The Eye of Osiris

When the eccentric Egyptologist John Bellingham vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a convoluted will and a family teetering on the brink of ruin, it falls to his newly appointed physician, Paul Berkeley, to unravel the enigma. Berkeley, quickly entangled in the family's dire straits and the baffling circumstances of Bellingham's disappearance, realizes this is no ordinary missing persons case. With the family fortune locked in probate limbo and a growing sense of sinister undertones, he turns to his former mentor, the brilliant forensic scientist Dr. John Thorndyke, to apply his rigorous scientific method to a mystery that seems to defy logic. R. Austin Freeman, often hailed as the 'father of the inverted detective story,' here delivers a classic, though not inverted, Thorndyke mystery that exemplifies the golden age of scientific detection. This novel isn't just a whodunit; it's a meticulous procedural showcasing Thorndyke's groundbreaking application of forensic science — from toxicology to trace evidence — long before such methods were commonplace in fiction. It's a fascinating glimpse into the nascent stages of forensic investigation, wrapped in a compelling narrative that will appeal to anyone who appreciates intellectual rigor and a puzzle painstakingly solved.