The Great Portland Mystery; The Mystery of 31 New Inn; John Thorndyke's Cases; The Puzzle Lock (R Austin Freeman Dr Thorndyke Softcover Collection) Four Volumes)

A four volume collection of R Austin Freeman crime fiction novels, all featuring his recurring character Dr Thorndyke.  Uniformly bound in laminated stiff card covers.  8vo.  All four volumes are neat, clean, bright and tight throughout. Richard Austin Freeman (1862- 1943) was an English crime- writer. His claim to have invented the crime fiction genre known as ‘inverted’ detective stories – where the commission of the crime, and usually the identity of the perpetrator, is revealed at the beginning, with the plot then focussing on how the detective gets his man – has some substance but is not uncontested. He was prolific, popular and wielded much influence over the crime genre, dominating scientific detective fiction for a good part of the early 20th century. His novels continue to be read by a diminished but loyal audience and have been translated onto stage, screen and radio many times.