For the Defence: Dr.
Thorndyke (1934)
Blurb:
My review:
A decidedly uneven work, which falls into two sections markedly disparate in quality. The first concerns the adventures of Andrew Barton, whose inferiority complex, stemming from a broken nose, ultimately causes him to fall into a very nasty dilemma: if he proves he is Andrew, he will be arrested for one murder; if he doesn’t, he will be hanged as his cousin for his own murder. It has been said that tragedy is only comedy gone wrong, and the bones of the story are not too dissimilar from those of a Wodehouse novel. Unfortunately, the second half is rather flat. While there is, of course, nothing to complain about in Thorndyke’s reconstruction of the facts, it is very anti-climactic; there is never any doubt that Andrew will be acquitted, so suspense and tension are lost.
To the R. Austin Freeman Page.