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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 22 customer reviews )
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6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
The Crime Doctor is back! Nov 29, 2007
By Riley0091
After creating the popular character of Raffles, the gentleman thief, E.W. Hornung received some criticism from his brother-in-law, Sir Conan Doyle. The famous author of the Sherlock Holmes series was not keen on the idea of a "gentleman thief" who aided the police in solving crimes and thought the notion could glorify the criminal element. The criticism was taken to heart and in a few years THE CRIME DOCTOR hit the bookstores.
Dr. John Dollar, the Crime Doctor, is a man of science who uses his cunning intellect in the war against crime. In all intent and purpose, Dr. Dollar is E.W. Hornung's updated version of Holmes. So much so, that Hornung commissioned Frederic Dorr Steele, the artist who illustrated the Holmes books, for THE CRIME DOCTOR's illustrations (included in this volume.) And like the great detective and Watson, John Dollar, aided by his society Lady assistant, tackles a series of puzzling mysteries involving espionage, jewel thefts, arson, and murder--- all set in the Edwardian age of the motor-car and electric light. THE CRIME DOCTOR is great fun for any mystery fiction fan.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
To protect and serve almost one century ago... Dec 08, 2007
By Jack
While EW Hornung is most well known for his creation of AJ Raffles, with many believing that Raffles is an inversion of Sherlock Holmes, I am of the opinion that THE CRIME DOCTOR was meant to serve the role of "opposite number" to Raffles.
While Raffles held a fair degree of contempt for English society, John Dollar, in his service to England, walks both within high society and the underbelly of London to pit his skills and experience against criminals and their pathology whatever their station.
THE CRIME DOCTOR provides a fascinating insight into EW Hornung, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, their literary creations (Dollar and Holmes, specifically) and their amazing ability to take readers back to the fog-ridden, cobble-stone streets of England to solve mysteries and face-off against the deadliest of foes in their adventures across Europe.
For any fan of mystery and crime, THE CRIME DOCTOR will be money well spent!
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Crime Doctor territory Dec 03, 2007
By M. Evans
London in the early 20th century was a city of startling contrasts. New building and wealthy development went hand in hand with horribly overcrowded slums where people lived in the worst conditions imaginable. Like the city, the Crime Doctor's enemies (murderers, mad men, anarchists, and foreign enemies to the Crown) were of contrast as well. From the common smash-and-grab thief with a hammer in one hand and pilfered jewelry in the other, to the dashing foreign spy, whose government aggressive naval escalations could bring England to the brink of war, are just two of the foes Doctor Dollar has to dispatch. Reading these fast-paced stories, you'll get the feeling that Doctor Dollar is Sherlock Holmes, Professor Quatermass and James Bond all rolled up into one.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Great fun Dec 02, 2007
By Shelby
I ordered a first edition hardcover (1906, I think) of this book online a year ago for $65 but could not read it because it reeked of cigarette smoke and mold. Merely having it in my den would trigger an allergy attack so I had to toss it. I picked up this edition of the Crime Doctor and I'm glad I did. The stories were enjoyable, especially the last one, and the illustrations reprinted well.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Out of the fog Dec 02, 2007
By Louis
In the mid 1800's England was an empire. Under British colonial rule, Queen Victoria's armies occupied twenty-five percent of the nations of this planet, implementing parliamentary law and English culture across the globe. No other fictional character bolstered the perception of Anglo-supremacy and Christian virtue than Sherlock Holmes, the UK's foremost consulting detective. But in the early 1900s, the English empire started to crumble. Their involvement in the Boer wars, a difficult and bloody campaign that saw the conception of concentration camps for women and children, had the British citizenry equally divided between support and protest. Out of this moral ambiguity and social turmoil comes EW Hornung's Crime Doctor, a man who himself crippled in that horrific campaign. He is not portrayed as a superman who needs the intellectual challenge of pursuing criminals to sway his boredom, but as an all too human solider, who after being cured of his injury that caused a personality imbalance, has a deep seeded desire to help his fellow man by the eradication of crime, by using any means at his disposal. It would be unfair for me to list any highlights of his adventures since they follow a chronological order and I wouldn't want to rob you of any enjoyment by inadvertently giving away any plot points. But I will say that reading THE CRIME DOCTOR is time well spent.
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