The Crime Doctor

by E.W. Hornung

In the tradition of the Great Detective, Sherlock Holmes, we present E.W. Hornung's THE CRIME DOCTOR.
John Dollar, a former soldier recovering from a head injury, becomes an amateur sleuth as well as a man of medical science- one with a unique outlook on the criminal mind, and how to treat this growing threat to Crown and Country; and as the villains will discover, he stands ready to use the black arts of subterfuge, disguise, and violence in the service of a good cause.

In his exploits throughout Europe, he encounters mystery and deception beginning with a theft from Britain's secretary of state; a race to save a wrongly condemned man; the questionable rehabilitation of a career criminal; a spy with access to the Admiralty's most secret blueprints; an intrigue-ridden Continental train trip; a Swiss trek to aid the surgeon who healed him of his kleptomania, a haunting at an English manor; an encounter with arson-minded suffragettes; and finally, a showdown with a murderous arch-foe.

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 26, 1914

About the author

Ernest William Hornung known as Willie, was an English author, most famous for writing the Raffles series of novels about a gentleman thief in late Victorian London.

In addition to his novels and short stories Hornung wrote some war verse, and a play based on the Raffles stories was produced successfully. He was much interested in cricket, and was "a man of large and generous nature, a delightful companion and conversationalist".

Reviews

[John Yeoman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a feast of droll conceits, satiric sub-texts and fun characterization but, alas, all is muffled in a purple fog of verbiage. I didn't finish it. The fog got me...

[Armin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hauptmann der britischen Armee erhält im Burenkrieg eine Kopfverletzung und entwickelt sich danach zum Kleptomanen. Nachdem er alle Londoner Koryphäen vergeblich konsultiert hat, findet ein Arzt in einem schweizer Wintersport-Paradies die Lösung. Die Rettung des Erlösers vor einem falschen Verdacht ist einer der zentralen Fälle von Doktor Dollar, der bis in den Showdown der miteinander verknüpften sieben Fälle darstellt.
Zu Beginn gewinnt Dollar den Innenminister für sein therapeutisches Precrime-Projekt und wird bei der Lösung schwieriger Fälle konsultiert. Dabei gelingt es ihm Croucher, einen professionellen Dieb, der zur falschen Zeit am falschen Ort war, vor der Hinrichtung zu bewahren und die Frau, die den Bobby aus Versehen getötet hat, vor der Strafverfolgung zu bewahren. Suffragetten-Oberhaupt Lady Vera ist seine große Liebe, zugleich leichte Beute für den unheilbaren Croucher, der sein Wissen mehrfach gewinnbringend anwenden will. Dabei auch, vermeintlich reumütig in die Therapie zurück kehrt, um dem Erzfeind des Doktors nicht nur sämtliche Türen zu öffnen.
Klingt eigentlich gar nicht so schlecht, leider ist die Ausführung absolut miserabel, die Auflösung nur so hingeschludert. Dieser späte Erguss ist kein Vergleich zu den Raffles-Bänden oder auch dem frühen Abenteuerkrimi Death men don't tell tales.

[Devon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book! People sure have driven its rating down on here because of the language (read: Victorian/Edwardian and into the 20th century) being too dense. It was ENJOYABLE. EXCITING!! The twists really got me; the last chapter I said “holy shit!” out loud!

I’ve read Raffles, and Raffles is probably my favourite series ever, but one oughtn’t compare the two. This feels like the moral answer to Raffles; the world has certainly changed immensely between Raffles and Dollar, and the book definitely reflects it, even though only a couple decades have elapsed.

It’s a very quick read, and thoroughly absorbing, and I love how each story is interconnected with the characters popping up again in later chapters. That’s always a delight to see, in my personal opinion.

I recommend it, at least to those who don’t mind a healthy dose of poetical waxing.

[Richie Kercenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a dexterous manner, the novel traces back criminality to its social genesis. Women's hardships, the women's suffrage movement, and the bread strike, by way of illustration, had contributed greatly to the propagation of crime by the turn of the century and during the early 1900s. By reaching such a conclusion, the author does not denounce these social reactions as responsible for criminality, but rather blames the unjust social order which stood between people and their rights, leading thus to violent altercations.

At the same time, the book celebrates the rise of psychology and psychiatry subsequent to the widespread of Freud's theories. The crime Doctor, namely John Dollar, represents the new type of medical men who viewed clinical cases of criminality under the objective lenses of science. To the 21st century reader, this might not seem much of an accomplishment, but a quick inspection of English medical history would reveal astounding cases of backward thinking which attributed instances of what is now known as the criminally insane to demonic possessions and curses of a similar kind.

Neurology occupies a considerable portion of the novel as an additional corroboration of the rise of science and its importance in the daily life of people. Dollar's own life was saved by a surgical procedure after an unfortunate accident had turned him into a Kleptomaniac. An injury of the Frontal Lobes might lead to such complications leaving the patient in a state of vulnerability in regard to his own drives. The law, however, was utterly indifferent to the neurological causes of crimes. Accordingly, many an innocent victim were hanged and jailed when all they truly required was medical assistance. The novel voices such viewpoint and emphasizes the necessity of making science the stepping stone of all other regulations and domains.

The character of Mostyn Scarth, however, is an important reminder that not all criminals are victims of neurological conditions, and that some of them are simply given to evil ways.

[Cheyenne Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is what I imagine it would be like to be ZONKED out on laughing gas, have the dentist read Sherlock Holmes to you instead of operating, then when you’re lucid ask you to re-tell what you heard.

I had no idea what was going on half the time. The prose had stunning diamonds of moments, then fluffed flutter otherwise.

I wanted to love this.

[وجدان .. · Rating 4 out of 5]

شكراً شكراً للمترجمة على الترجمة البطلة👏🏻استمتعت بقراءة الكتاب،رغم إني ماكنت أقرا بشكل مكثف،كنت لما أذهب لسريري أقرا الكتاب فرتم القراءة غير ثابت،لكن عشت مع الكتاب بكل جوارحي،استمتعت بمغامرات دكتور دولار وتمنيت تكون له سلسلة مو فقط كتاب،كتاب خفيف لذيذ ممتع،اقيمه ٤،٥من٥

[Ronald · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bit hard to follow because of when it was written & in the style of the day; even these are short stories they are connected in time & the same supporting characters; Hornung is the creator of Raffles & brother-in-law of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle