7 h 51 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 51 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if you know who commits the crime—but cannot see how anyone will prove it?
In R. Austin Freeman’s The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke (The Singing Bone), the mystery turns from who to how. The first four tales show the criminal, the plan and the act before the detective begins. Each careful schemer believes he has covered his tracks. The suspense lies in what he overlooks.
Dr. John Thorndyke, a physician and barrister, looks for evidence that will hold in court. Beside him are Dr. Christopher Jervis, his friend and junior colleague, and Nathaniel Polton, his skilled laboratory assistant. Dust, fibers, soil and tool marks become the raw materials of a case. But will those small traces prove enough?
What you’ll discover
- The crime comes first Watch the criminal’s plan unfold, then follow the patient work of finding proof.
- Medicine meets the law Follow Thorndyke as he brings scientific knowledge to evidence that must withstand legal scrutiny.
- A team of careful minds Meet Jervis and Polton, whose questions and skilled laboratory work support Thorndyke’s investigations.
- Confidence leaves a trace Study clever schemers who trust their preparations and miss the small things they leave behind.
- Small fragments become evidence Look closely at dust, fibers and marks that others might simply sweep away.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy puzzles solved by close observation, and for anyone curious how dust, glass, tobacco and fingerprints can speak.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The reader is told everything first
- Too much glass leads to a house
- Ashes of a hat and a housekeeper's return
- A blackmailer meets a man who thinks clearly
- Bloodhounds are not witnesses
- A pipe in a dead man's pocket tells the story
- Dust, forged prints and a conscience at work
Who’s who
- Dr. John ThorndykeA lawyer and medical scientist who carries a pocket laboratory and believes no fact is too small to examine.
- Dr. Christopher JervisThorndyke's friend and colleague, who tells most of the second halves and often misses what the reader hopes to see.
- Superintendent MillerA courteous Scotland Yard detective who wants a conviction and learns, case by case, to respect his expert friend.
- Silas HicklerA smiling burglar and diamond dealer who is tempted by a stranger's parcel of stones.
- Rufus PemburyA quiet escaped convict turned gentleman, who plans with cold logic to end a blackmailer's threat.
- JeffreysA lighthouse keeper on the Girdler Sand whose past at sea has driven him into hiding.
- Augustus BaileyA penniless former officer who slips into a country dance uninvited, hoping to profit from the guests.
- Frank BelfieldA reformed burglar who has built an honest life and is now wanted for a murder he did not commit.
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The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke (The Singing Bone)
by R. Austin Freeman · 1912
A killer burns a hat, and a doctor investigating near the railway matches broken glass to a tumbler on a rubbish heap.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
Imagine knowing everything before the detective knows anything. You watch a cheerful man stroll his garden on an October evening.
The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke (The Singing Bone) at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 30 min3 h 35 min fast, 5 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 64,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1912by R. Austin Freeman
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The reader is told everything first
Freeman tests his idea in The Case of Oscar Brodski. The story opens with Silas Hickler, a round-faced man with a smile for everyone. His housekeeper thinks him a model of cheerfulness. In fact he lives by burglary and by dealing in diamonds that no one asks about.
On an October evening a nearsighted stranger comes along the dark road and asks the way to the station. Hickler invites him in for whisky and oatcakes. He knows the visitor at once as Oscar Brodski, a diamond merchant who carries his rough stones to Amsterdam himself.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1912
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Freeman, R. Austin. The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke (The Singing Bone). Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-adventures-of-dr-thorndyke-the-singing-bone.
Freeman, R. A. (2026). The adventures of Dr. Thorndyke (The Singing Bone). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-adventures-of-dr-thorndyke-the-singing-bone (Original work published 1912)
Freeman, R. Austin. The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke (The Singing Bone). Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-adventures-of-dr-thorndyke-the-singing-bone.
@book{freeman2026adventures,
author = {Freeman, R. Austin},
title = {The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke (The Singing Bone)},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-adventures-of-dr-thorndyke-the-singing-bone},
note = {First published 1912}
}
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What is The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke about?
It collects five detective stories about Dr. John Thorndyke, a medical scientist and barrister, and his friend Dr. Jervis. Four tales show the crime first, and Thorndyke then works out the answer from small physical clues.
What does The Singing Bone mean?
The title comes from a German folk tale in which a bone made into a pipe sings out the truth about a murder. Jervis uses it to describe how a humble pipe helps solve the lighthouse case.
Who is Dr. Thorndyke and who is Jervis?
Thorndyke is a calm, observant lawyer and doctor who carries a small green laboratory case. Jervis is his younger medical colleague and friend, who narrates the second half of most of the tales.
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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