Customer Reviews

The Crime Doctor

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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.

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!

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.

I ordered a first edition hardcover (1906, I think) of this book online a year ago for $65 but could not read it because it reeked of cigarette smoke and mold. Merely having it in my den would trigger an allergy attack so I had to toss it. I picked up this edition of the Crime Doctor and I'm glad I did. The stories were enjoyable, especially the last one, and the illustrations reprinted well.

In the mid 1800's England was an empire. Under British colonial rule, Queen Victoria's armies occupied twenty-five percent of the nations of this planet, implementing parliamentary law and English culture across the globe. No other fictional character bolstered the perception of Anglo-supremacy and Christian virtue than Sherlock Holmes, the UK's foremost consulting detective. But in the early 1900s, the English empire started to crumble. Their involvement in the Boer wars, a difficult and bloody campaign that saw the conception of concentration camps for women and children, had the British citizenry equally divided between support and protest. Out of this moral ambiguity and social turmoil comes EW Hornung's Crime Doctor, a man who himself crippled in that horrific campaign. He is not portrayed as a superman who needs the intellectual challenge of pursuing criminals to sway his boredom, but as an all too human solider, who after being cured of his injury that caused a personality imbalance, has a deep seeded desire to help his fellow man by the eradication of crime, by using any means at his disposal. It would be unfair for me to list any highlights of his adventures since they follow a chronological order and I wouldn't want to rob you of any enjoyment by inadvertently giving away any plot points. But I will say that reading THE CRIME DOCTOR is time well spent.

Before I was to leave for a short vacation in the UK, I decided that I wanted to re-immerse myself in the flavor of London as it was.

Having read the cannon of Sherlock Holmes (several times I will admit), a friend recommended I check out some of the works of EW Hornung, most notably, The Crime Doctor. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a new printing of this collection of stories was now available for a very modest sum.

After reading the book, I developed a true appreciation for the character of Doctor Dollar and EW Hornung. Although he is a different flavor in comparison to Mr. Holmes, I was most pleased with this outstanding book and the adventures of The Crime Doctor.

My highest recommendation!

Mystery lurks behind every corner for Dr. John Dollar, the Crime Doctor, as he is drawn into a world of criminality and vice while attempting to rescue the people under his care from their own inner demons. There is an underlining dignity to these stories that makes the noble efforts of Dr. Dollar a pleasure to read.

Resting upon my night table is a dusty stack of recently purchased thrillers from James Paterson to Lawrence Block, yet I find myself in the quiet of the night rereading THE CRIME DOCTOR. Perhaps because it transports me back to an elegant time of tuxedo-attired gentleman sleuths, and after a hectic day at work, this is a wonderful place to escape to. So if you are becoming bored with the gritty world of shoot and slash popular fiction, holster your pistol, have your butler lay out your evening wear, and by all means, give THE CRIME DOCTOR a try.

Criminals beware! The foggy streets of London are once again under the protection of the Crime Doctor with this new edition collecting all of the adventures of Hornung most intriguing master sleuth. Because this collection was out of print for decades, the name of Dr. John Dollar has sadly been overlooked by many mystery enthusiasts. But with this new printing, I am confident that Dr. Dollar- the Crime Doctor- will capture the hearts and imaginations of a new generation.

The cover of this edition of The Crime Doctor is perfectly suited to the ambiguous contradictory nature of Hornung's last sleuthing hero. It depicts a dark and dirty tunnel-like back passageway, at the end of which erectly stands Dr. John Dollar, immaculately attired in formal evening clothes more fitting for opening night at the Paris Opera House than a Whitechaple alleyway. The artist chooses not to render Dollar's image in bright and contrasting values, but in the same black and gray monochromatic tone of his surroundings. Doing so, the reader is given an insightful glimpse of the true nature of the Crime Doctor. Hornung's protagonist, thou elevated in social stature by his profession and circle of wealth and Noble friends (hence the gentlemanly grab), was a solider who had seen more bloodshed than one hundred of Whitechaple's toughest bully-boys. He is a man who speaks of medical treatments for the rehabilitation of career criminals, but is never at loss for a pistol or reason to use it.