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Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries #11
The Mystery of Angelina Frood
A beautiful young woman is in shock. She calls John Strangeways, a medical lawyer who must piece together the strange disparate facts of her case and in turn, becomes fearful for his life. Only Dr Thorndyke, a master of detection, may be able to solve the baffling mystery of Angelina Frood.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1924
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About the author
R. Austin Freeman
606 books86 followersRichard Freeman was born in Soho, London on 11 April 1862, the son of Ann Maria (nee Dunn) and Richard Freeman, a tailor. He was originally named Richard, and later added the Austin to his name.
He became a medical trainee at Middlesex Hospital Medical College, and was accepted as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
He married Annie Elizabeth Edwards in 1887; they had two sons. After a few weeks of married life, the couple found themselves in Accra on the Gold Coast, where he was assistant surgeon. His time in Africa produced plenty of hard work, very little money and ill health, so much so that after seven years he was invalided out of the service in 1891. He wrote his first book, 'Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman', which was published in 1898. It was critically acclaimed but made very little money.
On his return to England he set up an eye/ear/nose/throat practice, but in due course his health forced him to give up medicine, although he did have occasional temporary posts, and in World War I he was in the ambulance corps.
He became a writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke. The first of the books in the series was 'The Red Thumb Mark' (1907). His first published crime novel was 'The Adventures of Romney Pringle' (1902) and was a collaborative effort published under the pseudonym Clifford Ashdown. Within a few years he was devoting his time to full-time writing.
With the publication of 'The Singing Bone' (1912) he invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective's attempt to solve the mystery). Thereafter he used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels.
A large proportion of the Dr Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but often quite arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.
He died in Gravesend on 28 September 1943.
He became a medical trainee at Middlesex Hospital Medical College, and was accepted as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
He married Annie Elizabeth Edwards in 1887; they had two sons. After a few weeks of married life, the couple found themselves in Accra on the Gold Coast, where he was assistant surgeon. His time in Africa produced plenty of hard work, very little money and ill health, so much so that after seven years he was invalided out of the service in 1891. He wrote his first book, 'Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman', which was published in 1898. It was critically acclaimed but made very little money.
On his return to England he set up an eye/ear/nose/throat practice, but in due course his health forced him to give up medicine, although he did have occasional temporary posts, and in World War I he was in the ambulance corps.
He became a writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke. The first of the books in the series was 'The Red Thumb Mark' (1907). His first published crime novel was 'The Adventures of Romney Pringle' (1902) and was a collaborative effort published under the pseudonym Clifford Ashdown. Within a few years he was devoting his time to full-time writing.
With the publication of 'The Singing Bone' (1912) he invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective's attempt to solve the mystery). Thereafter he used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels.
A large proportion of the Dr Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but often quite arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.
He died in Gravesend on 28 September 1943.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 22, 2018
Serves me right to be patronizing about an author I've never read before. I was somewhat exasperated by the slow pace and Victorianisms of the story. And I figured the solution out very early on. But I hadn't! I actually yelped in surprise when...but you'll see.
It is slow paced and outdated (need we review the basics of fingerprinting?), but sharper than I gave it credit for. What kind of a name is "Frood"? And Sgt. Cobbledick? Really?
It is slow paced and outdated (need we review the basics of fingerprinting?), but sharper than I gave it credit for. What kind of a name is "Frood"? And Sgt. Cobbledick? Really?
November 13, 2021
Dr John Strangeways ends up in the middle of a baffling mystery involving the disappearance of Angelina Frood. Eventually, he calls in Dr Thorndyke, who manages to unravel the mystery. Freeman's slow writing style adds to the eerie atmosphere, and it ends in probably the most surprising plot twist I've read this year. Completely unexpected until the moment of reveal, which in itself was unexpected. And because Freeman lays everything out in meticulous detail, you get the joy of re-reading key scenes and seeing how much was hiding in plain sight.
