The Case of the White Footprints

by R. Austin Freeman

Overview

The Case of the White Footprints is a murder mystery set in Margate.

A lady has been found dead in her room in a boarding house. At first glance it looks like a clear case of suicide, but then the two doctors attending the death spot a set of white footprints in paint on the red linoleum of the floor. As the house is currently being repainted, and the window-sills were still covered in wet paint, it is clear that the woman has been murdered by someone who entered and left through the window.

Moreover, the footprints have some strange peculiarities. They are bare footprints...and on both feet it appears that the little toe is missing. When Dr. Thorndyke is called onto the case these extraordinary footprints lead him immediately to the track of the murderer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633552166
Publisher:	Start Classics
Publication date:	05/30/2014
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	30
File size:	256 KB

About the Author

Deemed ‘the father of the scientific detective story’, Richard Austin Freeman enjoyed a prolific career that saw him gain qualifications as pharmacist and surgeon, pull off a diplomatic coup along the Gold Coast, work for Holloway Prison and then become a formidable writer of fiction. He was born in London, the son of a tailor who went on to train as a pharmacist. After graduating as a surgeon at the Middlesex Hospital Medical College, Freeman taught for a while and then joined the colonial service, offering his skills as an assistant surgeon along the Gold Coast of Africa. He became embroiled in a diplomatic mission when a British expeditionary party was sent to investigate the activities of the French. Through his tact and formidable intelligence, a massacre was narrowly avoided. His future was therefore assured in the colonial service. However, after becoming ill with black-water fever, Freeman was sent back to England to recover and finding his finances precarious, embarked on a career as acting physician in Holloway Prison. In desperation, he also turned to writing where he went on to dominate the world of British detective fiction, taking pride in testing different criminal techniques. So keen was he, part of one of his best novels was written in a bomb shelter. For the first twenty-five years of his writing career, Freeman was to dominate and remain unrivalled in the world of detective fiction, introducing the well-loved and highly memorable 'Dr Thorndyke'. The continued success of this character has affirmed Richard Austin Freeman’s place amongst the finest of crime writers.