The Mystery of 31 New Inn [Paperback]

R. Austin Freeman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 2007

As I look back through the years of my association with John Thorndyke I am able to recall a wealth of adventures and strange experiences such as falls to the lot of very few men who pass their lives within hearing of Big Ben.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'This man Austin Freeman is a wonderful performer' -- Raymond Chandler --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: BiblioBazaar (February 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0554135698
• ISBN-13: 978-0554135694
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Campy fun, good mystery, April 13, 2010

By 

Dorothy Barkell "DitDot" (Middlebury, Vermont) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mystery of 31 New Inn (Kindle Edition)

31 New Inn, a Dr. Thorndyke mystery, was a delightful old-fashioned mystery in the best sense of the phrase. The background added so much to the story, and the descriptions made one feel as if they were there. The mystery in itself was well-woven, even if the reader connected the stories before the detectives did. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and am looking forward to more Dr. Thorndyke mysteries.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what plus what makes WHAT?!!, October 14, 2010

By 

Anne Wingate (Salt Lake City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mystery of 31 New Inn (Kindle Edition)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RKR9Q4/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

I LOVE Dr. Thorndyke, no matter which narrator is telling the story. This was especially good, with red herrings cluttering up the crime until it is hard to determine even whether there WAS a crime, much less who did it and why. I did figure out what was going on, but that might be because of specialized knowledge I have: Dr. Thorndyke is a CSI before CSIs were invented, and I was a CSI before being a CSI became fashionable. So I was able to follow, and a few times (because the point-of-view character wasn't one of the usuals) to precede, Dr. Thorndyke's reasoning. You might be able to. But whether you succeed or not in solving the crime before Thorndyke does, you'll certainly enjoy this old-time detective story.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Surprise!, January 30, 2011

By 

ATB / Molly Black (Oakland, CA USA (Piedmont)) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mystery of 31 New Inn (Kindle Edition)

Having gathered together a list of mystery, detective, and crime writers from Agatha Christies Secret Notebooks I turned to both Munsys and Gutenberg to find any of these influences and contemporaries of Ms. Christie. My delight upon finding myself thoroughly engrossed in this novel after the terrible dullness of a previous writer was great. I found that though the story is told in such a way that I knew the reasons and the murderer very quickly that none of my enjoyment in this very readable novel was hindered.

I intend to read as many of this author's work as I can as not since Collected Works of Anna Katharine Green (25 Books) have I found such a readable writer from their shared era. This is the third book starring the very learned Dr. Thorndyke. His friend, and as of this book his junior, fulfills the role of sidekick in a typical manner. Dr. Jerris learns and shares, and even if you find it difficult (as I did) that he would not put two and two properly together, I at least found his learning certain things via his friend as instructive of good scientific reasoning as propounded by Dr. Thorndyke.

I'm writing this review on an iPod Touch which has the Kindle application. That makes it difficult to keep track of my review. But it does mean I can rate this Kindle eBook properly - the mistakes and typos were few and the formatting unobtrusive and the eBook as a whole looked decent. For free I don't expect linked TOC - though it would be nice.

On completion I can say that I highly recommend it.