The investigation would probably have been improved if Thorndyke had spent more time on the scene, and there are a few loose ends at the conclusion of the book. And a few sections are needlessly laboured. But overall, an absorbing and clever mystery.
The investigation would probably have been improved if Thorndyke had spent more time on the scene, and there are a few loose ends at the conclusion of the book. And a few sections are needlessly laboured. But overall, an absorbing and clever mystery.
January 18, 2017
This is an interesting one, and I recommend it if you like this sort of thing. Thorndyke is involved in the solution, in a kind of phoning it in way, but the other characters are strong enough to be interesting [all by their own selves!] and the ending is a bit of a surprise. You know where it's going pretty early on but where it gets to is a surprise.
May 23, 2016
I enjoyed this mystery. Was there a crime? Angelina Frood has gone missing and her new friend Dr. Strangeways, the narrator of the story, is determined to find out what has happened and along the way enlists the assistance of Dr. Thorndyke. The local police Sergeant is hot on the trail, as items of clothing and jewellery belonging to Angelina are discovered. Not everything is as it seems as Thorndyke sifts through the evidence to arrive at the conclusion.
The writing style is that of the 1920's when this novel was first published and is tight and over elaborate by today's style but I enjoy this but others may not. I enjoy the accounts of barristers and doctors walking about and not jumping in their car, in fact, none of the participants owns their own vehicle. Oh how times have changed.
The writing style is that of the 1920's when this novel was first published and is tight and over elaborate by today's style but I enjoy this but others may not. I enjoy the accounts of barristers and doctors walking about and not jumping in their car, in fact, none of the participants owns their own vehicle. Oh how times have changed.
April 27, 2019
Fun light mystery and while I guessed a significant part of the solution early on, another significant part escaped me. So i got to feel smart AND surprised all at the same time. Cool.
to-buy-amazon
May 13, 2025Good grief! Is this the third Austin Freeman story that starts with a house call to a mysterious patient with a false name and a hidden address?
November 18, 2025
This novel is RAF's retelling and completion of Dickens' Edwin Drood. Apparently a number of writers wrote completions. Drood is superb: wonderfully clear writing and great characters.
January 29, 2020
What a delightful surprise this was! The mystery is well concealed until the denouement toward the end, and then there is chapter of explanation wrap-up more common in older stories than current mysteries. I thoroughly enjoy the archaic language and elaborate syntax which might be laborious to a reader who is more plot-driven and less of a word-nerd.
There are some disquieting beliefs, especially classist, sexist, mophology-driven prejudice common to the era. These are enough to cause discomfort but it's also good to be reminded that people did (and still do) allow cultural bias to override reason.
There are some disquieting beliefs, especially classist, sexist, mophology-driven prejudice common to the era. These are enough to cause discomfort but it's also good to be reminded that people did (and still do) allow cultural bias to override reason.
January 3, 2024
An entertaining story told from the point of Dr Strangeways. While he is filling in for a doctor on leave in London he is asked to attend a woman. He discovers that someone has attempted to strangle her, but is given no name. He cannot forget her and often wonders what happened. He comes into some money but still needs to supplement his income and purchases the practice of a recently deceased doctor. When he goes to take possession, at the real estate office he is asked to see a relative of the owner. He discovers it to be the woman he saw in London who is in hiding from her husband - a jealous neurotic who uses drugs and had tried to strangle her. The man has turned up looking for her but leaves town again. Then Angelina Frood goes missing - and the evidence seems to point to murder. Until the esteemed Dr Thorndyke takes an interest in the case.
November 19, 2024
A delight of misdirection.
November 19, 2024
A delight of misdirection.
July 28, 2023
The opening chapters of this 1924 novel outline the problems faced by a woman married to an abusive husband.Here Freeman gives vent to his views, coloured less by sympathy for Angelina Frood than by his passion for eugenics .
