The Uttermost Farthing

by R. Austin Freeman

R. Austin Freeman was an early 20th century British writer of detective stories. . Freeman first used the inverted detective plot 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. Many of these stories include arcane scientific knowledge on such topics as tropical medicine, toxicology and metallurgy. The Red Thumb Mark, written in 1907 is the first of the Dr Throndkye novels. Dr Thorndyke was a medical/legal forensic investigator. The Uttermost Farthing, an unusual tale begins, "It is not without some misgivings that I at length make public the strange history communicated to me by my lamented friend Humphrey Challoner. The outlook of the narrator is so evidently abnormal, his ethical standards are so remote from those ordinarily current, that the chronicle of his life and actions may not only fail to secure the sympathy of the reader but may even excite a certain amount of moral repulsion. But by those who knew him, his generosity to the poor, and especially to those who struggled against undeserved misfortune, will be an ample set-off to his severity and even ferocity towards the enemies of society.'

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

Richard 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.

Reviews

[International Cat Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just.... odd. I've been enjoying reading R.A. Freeman's books (free on my Kindle) for the past few months - despite his tendency to blather on at times. While the other books of his that I have read were mysteries, this one wasn't. It was a narrative written by a man and left, after his death to his friend. The friend merely serves to introduce the story; the rest of what we read was written by the dead man - a seemingly normal fellow who turned to a life of vigilanti-ism after the murder of his wife. The book is full of racist and classist prejudices, which I'm sure were typical of the time, but which left rather a sour taste in my mouth. And, as true to Freeman's style, many scenes ran on far too long. As a free book, it was worth reading, although I won't keep it on my Kindle to read again in the future.

[Aby · Rating 4 out of 5]

رواية مختلفة، تستطيع أن تطلق عليها صفة العادية و لكنها مشوقة بشكل غريب و غير متوقع ، تثير فضولك لمعرفة النهاية رغم أنها من البداية واضحة، و هي كما قرأت عن أسلوب الكاتب الذي يبدأ الرواية بالجريمة ثم ينتهي بالدافع، نعم، فأنت منذ البداية تعرف الجرائم و الجاني و المجني عليه، و رغم ذلك تجد نفسك مشدوداً نحو النهاية لمعرفة التفاصيل... إنها حقاً رواية مختلفة و غريبة و رغم بساطتها إلا أني استمتعت بقراءتها إلى حدٍ ما.

تقييمي 3.5⭐

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Freeman work is not a Dr. Thorndyke mystery. Instead, it is the disturbing account of how a man wreaks vengeance on the miscreant who murdered his wife in a bungled robbery attempt. It also poses the question of how a moral society should deal with criminals.

[L Y N N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. What a strange book. Definitely creepy. Gothic might be a good description.

I only became interested because this book was the major plot point for a Donna Andrews mystery. Now I want to know why she selected this book!

[Tim Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One man's vengeance against the criminal classes of Edwardian London. A psychopathic vigilante; cold, calculating, brave, clever and ghoulish; somewhere between Max Max and the Abominable Doctor Phibes.

Good clean fun.

[Latasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really liked this story! this is the 1st thing I've read by this author. I didn't know very much about this story going in. we meet Humphrey Challoner. he's dying and handling it very well. he has a very well cataloged collection of skeletons which he leaves to his dear friend(forgot his name!) the story is the reading of the catalogs for these skeletons. we learn where they came from. Challoner is very, very funny and clever. there was so many times I laughed during the reading. the story was easy to follow. it was very good & creepy at times.
*spoilers*
the death of his wife was so sad. he sets out to capture her murderer. at first he's on track but by the 5th victim I feel he looses sight of why he's killing. he enjoys the challenge but he reigns back in. before he knows it, he's spent his whole life looking for this man. i'm not gonna spoil the ending. . .

[Scilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Humphrey Challoner finds his wife killed by the bullet of a robber in his home, he vows to catch the man. Mr. Challoner is a wealthy savant, and he saved the fingerprints of the robber as well as some of the robber's strange hair which Challoner's wife had in her hand. He has a private museum with a collection of both animal and human skeletons and shrunken heads. He leaves the museum and the archives to his doctor, who reveals the Museum Archives - the stories of how the skeletons were acquired and how Mr. Challoner finally found his wife's murderer.

[Ramona Honan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic book but rather disturbing. A cross between Sweeney Todd and the Charles Bronson Death Wish movies.

[Dave L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a most enjoyable and, at times, disturbing read. Whilst the plot is very simple, the author keeps the attention of the reader as the grisly series of events unfolds.

The search for a man with "ringed" hair seems a little far fetched, especially as over 20 years, there is a likelihood all his hair would have turned grey or he would have become bald.

It would have been fascinating to know what the narrator did with his inherited collection of skeletons but, unfortunately, we will never know. . .

[Yibbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well… that was weird. Past the first couple of chapters, there are no more surprises. I mean each chapter has its twist, but they all start to be the same after a bit. Still, there is a definite tension, mostly of the moral kind. But mostly, it just plods on through years and deaths. Strange...
With vengeance as the motive, and only the thinnest veneer of justice, Freeman has created a story of vigilante justice verging on mass murder.
I wouldn’t recommend wasting your time with this one.

[Naticia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard one to review. It's more of a modern thriller, but without much actual suspense as the ending is set up in the first chapter. As well-written and detailed as I'd expect for a story by R. A. Freeman, but definitely in a different tone than his Dr Thorndyke series. I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would, considering how uncomfortable I was in the first few chapters.

[Alia Makki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A grieving osteologist engages in a lifelong manhunt for the murderer of his beloved wife while maintaining his public persona by incorporating ingenious methods to first attain, then dispose of his victims’ bodies.

Weird. Nerdy to the max. Surprisingly unputdownable.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding revenge thriller: a husband spends twenty years hunting his wife's killer in London.

[Susan Standley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in the vernacular of the Era, so it contains a few degragatory cultural names. If you can get past that, it's excellent and I highly recommend it.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very unusual and mostly interesting
The bulk of the novel is taken up by the journals of the dead man

[Ellen Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly intriguing story; I've never read one like it before. But I warn you, it is not for the faint-hearted or one who has rigid views about justice/the judicial system. If you are willing to understand a fellow human's different point of view and are not frightened by mere skeletons, give it a try.

I assure you, you will appreciate the cunning and interesting methods used by the main character to accomplish his goal of I won't tell you!, grim as it is.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tale isn't much of a mystery but the related events are a tad bit disturbing. Actually Mr. Humphrey Challoner is so angered by his wife's murder, that he vows to catch the person who did it and dedicates his life to this. However, Challoner ends up becoming a murderer himself and has a worrying hobby of 'preserving' his victims and carefully journaling his activities.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing, grisly, and one of the creepiest books I've read, this is the story of a man's 20 year obsession with finding and disposing of his beloved wife's murderer. I listened to this as a free download from Librivox.org.

[JoAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disturbing!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not so much of a mystery, but definitely disturbing.

[alibrivoxfan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a public domain audiobook version available here from LibriVox.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a forensic horror story than Freeman's "Dr. Thorndyke" detective stories. Still enjoyable, but extremely weird.