This 21st entry in the Dr. Thorndyke series wasn't a mystery at all. I guess it could be called a suspense or better yet a crime novel. Though Thorndyke enters the story rather late and the reader doesn't get to see him doing much investigating, it was entertaining to see him at work in the courtroom. The main character, Andrew Barton, was a complete imbecile and while at first I could understand his motivations, he quickly lost my sympathy & is one of the main reasons this book only gets 3* from me. ( )

A series of wrong turns means that painter Andrew Barton has assumed the identity of his cousin Ronald. But this leads to more problems. Can he escape this tangled web of his own doing.
An entertaining historical mystery
Originally published in 1934 ( )

This 21st entry in the Dr. Thorndyke series wasn't a mystery at all. I guess it could be called a suspense or better yet a crime novel. Though Thorndyke enters the story rather late and the reader doesn't get to see him doing much investigating, it was entertaining to see him at work in the courtroom. The main character, Andrew Barton, was a complete imbecile and while at first I could understand his motivations, he quickly lost my sympathy & is one of the main reasons this book only gets 3* from me. ( )

I usually enjoy re-reading Freeman's work, and this is no exception, but it can't be denied that it's not the best of his work. It is an example of the "inverted" type of story, where we see the crime committed and then follow the investigator as he/she solves it, but we see so little of Thorndyke's work in this story that it can't be called a good example of the type. Also, we have to believe in such a complicated series of events which force the central character to act in an utterly absurd manner that suspension of disbelief becomes extremely difficult if not impossible (I felt this when I first read it, over 40 years ago, and in those days I was much less critical!). Only recommendable to those who've read most of the Thorndyke canon and want to complete it. ( )