‘. …”But there seems to me worse possibilities with a fellow of this kind; a drinking, drug-swallowing, hysterical degenerate. You never know what a man of that type will do." "You always hope that he will commit suicide," said Thorndyke; "and to do him justice, he does fairly often show that much perception of his proper place in nature. But, as you say, the actions of a mentally and morally abnormal man are incalculable. He may kill himself or he may kill somebody else, or he may join with other abnormals to commit incomprehensible and apparently motiveless political crimes. But we will hope that Mr. Frood will limit his activities to sponging on his wife."’
Much of the novel is taken up by investigations into the disappearance of Mrs Frood and the possible implication of her husband in it. Dr John Strangeways, another young doctor first acting as a locum then in his own not very demanding practice, keeps Thorndyke fully apprised of local events in Rochester as well as pursuing a new found friendship with the attractive Peter Bundy.
The prolonged nature of the search for Angelina does give the modern reader time to work out the main twists in the solution although,for me, one aspect still sprang a surprise. Thorndyke’s role is relatively minor until remains are found although he is said to be working in the background.
This one is interesting for all sorts of reasons but is not a prime example of the medico-legal expert at work.
3.75 stars.
January 29, 2021
While doing a Locum Tenens in London Dr. Strangeways is called to see a woman who has been attacked by her husband. After taking care of her he buys a practice out in the country, where he finds the same woman who is hiding from her husband. He becomes her doctor and they begin a friendship.
Then she disappears one night on the way back to her boarding house after having dinner with the doctor. He and the police and the men of a real estate agency that had help her, go searching for her. After a few months, so pieces of her ensemble, hat pins, jacket buttons, a hat, a scarf have been found but no body.
Thorndyke gets called in by a friend of the doctor to try and find out what happened to her. The steady pace of the story gets faster and faster as the book goes on until we come to an expected truth of what happened. Very well written and devised.
Then she disappears one night on the way back to her boarding house after having dinner with the doctor. He and the police and the men of a real estate agency that had help her, go searching for her. After a few months, so pieces of her ensemble, hat pins, jacket buttons, a hat, a scarf have been found but no body.
Thorndyke gets called in by a friend of the doctor to try and find out what happened to her. The steady pace of the story gets faster and faster as the book goes on until we come to an expected truth of what happened. Very well written and devised.
January 20, 2025
Jan. 2025 - narrated by Yoganandt T. on LibriVox
And there I was, only a few days ago What a twist! I did not anticipate that ending, but it fit both the clues and his style. Best of all, despite having listened to ten other books by him, he still managed to surprise me.
And there I was, only a few days ago What a twist! I did not anticipate that ending, but it fit both the clues and his style. Best of all, despite having listened to ten other books by him, he still managed to surprise me.
June 27, 2025
I don't usually give mysteries five stars because I save those for books I know I'll reread, and once you know who dunnit? why would you? But this one was really good and the solution was unexpected but appropriate. And I even learned a few things from Dr Thorndyke's summing up at the end.
One of those books where I thought I knew who did it, but was hoping I was wrong. Though I did wonder why the investigators weren't picking up on the smoking gun in one of the early chapters.
One of those books where I thought I knew who did it, but was hoping I was wrong. Though I did wonder why the investigators weren't picking up on the smoking gun in one of the early chapters.
January 14, 2019
Another good little story from my book of Freeman stories - it is one of these anthologies with 27 books in it, so I dip in and out every so often after reading a few other books. This one was cleverly done, slightly slow in manner but they usually are, with quite a good twist at the end which I hadn't seen coming!
January 6, 2021
One year before, Dr. Strangeness treats a Mrs Johnson, but now he has taken over a medical practice in Rochester and meets her again as Mrs Angelina Frood, who is hiding from her husband. But when she goes missing he feels inclined to investigate and involves Dr Thorndyke in the mystery.
An entertaining mystery
Originally published in 1924
An entertaining mystery
Originally published in 1924
July 18, 2017
A nice period mystery with a surprise ending. Did NOT see it coming.
August 18, 2017
A little different than the standard Dr Thorndyke mystery, as the narrator here sends dispatches to Thorndyke and we don't get any of his hints until close to the end.
