The First R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK ®. R. Austin Freeman

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      COPYRIGHT INFO

      This First R. Austin Freeman Megapack is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC. Cover art copyright © Allapen / Fotolia. All rights reserved.

      [Version 1.2]

      A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

      Richard Austin Freeman (1862–1943) has a well-deserved reputation as a master of the mystery story, primarily for his long-running series about Dr. John Thorndyke, the first medico-legal forensic investigator. Freeman claimed to have invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective’s attempt to solve the mystery). Freeman used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels.

      Many of the Dr. Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but often quite arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy, and toxicology. Fans of classic mysteries will enjoy his work.

      Note to readers: Because of arcane copyright laws in the United States, some of Freeman’s later works cannot be made availably there. We have, therefore, split his work into two volumes: The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack contains his earlier works and is available everywhere in the world. The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack contains later works and is available everywhere except the United States. My apologies to U.S. readers. (You can blame Sonny Bono and Walt Disney.)

      ABOUT THE MEGAPACKS

      Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has grown to be among our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

      The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)

      A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS

      The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)

      RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

      Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

      Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

      TYPOS

      Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

      If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.

      THE MEGAPACK SERIES

      MYSTERY

      The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

      The Charlie Chan Megapack*

      The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack

      The Detective Megapack

      The Father Brown Megapack

      The Girl Detective Megapack

      The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack

      The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack*

      The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

      The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack

      The First Mystery Megapack

      The Penny Parker Megapack

      The Philo Vance Megapack*

      The Pulp Fiction Megapack

      The Raffles Megapack

      The Sherlock Holmes Megapack

      The Victorian Mystery Megapack

      The Wilkie Collins Megapack

      GENERAL INTEREST

      The Adventure Megapack

      The Baseball Megapack

      The Cat Story Megapack

      The Second Cat Story Megapack

      The Third Cat Story Megapack

      The Third Cat Story Megapack

      The Christmas Megapack

      The Second Christmas Megapack

      The Classic American Short Stories Megapack, Vol. 1.

      The Classic Humor Megapack

      The Dog Story Megapack

      The Doll Story Megapack

      The Horse Story Megapack

      The Military Megapack

      The Sea-Story Megapack

      SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

      The Edward Bellamy Megapack

      The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

      The Fredric Brown Megapack

      The Ray Cummings Megapack

      The Philip K. Dick Megapack

      The Dragon Megapack

      The Randall Garrett Megapack

      The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

      The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

      The C.J. Henderson Megapack

      The Murray Leinster Megapack

      The Second Murray Leinster Megapack

      The Martian Megapack

      The E. Nesbit Megapack

      The Andre Norton Megapack

      The H. Beam Piper Megapack

      The Pulp Fiction Megapack

      The Mack Reynolds Megapack

      The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

      The Science-Fantasy Megapack

      The First Science Fiction Megapack

      The Second Science Fiction Megapack

      The Third Science Fiction Megapack

      The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack

      The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack

      The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack

      The Seventh Science Fiction Megapack

      The Eighth Science Fiction Megapack

      The Robert Sheckley Megapack

      The Steampunk Megapack

      The Time Travel Megapack

      The Wizard of Oz Megapack

      HORROR

      The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

      The Second Achmed Abdullah Megapack

      The E.F. Benson Megapack

      The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

      The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

      The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

      The