Two men leave Sennen Love aboard the yacht Sandhopper but only one arrives onto land. But to save himself he must lie that that the other is still alive which causes complications. Can Thorndyke produce evidence that a death has occurred.
An interesting mystery.
Originally written in 1925 ( )

Richard Austin Freeman wrote a series of Dr. Thonrdyke mysteries in the early 20th century. According to the Wikipedia, he invented the inverted mystery where the crime is described firs,t and then Thorndyke, a medico-legal specialist, helps to solve the crime. I had never heard of Freeman until I was poking around in some of the free ebooks to load on my Droid phone, never wanting to be without something to read. Freeman wrote a lot of these, and all are available for free ebook download in a variety of formats from different sources.

They are really quite good, with a Holmesian flare for intricate little details. In this one, an engraver, Varney, who has been counterfeiting bank notes with a confederate, Parnell, wants to leave the business and decides on the spur of the moment that the only way to extricate himself, is to kill his oppressor. He concocts a complicated scenario to make it seem as if Parnell is still alive and uses his engraving skills to alleviate any suspicion toward himself. Needless to say -- but I will anyway -- his scheme backfires and Thorndyke discovers small anomalies that lead to the killer.

Very competently written, I can see why Freeman was widely read among Edwardian authors. Well worth the download and the price is certainly right.
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