The Red Thumb Mark: A Dr. Thorndyke Mystery

Before Kathy Reichs’s Temperance Brennan and Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta, there was Dr. Thorndyke, the first ever fictional forensic scientist.

The only evidence against young Reuben Hornby in a jewel theft is his thumb print smeared in blood. It is enough to convict him of the crime until physician Dr. John Thorndyke dares to ask—and answer—the question, “Can a fingerprint be forged?”

The first detective novel to engage in scientific technology, The Red Thumb Mark has become a classic ...