Shadow Of The Wolf

R. Austin Freeman invented the forensic mystery decades before television discovered DNA. His creation, Dr. John Thorndyke, approaches crime as a scientist approaches a laboratory experiment. This is deduction as precise as mathematics, each clue a data point leading inexorably to truth. When middle-aged businessman Mr. Purcell's young wife Maggie falls dangerously in love with his trusted partner Varney, a passionless marriage ignites into something far darker. The love triangle escalates toward violence, and when the worst occurs, Thorndyke must piece together a tangle of physical evidence and contradictory testimonies. The criminals attempt to misdirect him with lies, but no deception can withstand a mind that reads evidence like text. For readers who thrill at intellectual combat, who want to pit their own wits against a master detective, this novel delivers the pure pleasure of golden age detection. The science feels fresh, the puzzle satisfying, and the period atmosphere absolutely transporting.