The Naturalist at Law | R. Austin Freeman | A Bitesized Audiobook

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When a man's body is found drowned in a shallow ditch, it seems a clear case of suicide. But there are several puzzling features: why did he travel miles from home from an area where he was unknown, and how did he get there? Dr. John Thorndyke is asked by the man's brother to investigate, and he soon becomes convinced there is more to the case than meets the eye...

A new, original recording of a classic public domain text, read and performed by Simon Stanhope for Bitesized Audio.

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Richard Austin Freeman (1862–1943) was born in London and trained in medicine at the Middlesex Hospital. After a spell as a house surgeon, he joined the Colonial Service and spent some years working in Africa. He was invalided home with blackwater fever in 1891. Returning to London he worked as an ear, nose and throat specialist, as well as in general practice and, for a time, as Medical Officer at Holloway Prison. He began writing fiction in the early 1900s, initially under the pseudonym "Clifford Ashdown", including the Romney Pringle stories which were serialised in Cassell's Magazine in 1902. Five years later, under his own name, he wrote 'The Red Thumb Mark', the novel which introduced the character of Dr. John Thorndyke.

Thorndyke is a self-described "medical jurispractitioner", having given up practice as a medical doctor to train in the law, and established himself as what is now known as a forensic scientist. He is accompanied in his investigations by his friend and colleague Dr. Christopher Jervis, who narrates the adventures. Of all the many "rivals" to Sherlock Holmes who appeared in fiction at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Thorndyke and Jervis partnership is perhaps the closest parallel to the world of Holmes and Watson. The similarities are underscored both by the original illustrators who depicted Thorndyke very much in the mould of Holmes and also by the casting of John Neville as Thorndyke in a 1971 television adaptation of one of his adventures (Neville played Holmes in the 1965 film 'A Study in Terror', as well as on stage in William Gillette's play). Making his first appearance four years after Holmes's 1903 retirement to Sussex to keep bees, Thorndyke takes on the mantle of Holmes for the next generation, and with his medico-legal training is well equipped for the modern scientific advances of the new century. He appeared in 21 novels and 40 short stories between 1907 and 1942.

Freeman continued writing throughout his career, despite suffering the onset of Parkinson's disease in later life. He briefly paused his output at the start of the second world war in 1939 – before resuming writing in an air raid shelter in his garden. He died aged 81 at his home in Gravesend, Kent, in September 1943.

'The Naturalist at Law' was first printed in Flynn's Weekly, a popular pulp magazine, on 11 December 1926. It later appeared in book form in the compilation volume 'The Famous Cases of Dr. Thorndyke', published in 1929.

Recording © Bitesized Audio 2022.
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More vintage detective stories from the Victorian and Edwardian eras can be found in the "Rivals of Sherlock Holmes" playlist on this channel:

BitesizedAudio
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Simon always delivers. Listen to all his stories to fall asleep to. I really hope people appreciate all of the work that goes into bringing us just one of these. Simon makes it look, or maybe sound, easy. However, listen to some of the very valiant efforts, it has to be said, of some other channels and you will realise that it is anything but. Simon is gifted with his voice, of course, but there's much more to it than that. I absolutely love some of the older and better BBC stuff. But this is a one man show. He deserves all our applause. His is the only subscription that I have notification alerts for, for the simple reason that it delivers consistent listening pleasure. And he does it, lest we forget, whether we can afford to pay for it, or even buy him a coffee. Good luck trying that out with the BBC! Thank you, Simon.

michaelfearon
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I'm a biologist, and knew nearly from the outset where all that was headed. Nature has much to say to those as will listen.

TheMrCougarful
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I heard someone talking about how this type of wandering story was out of fashion.
I'm so glad storytellers like you still put out this kind of content.
It was a delightful tale.
I can't read well anymore (vision) and really miss it. But it has opened up a whole world of listening to great stories by wonderful story tellers like you
Thank you

grannykiminalaska
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Excellent reading of a story with limited "The wrong kind of duckweed" scope. Reminds me of the New Yorker cartoon. A snob says to another, at a cocktail party, "Watch how I work the conversation round to my own narrow area of expertise."

peterchaloner
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Simon, your accents are marvelous & love the detective plots! You are such a gifted narrator. Long time fan from SW Missouri 🇺🇸 ❤️

Bambisgf
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Marvelous! Enjoying every second of this wonderful reading of an outstanding R. Austin Freeman story!!

davidlindsey
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I can't get enough of your stories. It was an excellent day when I found you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

sonjawells
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That was a totally absorbing story Simon. Truly fascinating! Thank You as always

caroleastwood
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Thank you! Much as I love Holmes, Dr. John Thorndyke is the definitive scientific detective.

oldsynner
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The Aluminium Dagger didn't quite quite catch me, but this! Went on to read all the Thorndyke stories I could find :) Thank You for this excellent reading and introducing me to R. Austin Freeman :)

varde
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The one thing I would wish to see on this channel is a playlist of heartwarming dramas, like "A Shoebox of Snow" and "Apple Blossom Afternoon, " both of which aired on the BBC channel. More like those. A lot of audio channels do mystery/detective and ghost/horror stories, but I feel sorely in need of a smile now and then and reassurance that the click-bait garbage on the daily news isn't really what life is all about.

wyominghome
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It is such a treat to hear such delightful prose ( well read !) . Even in the more high brow broadsheets it is rare to come across such fine writing .

michaeldillon
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the cosmopolitan revolutionaries ! I say! what a quaint bunch of evil doers! The language is exquisite, like a little window with a view to a world we cannot enter but it seems to become audible here. Very grateful again for the calm and satisfying rendition.
bestowed sth to his pocket cannot get over that one for some unfathomable reason

persmepersme-it
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That was really good! Very much enjoyed it! I’m loving these detective stories more & more! Thank you so much Simon!🙏🌟🦋

mariameere
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Have been thoroughly looking forward to this and really enjoyed it, thank you Simon! Freeman is one of quite a few authors I hadn't previously known about prior to listening to your channel, very much appreciated 📖

binkie
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Wonderful as always Simon.
I love that you give us a biography of the author in the description. While listening to this I was impressed by the "CSI" action of Dr. Thorndyke. Then I read Freeman's bio in the description and it all made sense. Would love to hear more from him in the future.😊

shannondore
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Really looked forward to listening to this and Simon’s marvellous treacley tones 😃👍

thelastsausage
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Thank you so much, Simon! I hadn't come across this before and found it most enjoyable- I do hope you will record more Thorndyke stories.

susanhepburn
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I'm not usually a fan of detective stories but this on had me hooked. Thank you for such a good reading.

exileinderby
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