime member of the Mystery Writers of America.

In 2006, I founded a new publishing company, Idea Men Productions (IMP)- a media company dedicated to spearheading a new wave of mass marketing entertainment.

IMP Titles include: The Crime Doctor, The Monster of Frankenstein, The Zombie Factory, Klan Ku Klux Klan: America's First Terrorists Exposed, Tales of Terror, and Hellcats, Vixens, & Vicedolls: Women, Crime, and Kink of the Fifties.

Be on the lookout for some of my new projects for 2008 including: Convicts, Jailbirds and Reform School Girls: Crime and Punishment in the 1950's and Hoodlums, Hopheads and Hepcats: Rogue Males of 1950's Crime.

For both old and new fans alike, I promise a wild ride for the year including new visions of true crime, military intrigue and horror - so stay tuned!

David Jacobs
2008

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Crime Doctor is back!, November 28, 2007

By 

Riley0091 (Concord, NH) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Crime Doctor (Paperback)

After creating the popular character of Raffles, the gentleman thief, E.W. Hornung received some criticism from his brother-in-law, Sir Conan Doyle. The famous author of the Sherlock Holmes series was not keen on the idea of a "gentleman thief" who aided the police in solving crimes and thought the notion could glorify the criminal element. The criticism was taken to heart and in a few years THE CRIME DOCTOR hit the bookstores.

Dr. John Dollar, the Crime Doctor, is a man of science who uses his cunning intellect in the war against crime. In all intent and purpose, Dr. Dollar is E.W. Hornung's updated version of Holmes. So much so, that Hornung commissioned Frederic Dorr Steele, the artist who illustrated the Holmes books, for THE CRIME DOCTOR's illustrations (included in this volume.) And like the great detective and Watson, John Dollar, aided by his society Lady assistant, tackles a series of puzzling mysteries involving espionage, jewel thefts, arson, and murder--- all set in the Edwardian age of the motor-car and electric light. THE CRIME DOCTOR is great fun for any mystery fiction fan.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To protect and serve almost one century ago..., December 8, 2007

By 

Jack (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crime Doctor (Paperback)

While EW Hornung is most well known for his creation of AJ Raffles, with many believing that Raffles is an inversion of Sherlock Holmes, I am of the opinion that THE CRIME DOCTOR was meant to serve the role of "opposite number" to Raffles.

While Raffles held a fair degree of contempt for English society, John Dollar, in his service to England, walks both within high society and the underbelly of London to pit his skills and experience against criminals and their pathology whatever their station.

THE CRIME DOCTOR provides a fascinating insight into EW Hornung, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, their literary creations (Dollar and Holmes, specifically) and their amazing ability to take readers back to the fog-ridden, cobble-stone streets of England to solve mysteries and face-off against the deadliest of foes in their adventures across Europe.

For any fan of mystery and crime, THE CRIME DOCTOR will be money well spent!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crime Doctor territory, December 3, 2007

By 

M. Evans (RI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crime Doctor (Paperback)

London in the early 20th century was a city of startling contrasts. New building and wealthy development went hand in hand with horribly overcrowded slums where people lived in the worst conditions imaginable. Like the city, the Crime Doctor's enemies (murderers, mad men, anarchists, and foreign enemies to the Crown) were of contrast as well. From the common smash-and-grab thief with a hammer in one hand and pilfered jewelry in the other, to the dashing foreign spy, whose government aggressive naval escalations could bring England to the brink of war, are just two of the foes Doctor Dollar has to dispatch. Reading these fast-paced stories, you'll get the feeling that Doctor Dollar is Sherlock Holmes, Professor Quatermass and James Bond all rolled up into one.