Volume VIII contains the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth full-length Thorndyke adventures, published in 1934, 1936, and 1937, respectively. For the Defense: Dr. Thorndyke - Andrew Barton dreaded meeting up with his identical cousin that he usually tried to avoid. Then Death joined them, and Andrew found himself in an unbelievable spiral of events that would rip him away from the life he loved forever. His only hope is if Dr. Thorndyke believes his impossible story! The Penrose Mystery - The eccentric collector had vanished, leaving a locked room possibly full of valuables, and legal questions regarding what to do next. Thorndyke's involvement leads to even more puzzles, and the tragic excavation at an Ancient British Barrow. - The man found dead in his chambers appeared to have committed suicide - felo de se - but did he? The facts don't add up, and Thorndyke's scientific investigation reveals a most unique crime. When Sherlock Holmes began his practice as a "Consulting Detective", his ideas of scientific criminal investigations caused the London police to look upon him as a mere "theorist". And yet, through his work, the science behind catching criminals became so important that it's hard to now imagine the world without them. Many famous Great Detectives followed in Holmes's footsteps - Nero Wolfe and Ellery Queen, Hercule Poirot and Solar Pons - but before they began their careers, and while Holmes was still in practice in Baker Street, another London consultant - Dr. John Thorndyke - opened his doors, using the scientific methods developed and perfected by Holmes and taking them to a whole new level of brilliance. Between 1905, with his first appearance in a nearly forgotten novella (see below), to 1942, and through the course of twenty-one novels and over forty short stories, Dr. Thorndyke, often with the assistance of his friend Dr. Christopher Jervis, unraveled some incredibly complex puzzles. Besides providing very satisfying mysteries - some of which turned the literary form inside out - these adventures present vivid pictures of England in the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras, ranging from the doctor's own vividly drawn chambers at 5A Kings Bench Walk in the Temple to the surrounding London streets, and beyond into the villages and towns of the countryside. Many of the Thorndyke volumes have been difficult to obtain for decades. MX Publishing is proud to announce the return of Dr. Thorndyke in a collection of omnibus editions, bringing these masterful adventures of one of the world's greatest detectives together in an easily available format for modern readers. "Thorndyke will cheerfully show you all the facts. You will be none the wiser . . . . " - Dorothy L. Sayers, Chronicler of Lord Peter Wimsey