January 31, 2019
A good crime novel but not a great one. The story has a nice twist at the end which makes up for the slow pace.
June 14, 2024
The worst of Freeman's books that I have read. The ending is absurd in several ways, and the book takes its sweet time getting there.
January 18, 2022
The Dr Thorndyke stories are growing on me. In this one the Dr is rather a spectator and commentator on the action until quite late in the book when he delivers a surprise. I read this as a relaxing alternative to work and my wine studies and to brighten up a couple of cold rainy days. I will definitely try some other novels in the rather large collection. As others have pointed out novels from this period are a bit slow but I quite enjoyed this leisurely pace. I deducted one star because of the out of date attitudes to gender in the book but this may be unfair as it was written 100 years ago and so is bound to reflect the attitudes of the time.
April 19, 2017
Definitely one of the better Thorndyke novels. Every novel has a twist, and each novel deploys said twist at different times, though all within sight of the end of the book. This novel deployed it very near to the end, almost like in "Helen Vardon's Confession." However, where the Helen Vardon novel failed beyond atrocity, this novel put the twist in with time to spare and was not nearly as irritating for doing so.
This particular crime's twist was not as surprising to me as it might have been had I read this book as a stand-alone or after taking a break from the series, but the rest of the plot was intriguing enough that the surprise at the end was hardly even relevant to the quality of the book. It simply made things more amusing and provided the happily-ever-after that looked impossible. (But of course you should expect as much when the detective is Thorndyke; his whole purpose is solving and explaining the impossible.)
This particular crime's twist was not as surprising to me as it might have been had I read this book as a stand-alone or after taking a break from the series, but the rest of the plot was intriguing enough that the surprise at the end was hardly even relevant to the quality of the book. It simply made things more amusing and provided the happily-ever-after that looked impossible. (But of course you should expect as much when the detective is Thorndyke; his whole purpose is solving and explaining the impossible.)
May 2, 2014
Not enough Thorndyke, nowhere near enough Polton, and enough loose ends (Japp, mainly....) to hang someone, but any book whose denouement makes me go back and skim-read the whole thing must be top-rate.
January 17, 2016
A superb mystery nicely told. The reader is treated fairly, all the characters are intelligent and the narrative takes the reader purposely by the nose up Black Boy-lane. And justice there is in the last sentence of the book.
July 21, 2011
This is very hard to review without giving everything away, so I will say it is very surprising, and I'm not quite sure it's actually believable.
May 3, 2016
read some time in 1996
December 26, 2016
Although I am normally a big fan of Thorndyke, I found this one improbable and unsatisfactory. I can't say why without divulging the entire plot. It was also far too long.
January 31, 2017
Now this is what I call a classic mystery! Recommended!
July 28, 2017
Exceptional Mystery
This story is written in the first person by Dr John Strangeways after the events so recorded. It begins with a rather strange call-out one night in London, when Strangeways was standing in for a doctor who was away. More than a year later, in the city of Rochester, about 30 miles from London, Dr Strangeways buys the practice of a deceased doctor, and discovers that the owner of his leased house is the woman he attended that night in London.
Through Dr Strangeways, the author eloquently describes houses, furniture, scenery, and people. The descriptions are detailed so the reader gets an immediate mental picture and there was at least one, of a person, that struck me as hilarious, although I am not sure of my reaction if I came across such a person in real life. Rochester is an extremely old city/settlement and many of the buildings are centuries old and provide a rich tapestry for Freeman (through Strangways) to indulge in his passion for architecture. There is a marvellous passage pertaining to the Cathedral, although for the reader, only the faint echo of everything Strangeways learned and absorbed.
I now go back to the mystery. Mrs Frood, for that is the name of Dr Strangeways landlady and patient, has disappeared after visiting the Doctor one night. Dr Thorndyke comes to Rochester with his friend and helper, Jervis, and Strangeways, who knows Jervis, wangles an introduction to Thorndyke. The result of this meeting is that Thorndyke becomes very interested in the mysterious circumstances as told to him by Strangeways and he keeps up-to-date by having Strangeways send him detailed reports of everything and everyone even remotely involved. The police are informed and I am pleased that the sergeant is an intelligent and very competent officer. The mystery deepens as it is discovered that Mr Frood, Angelina’s estranged husband also disappeared the same day she did.
