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    The Red Thumb Mark
    The Red Thumb Mark
    The Red Thumb Mark
    Ebook326 pages4 hours

    The Red Thumb Mark

    By R. Austin (Richard Austin) Freeman

    3.5/5

    ()

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateJan 1, 1979
    The Red Thumb Mark

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    Reviews for The Red Thumb Mark

    3.5/5

    57 ratings5 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Dr Thorndyke latest client is a Reuben Hornby. Diamonds that were kept in his Uncle's safe have been stolen.. The keys were kept by his Uncle John Hornby. But a bloody finger print left in the safe points to Reuben Hornby. Who proclaims his innocence. Thorndyke is helped by old friend Dr Jervis.
      An interesting historical mystery.
      Originally published in 1907
    • 4/5
      While the 'who' in this case seemed quite obvious to me, the 'how' baffled me. I got the strong feeling that Freeman's mysteries will mostly focus on the method of the crime (which is okay with me!).
    • 4/5
      I read this book on my Droid using the Aldiko app.

      This is the first Thorndyke book - I loved it. The scientific explanations and rationales given are solid (at least they seem to be - I'm no scientist!) and although Thorndyke himself is very Holmes-ish with the deductions, he is a more sympathetic character. (Forgive me, Sherlock. You know you're prickly.)

      I also really like the fact that there is a gentle romance - not for Thorndyke, but for Jervis.
    • 4/5
      This story is not only surprisingly charming to the reader but also unexpectedly relevant to the contemporary fad for forensic procedurals. Thorndyke seems, in many ways, to having been designed to be an interesting not quite anti-Holmes. Thorndyke does not call into question the necessity for the careful checking of clues and scientific examination of all possible aspects of the crime. What he calls into question is what might called the fetishization of particular forms of scientific findings without considering all the possibilities of how that “evidence" came to be found at the scene of the crime. In this case, Thorndyke, in defending Reuben Hornby, has to counter the automatic assumption of the police that “a finger-print as a kind of magical touchstone, a final proof, beyond which inquiry need not go." Indeed, Thorndyke argues that “this is an entire mistake. A finger-print is merely a fact, a very important and significant one, I admit, but still a fact, which, like any other fact, requires to be weighed and measured with reference to its evidential value.” Thorndyke does not debunk the science behind fingerprinting nor is he skeptical of the process of scientific investigation. What he does present is the difference between true scientific inquiry and the automatic assumption that having mastered a particular scientific technique one may fall back upon it as if it were written in stone. And indeed, he demonstrates that any technique of investigation will soon be countered by criminals who take it into account and counter it with new techniques of their own. It is particularly interesting to read this book today at a time when many treat DNA evidence with reverence but without real understandings of its strengths and weaknesses. Indeed one wonders what opinions Dr. Thorndyke would have as to the reliability of many of today’s labs and many of today’s experts.For those who are interested in the details of forensic analysis Freeman devotes a good part of the book to that very aspect of forensics which is most overlooked in most television procedurals; how does one present evidence in a way that is understandable and convincing to juries. For those who are less interested in the scientific aspect of “ratiocination” Freeman includes a wonderful analysis of the Holmesian deductive method as Thorndyke explains not only why his supposition that a figure outside the window was a stationmaster was sound but also why it was, for all that soundness, a mere educated guess.In conclusion: This is an enjoyably written book which avoids unneeded plot complications, does a good job of introducing the reader to Dr. Thorndyke and his methods and may do well to assuage that empty feeling the reader is left with after consuming the last of the Holmes stories.
    • 4/5
      Originally written in 1907, The Red Thumb Mark opens the series by R. Austin Freeman featuring Dr. Thorndyke, who is a sort of Sherlock-Holmes type character without the neuroses. Thorndyke is both a doctor and a lawyer, as well as a scientist. He has a butler/assistant named Polton and a friend who also serves as an assistant and confidant, Jervis, who provides the brief bit of romance in the novel (not overdone...very prim and proper, always the proper gentleman). The Red Thumb Mark opens with a crime. A young man, nephew of a diamond broker, is accused of stealing a quantity of diamonds from his uncle's safe. According to all, this act is totally out of character for the man (Reuben Hornby), who also has an income of his own so is by no means a poor relation. Of course, Reuben declares his innocence; however, the evidence reveals Reuben's thumbprint very clearly on the safe perfectly encased in a drop of blood. If Reuben didn't do it, then why is his thumbprint there? How's he going to get out of this predicament??? Dr. Thorndyke to the rescue...as he attempts to clear Reuben's good name. But there are those who do not wish him to succeed....I'll stop there in case there is anyone else here that may be remotely interested in reading this book. I like these old mysteries, and I love the House of Stratus reprints editions. If you are into these classic-style mysteries, you may wish to give this one a try. If you want mainstream, you won't be happy. It's a thinking person's type of mystery.

    Book preview

    The Red Thumb Mark - R. Austin (Richard Austin) Freeman

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