Not a Whodunit, but a How-Will-He-Catch-Him!

If you ever run across this 1949 anthology in a used book store, snatch it up. It has a really good selection of Golden Age detective stories:

The Purloined Letter - Edgar Allan Poe

The Red-Headed League - Arthur Conan Doyle

The Problem of Cell 13 - Jacques Futrelle

The Case of Oscar Brodski - R. Austin Freeman

The Blue Cross - G. K. Chesterton

The Age of Miracles - Melville Davisson Post

The Little Mystery - E. C. Bentley

The Third-Floor Flat - Agatha Christie

The Yellow Slugs - H. C. Bailey

The Bone of Contention - Dorothy L. Sayers

The Adventure of the African Traveler - Ellery Queen

Instead of Evidence - Rex Stout

The House in Goblin Wood - Carter Dickson

The Dancing Detective - Cornell Woolrich

"The Case of Oscar Brodski," for example, shows us forensic scientist John Thorndyke at his best. This story first appeared in the December 1911 issue of McClure's Magazine.

Those of you who make a point of reading a blog like this might very well know about Thorndyke. He is, in fact, one of the Great Detectives of the Golden Age. Created by R. Austin Freeman, Thorndyke headlined 22 novels and 40 short stories between 1907 and 1942. The structure of these mysteries is interesting, using a method that would most famously be used by Lt. Columbo in the made-for-TV movies starring Peter Falk. Thorndyke and Columbo aren't alike at all in terms of personality and investigative methodology, but their stories are similar in that we (the readers) always know who the killer is. We follow along with the criminal while the crime is being committed, usually in some clever way that leaves him justifibly convinced he'll get away with it. Then we have fun watching Thorndyke gather evidence to prove the killer guilty.

In "The Case of Oscar Brodksi," the killer is jewel thief Silas Hickler, who does not normally employ violence when plying his trade. But when he has a chance to lure diamond merchant Oscar Brodski into his home, the temptation to kill the man to get the diamonds Brodski is carrying quickly becomes irresistable.

The murder is a little messier than Hickler intended, but he eventually manages to smother Brodski to death, then dump the body on a railroad track several hundred yards from his home. A train comes by soon after and Brodski's body is beheaded by the impact. Hickler now has reason to believe the death will be considered an accident or suicide.

And he might have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for that meddling forensic scientist. Dr. Thorndyke is in the area and looks into the case. What follows is a step-by-step and very detailed inspection of the forensic evidence, covering everthing from the materials stuck to the bottom of Brodski's shoes to the the amount of broken glass found near the dead man's eyeglasses. Soon, the evidence and his logical interpretations of that evidence leads him to the home in which the murder occured and the identity of the killer.

It's a wonderfully constructed short story that often seems to be ahead of its time, prefacing the heavy use of forensic evidence that pops up in modern TV crime shows. The Thorndyke stories all build an enormous amount of suspense, despite our knowing who the killer is. Thorndyke's cleverness and use of then-modern forensics keep us fascinated in the process of bringing a murderer to justice.

So pick up that anthology if you ever find it, but make a special point of finding R. Austin Freeman's Dr. Thorndyke tales to treat yourself to the delight of reading them.