Gradually over a period of three months, several articles belonging to Angelina Frood are discovered, but the police are no further forward in finding Mrs Frood, herself. Thorndyke is completely involved and as well as receiving Strangeways detailed reports, he travels to Rochester every weekend. Of course, as always, he plays his cards close to his chest, but as he explains to Dr Strangeways, they have both had access to the same clues and facts, and it is a matter of perception and interpretation.
And so, eventually we get to the coroner’s inquest, where, on the second day, extraordinary disclosures are made to the bafflement, consternation, and disbelief of all except Dr Thorndyke.
This is, undoubtedly, the strangest, cleverest, and most intriguing story of Freeman’s I have yet read. It is an extremely well-crafted story, very well-written, and with a wonderful use of language. Published in 1924, it moves at an unhurried pace, yet doesn’t drag. This is a classic and I don’t think it is dated at all, except, perhaps, by the way Freeman uses language, which is not a drawback in my opinion. This is a book that ticks all the boxes for me, well-written, a fun read, a great cast of characters, a great mystery and a satisfying conclusion.
This story is written in the first person by Dr John Strangeways after the events so recorded. It begins with a rather strange call-out one night in London, when Strangeways was standing in for a doctor who was away. More than a year later, in the city of Rochester, about 30 miles from London, Dr Strangeways buys the practice of a deceased doctor, and discovers that the owner of his leased house is the woman he attended that night in London.
Through Dr Strangeways, the author eloquently describes houses, furniture, scenery, and people. The descriptions are detailed so the reader gets an immediate mental picture and there was at least one, of a person, that struck me as hilarious, although I am not sure of my reaction if I came across such a person in real life. Rochester is an extremely old city/settlement and many of the buildings are centuries old and provide a rich tapestry for Freeman (through Strangways) to indulge in his passion for architecture. There is a marvellous passage pertaining to the Cathedral, although for the reader, only the faint echo of everything Strangeways learned and absorbed.
I now go back to the mystery. Mrs Frood, for that is the name of Dr Strangeways landlady and patient, has disappeared after visiting the Doctor one night. Dr Thorndyke comes to Rochester with his friend and helper, Jervis, and Strangeways, who knows Jervis, wangles an introduction to Thorndyke. The result of this meeting is that Thorndyke becomes very interested in the mysterious circumstances as told to him by Strangeways and he keeps up-to-date by having Strangeways send him detailed reports of everything and everyone even remotely involved. The police are informed and I am pleased that the sergeant is an intelligent and very competent officer. The mystery deepens as it is discovered that Mr Frood, Angelina’s estranged husband also disappeared the same day she did.
Gradually over a period of three months, several articles belonging to Angelina Frood are discovered, but the police are no further forward in finding Mrs Frood, herself. Thorndyke is completely involved and as well as receiving Strangeways detailed reports, he travels to Rochester every weekend. Of course, as always, he plays his cards close to his chest, but as he explains to Dr Strangeways, they have both had access to the same clues and facts, and it is a matter of perception and interpretation.
And so, eventually we get to the coroner’s inquest, where, on the second day, extraordinary disclosures are made to the bafflement, consternation, and disbelief of all except Dr Thorndyke.
This is, undoubtedly, the strangest, cleverest, and most intriguing story of Freeman’s I have yet read. It is an extremely well-crafted story, very well-written, and with a wonderful use of language. Published in 1924, it moves at an unhurried pace, yet doesn’t drag. This is a classic and I don’t think it is dated at all, except, perhaps, by the way Freeman uses language, which is not a drawback in my opinion. This is a book that ticks all the boxes for me, well-written, a fun read, a great cast of characters, a great mystery and a satisfying conclusion.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews