What do you think?
Rate this book
The Exploits of Danby Croker: Being Extracts From A Somewhat Disreputable Autobiography
What would you do if your doppelgänger were committing crimes and making the police believe you were the perpetrator? In Danby Croker's case, he decides to retaliate! But that is only one of the problems besetting him in this set of interlinked stories. Given a job as an antique dealer, can he resist the temptations of earning some easy money through a bit of fencing and counterfeiting? And what on earth is he doing going round London dressed as a suffragette?!
Originally written in 1911 by the great author of detective stories R. Austin Freeman, this is a comic novel that may surprise those who know Freeman's work only through the "Dr. Thorndyke" stories!
"Judicious readers of criminal fiction have long since set a mark in their memory against the name of Dr Austin Freeman as the owner of a very agreeable and distinctive vein of invention." (The Times, on the first publication of The Exploits of Danby Croker in book form in 1916)
Originally written in 1911 by the great author of detective stories R. Austin Freeman, this is a comic novel that may surprise those who know Freeman's work only through the "Dr. Thorndyke" stories!
"Judicious readers of criminal fiction have long since set a mark in their memory against the name of Dr Austin Freeman as the owner of a very agreeable and distinctive vein of invention." (The Times, on the first publication of The Exploits of Danby Croker in book form in 1916)
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 4, 2014
1 person is currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
R. Austin Freeman
593 books84 followersRichard Freeman was born in Soho, London on 11 April 1862, the son of Ann Maria (nee Dunn) and Richard Freeman, a tailor. He was originally named Richard, and later added the Austin to his name.
He became a medical trainee at Middlesex Hospital Medical College, and was accepted as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
He married Annie Elizabeth Edwards in 1887; they had two sons. After a few weeks of married life, the couple found themselves in Accra on the Gold Coast, where he was assistant surgeon. His time in Africa produced plenty of hard work, very little money and ill health, so much so that after seven years he was invalided out of the service in 1891. He wrote his first book, 'Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman', which was published in 1898. It was critically acclaimed but made very little money.
On his return to England he set up an eye/ear/nose/throat practice, but in due course his health forced him to give up medicine, although he did have occasional temporary posts, and in World War I he was in the ambulance corps.
He became a writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke. The first of the books in the series was 'The Red Thumb Mark' (1907). His first published crime novel was 'The Adventures of Romney Pringle' (1902) and was a collaborative effort published under the pseudonym Clifford Ashdown. Within a few years he was devoting his time to full-time writing.
With the publication of 'The Singing Bone' (1912) he invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective's attempt to solve the mystery). Thereafter he used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels.
A large proportion of the Dr Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but often quite arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.
He died in Gravesend on 28 September 1943.
He became a medical trainee at Middlesex Hospital Medical College, and was accepted as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
He married Annie Elizabeth Edwards in 1887; they had two sons. After a few weeks of married life, the couple found themselves in Accra on the Gold Coast, where he was assistant surgeon. His time in Africa produced plenty of hard work, very little money and ill health, so much so that after seven years he was invalided out of the service in 1891. He wrote his first book, 'Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman', which was published in 1898. It was critically acclaimed but made very little money.
On his return to England he set up an eye/ear/nose/throat practice, but in due course his health forced him to give up medicine, although he did have occasional temporary posts, and in World War I he was in the ambulance corps.
He became a writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke. The first of the books in the series was 'The Red Thumb Mark' (1907). His first published crime novel was 'The Adventures of Romney Pringle' (1902) and was a collaborative effort published under the pseudonym Clifford Ashdown. Within a few years he was devoting his time to full-time writing.
With the publication of 'The Singing Bone' (1912) he invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective's attempt to solve the mystery). Thereafter he used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels.
A large proportion of the Dr Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but often quite arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.
He died in Gravesend on 28 September 1943.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 3, 2020
This was a true joy to read, from start to finish. I'd never heard of Freeman before, much less read his works, and this was a treat with which to lift that veil of ignorance. The lighthearted turn of phrase used to describe Croker's brushes with the law put him easily on par with Wodehouse. Recommended. You can find it for free through Gutenberg.
June 1, 2025
Strange and whimsical book about a man with a criminal doppelganger (except for blond/black hair), who dyes his hair on a whim and is taken by the police as the other, prompting him to a life of crime. Certainly the best R. Austin Freeman novel I have read.
June 24, 2024
Having enjoyed RAF’s Dr Thorndyke series I was not disappointed with these tales. Much more humourous and light in spirit than Dr T stories and are often laugh out loud funny.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews