A Silent Witness
A Silent Witness is a Dr Thorndyke mystery by R. Austin Freeman, first published in 1914. Walking home across Hampstead Heath one foggy night, the young doctor Humphrey Jardine stumbles on the body of a man, only for it to vanish before the police arrive. Drawn into the puzzle, and into a romance along the way, he turns to the medical jurist Dr John Thorndyke, whose careful reading of physical evidence slowly builds the truth. Freeman was the master of the scientific detective story, and here he shows how a single fibre, a footprint, or a trace of poison can convict where guesswork fails. This free PDF and EPUB delivers the full novel for lovers of classic crime fiction.
About the Author
R. Austin Freeman (1862-1943) was an English writer who created the forensic detective Dr. Thorndyke and pioneered the scientific and ‘inverted’ detective story. His mysteries prize logic and real science.
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Listen to A Silent Witness Audiobook Free
Listen to A Silent Witness by R. Austin Freeman free online. The full audiobook (10 hr 51 min, 22 chapters, read by Anna Simon) streams free on this page.
A Silent Witness (1914) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapter I - The Beginning of the Mystery | 19:18 | |
| 2 | Chapter II - The Finding of the Reliquary | 14:38 | |
| 3 | Chapter III - "Who is Sylvia?" | 12:36 | |
| 4 | Chapter IV - Septimus Maddock, Deceased | 31:29 | |
| 5 | Chapter V - The Lethal Chamber | 33:25 | |
| 6 | Chapter VI - A Council of War | 27:23 | |
| 7 | Chapter VII - An Unseen Enemy | 21:05 | |
| 8 | Chapter VIII - It's an Ill Wind -- | 28:05 | |
| 9 | Chapter IX - Thorndyke takes up the Scent | 17:45 | |
| 10 | Chapter X - The Unheeded Warning | 18:59 | |
| 11 | Chapter XI - A Chapter of Accidents | 33:44 | |
| 12 | Chapter XII - Miss Vyne | 28:57 | |
| 13 | Chapter XIII - A Mysterious Stranger | 37:54 | |
| 14 | Chapter XIV - A Lonely Woman | 36:05 | |
| 15 | Chapter XV - Exit Dr. Jardine | 35:51 | |
| 16 | Chapter XVI - Enter Father Humperdinck | 50:02 | |
| 17 | Chapter XVII - The Palimpsest | 36:30 | |
| 18 | Chapter XVIII - A Visitor from the States | 25:00 | |
| 19 | Chapter XIX - Tenebrae | 27:38 | |
| 20 | Chapter XX - The Hue and Cry | 29:46 | |
| 21 | Chapter XXI - The Final Problem | 36:49 | |
| 22 | Chapter XXII - Thorndyke reviews the Case | 48:30 |
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