The Stoneware Monkey by R Austin Freeman
A novel of two halves, this story opens with Dr James Oldfield who finds himself caught one night in a police hunt. When he stumbles upon a policeman, struck dead by an unknown assailant, Oldfield determines to piece together what happened, and who Mr Kempster, (a man who turns up at the scene of the crime) may be. What unravels is a story of ingenious theft involving diamonds and the remains of an artist's body found in a kiln. In the second part, Oldfield engages the help of Dr Thorndyke and together they trace the work of the artist and a valuable stoneware monkey that hides an incredible secret. In the back streets of London amongst colonies of silk weavers, cabinet-makers and craftsmen, Freeman deftly entwines a cunning story infused with palpable suspense. From the father of forensic crime fiction, this plot is full of vivid detail.Richard Austin Freeman was born in London in 1862 and died in 1943. He went to Middlesex Hospital to study medicine before joining the Colonial Service. He was sent to a position in Accra, Ghana, on Africa's Gold Coast. He suffered blackwater sickness while in Africa, forcing him to return to Britain. He decided to try his hand at writing fiction after failing to find a permanent medical employment.
Using the pen name Clifford Ashdown, he wrote his first works in partnership with Dr. John James Pitcairn, the medical officer of Holloway Prison. The Red Thumb Mark, the first Doctor Thorndyke novel, was released in 1907. During World War I, he was a Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He continued to write until his death in 1939, when he was 77 years old and wrote parts of Polton Explains in a bomb shelter.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780755103799 |
| ISBN 10 | 0755103793 |
| Title | The Stoneware Monkey |
| Author | R Austin Freeman |
| Series | Dr Thorndyke |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | House of Stratus |
| Year published | 2008-09-23 |
| Number of pages | 270 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |