Freeman, R Austin -- The Stoneware Monkey (1938)

Can you see the relation between a robbery with violence in Newingstead and a self - called artist suffering gastric troubles due to arsenic poisoning? No? Don't worry: Dr. Oldfield can't either. Happily people like Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke exist to answer questions like these. Though Julian Symons dismissed them as being like “chewing dry straw”, the exploits of Dr. Thorndyke are always extremely readable, and this one is not exception to the rule. Freeman's strength isn't whodunit and surprise murderers: who, how and why are usually easy to spot. His interest isn't in the crime per se, but the way it is solved. Thorndyke's analytic, machine - like brain is marvelous to see at work as he unfolds an implacably logical plot. Occasionally stilted prose and dialogue definitely don't matter, the more so as some humor shows now and then. The satire of “modern” art and artists, and brave Dr. Jarvis' puzzled reactions to them, are positively side-splitting. - French - ****

Xavier

As late as 1938, Freeman was still writing versions of his early trilogy. The first six chapters of The Stoneware Monkey (1938) recapitulate themes from the earlier trilogy: "31 New Inn", The Eye of Osiris, and A Silent Witness]. These opening chapters are well written, displaying Freeman's storytelling skill, and form a well made novella. However, their solution is fairly obvious, and the book runs out of steam, after these initial chapters set up the plot.

Mike Grost

See also http://moonlight-detective.blogspot.com/2011/08/all-that-remains.html