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Audiobook edition · 8 h 43 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the truth rests in a speck of dust everyone else ignores?
In The Magic Casket, R. Austin Freeman brings together nine detective stories centred on Dr. John Thorndyke, a London doctor and barrister. A puzzling event may seem to support an obvious explanation. Thorndyke looks closer, testing what small physical traces can actually prove.
Dust, stains, handwriting, tools, and the human body become the substance of detection. Dr. Christopher Jervis, Thorndyke’s younger friend and colleague, often shares the telling, while Polton brings skill and quiet pride to laboratory work. Across these compact cases, the question is not simply who seems guilty, but whether the evidence supports that suspicion.
What you’ll discover
- Small clues, real weight Follow overlooked physical details as they become the foundation of a reasoned answer.
- A doctor’s searching eye Meet a detective whose knowledge of the body works alongside his understanding of law.
- The work behind proof Discover Polton’s careful preparation of specimens and the apparatus he builds for investigation.
- Justice beyond suspicion Explore cases where getting the truth right matters more than simply catching a culprit.
- Puzzles for one sitting Enjoy compact mysteries that make room for patient observation rather than lucky guesses.
Who will love it
Readers who like clever puzzles, fair clues and a calm hero who solves each case with science and common sense, and anyone fond of old London streets, courtrooms, chambers and trains.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A stolen bag leads to a casket
- A cremation too perfectly arranged
- A murder on the Densford train
- A body in a ditch
- A threatened woman and a perfect alibi
- A box, an arm and a hopeless defence
- A missing object in Tanfield Court
- Blood on the hall floor
- An explosion in the night
Who’s who
- Dr. John ThorndykeA London doctor and barrister who solves crimes by exact observation and scientific knowledge, and who says little until he is sure.
- Dr. JervisThorndyke's junior and friend, who tells the stories and shares the cases, often puzzled and always eager to learn the reasoning.
- Mr. BrodribbA warm, quick-tempered old solicitor who sends clients to Thorndyke and believes the doctor cannot be stumped.
- Superintendent MillerA shrewd Scotland Yard detective who works with Thorndyke, grumbles at his methods, and wants a sound conviction.
- PoltonThorndyke's silent laboratory assistant, a skilled maker of instruments who serves port and helps gather evidence.
- Miss Mabel BonneyA gentle woman who paid for her father's lost pearls and is followed by strangers who want her casket.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 8 h 43 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Le Coffret magique in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Le Coffret magique
by R. Austin Freeman · 1927
Dr. Thorndyke reads dust, ditch weeds and a plain casket to solve crimes the police give up on.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Magic Casket gathers nine detective stories by R. Austin Freeman, who died in 1943.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A stolen bag leads to a casket
The first story begins on a misty November night near King's Road in Chelsea. Thorndyke and Jervis are walking through dim side streets when Thorndyke stops at the porch of a small locked church. In the shadow he finds a handbag with the gilt initials M.B. It has been forced open, yet inside are neatly wrapped pieces of Chinese pottery with a museum label bearing the name of Miss Mabel Bonney of Willow Walk, Fulham Road.
The two men carry it to her address to return it. On the way they pass two well-dressed Japanese men hurrying away, and they see policemen leaving a house for a waiting taxi. It is number 168. An anxious maid takes the bag with relief and begs for Thorndyke's card. Soon afterward old Mr. Brodribb, the family solicitor, leaps from a cab and knocks at the same door with his famous flourish.
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What is The Magic Casket about?
It is a collection of nine detective stories about Dr. John Thorndyke, a London doctor and barrister who solves puzzling crimes with science and close observation, with his friend Dr. Jervis telling each case.
Who is Dr. Thorndyke?
He is a medico-legal expert in the Temple who works with solicitors and the police. He is calm, precise and learned, and he brings the right tools for each case.
Is it a novel or a story collection?
It is a collection. Each of the nine chapters is a complete case with its own clients, crime and solution, though the same friends and helpers return from story to story.
The author
R. Austin Freeman
1862–1943 · British detective novelist
Richard Austin Freeman (1862–1943) was a British doctor and writer. He was born in London and died in Gravesend, Kent. He wrote detective novels and short stories featuring the medical investigator Dr John Thorndyke. His first Thorndyke novel, The Red Thumb Mark, was published in 1907.
More by R. Austin Freeman
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