The Eye of Osiris

By R. Austin Freeman

An Egyptian mystery/thriller, also published under the title The Vanishing Man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Classics
• Release date: May 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781633552173

R. Austin Freeman

R. Austin Freeman (1862–1943) was a British author of detective stories. A pioneer of the inverted detective story, in which the reader knows from the start who committed the crime, Freeman is best known as the creator of the “medical jurispractitioner” Dr. John Thorndyke. First introduced in The Red Thumb Mark (1907), the brilliant forensic investigator went on to star in dozens of novels and short stories over the next decades. 

Reviews for The Eye of Osiris

[mmyoung_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes one is disappointed when reading a “classic” wondering just what it was that made others rate a book so highly. That has happened to this reviewer often enough to make approaching “must-reads” and “classics” filled with trepidation. In this case, however, the reasons why so many have included this book on their lists of “great mysteries” are obvious. This is a delightfully written, nicely-placed and eminently fair example of detective fiction. Freeman makes the interesting choice of having the book written from the point of view of Paul Berkeley, a recently qualified doctor and former student of Thorndyke. Jervis, the narrator of the first two Thorndyke books, has not disappeared but it is no longer through his eyes that the reader witnesses events. This allows the narrator to not see all that Thorndyke does without making him irredeemably slow and unteachable. Thus there are times that the reader, already familiar with Thorndyke’s methods, will be able to infer more from things that Berkeley hears, sees or read than does he. Beyond here there lie spoilers.In addition to providing the reader with an excellent story of deduction and reasoning Freeman also writes one of the few believable and sympathetic love stories this reviewer has come across in the detective and mystery stories written at this time. Ruth is not simply a sweet Victorian girl she has a believable personality and an interesting mind. One understands exactly why Berkeley is drawn to her and one can watch the way their relationship progresses from being strangers, to individuals with shared interests, to becoming friends and then realizing that they have fallen love. None of it is strained nor is it extraneous. Berkeley is given believable motivations for his actions through the book.Freeman plays so fairly with his readers that if the reader is well-versed in the detective fiction of the time they will have suspicions and inklings of understanding before at the end the truth is revealed. Yet this in no way diminishes from the enjoyment of following the story and from finding out the indications and clues one missed. No anvils are used nor does the author fall back on obfuscation. This reader regretted the moment when the last page was turned and the story ended but then was cheered by the knowledge that there is another Thorndyke book on the “to read” shelf.

[redfiona_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book contains not just one of the most ingenious criminals I've read about but a brilliant deductive investigator who is an intriguing character in his own right.Add to that a small amount of well done romance, interestingly described secondary characters and lots of random but useful information about ancient Eygpt and sheep parasites, although I can say with hand on my heart that that did help me remember things from my paristology lectures for an exam.It's fantastically clever, and there are very few of the tricks of the dective novel trade used, we are given the same information as the protagonists and while I certain didn't guess the how, why and who, I could at least work out one of the major pieces of evidence before it is presented to us.Great fun, and in this age of dective shows being everywhere, I don't understand why the Thorndyke novels haven't been turned into television programmes.

[bcquinnsmom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

no spoilers, just a synopsis:Written originally in 1911, this book has returned to print available to the public from a great publishing house called House of Stratus. I'm so grateful that I ordered several more. Freeman was one of the authors in the so-named "Golden Age" of mystery writers, and although nearly 100 years have gone by since he wrote this book, it was still a joy to read as well as a really fine mystery. I would recommend it to those readers who enjoy a good work of classic mystery and detection, and to those readers who are devotees of detecting's Golden Age. You won't be disappointed. In a nutshell, the mystery boils down to this (as so aptly noted by the great Dr. Thorndyke himself): "...Here is a man seen to enter a certain house, who is shown into a certain room, then shut in. He is not seen to come out, and yet, when the room is next entered, it is found to be empty; and that man is never seen again, alive or dead." (25)One day a certain archaeologist/Egyptologist named John Bellingham, who has just returned from a trip to Egypt where he procured a mummy in its case for the British Museum, goes to visit someone and is never seen again. He shows up, the servant girl tells him that her master isn't home, and won't be home until quarter to six. Bellingham says he'll wait in the study and write some letters. At precisely quarter to six, the other many arrives home, and is surprised that the table is set for two. When he asks why, the maid says that she thought Mr. Bellingham would be staying for dinner. But strangely, Mr. Bellingham is no longer there, and there was no way he could have left the house without the servants' knowledge. The only clues that anyone could find were a scarab he usually had on his watch chain, found in the garden of his brother's home, and a suitcase with the initials "J.B." that was left at a nearby station. The funny thing is, all of this had happened two years prior to the events of this story, and now, bones are turning up on Bellingham's brother's old property. To get to the bottom of the case, Dr. Thorndyke is called in and unravels a most ingenious crime.Okay, okay, this may have been a bit easy to figure out, but it was totally fun and entertaining just getting there. I absolutely LOVE these old mysteries! Recommended.