Richard Austin Freeman enjoyed a prolific career that saw him gain qualification as pharmacist and surgeon, pull off a diplomatic coup along the Gold Coast, work for Holloway Prison and become a formidable man of fiction. 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. Through the creation of this character, Richard Austin Freeman continues to be read as an extremely popular addition to the world of the mystery novel.

Penrose is an eccentric old man in possession of some dazzling gems, which he won't insure. When Dr Thorndyke is alerted to a burglary at his house, a scrap of paper is found with the word 'lobster' on it and two Latin words, and Penrose has fled in panic after a car accident. The police are clearly mystified but Thorndyke in his indelible style is on track, hunting down a fugitive, testing a theory and getting to the bottom of a tantalising, complex mystery.