cimorene

R Austin Freeman (1862-1943) was a British writer and his Dr John Evelyn Thorndyke is a "medical jurisprudence" practitioner who appears in mysteries from 1907 to the 40s doing a kind of pathologist+every other kind of sleuthing thing and coordinating with defense lawyers (which includes both barristers and solicitors apparently, and they're both present in the courtroom, which I didn't know before these books). The Red Thumb Mark (1907) and The Eye of Osiris (1911) were great and both genuinely fascinating with unique twists. The Mystery of 31, New Inn (1912) was a great time and so was The Silent Witness (1914), both dealing with hilariously obscure connections between two apparently unconnected cases (although in both cases the connection's obvious to the reader and the stupidity of the narrator, who is always a protege of Thorndyke, is a frustrating/comedic throughline of dramatic irony). There's bits of the author's prejudices of the day although mostly only the idea that women are naturally warm cuddly nurturing graceful homemakers... up until Helen Vardon's Confession (1922), which has a strong theme of antisemitism. This wasn't anything unusual if you've read plenty of vintage British books before so it was more curious than nauseating. There are a bunch more, but I took a break after that one. Plus they're supposed to get worse over time, as apparently is generally thought about lots of mystery writers.

Anna Katherine Green was an American writer who published an early precursor to Miss Marple in 1897, a spinster lady detective named Miss Butterworth with The Affair Next Door, set in New York City. That was a really entertaining time too. I picked up another one of her books and it's comparatively boring without Miss Butterworth, but I'm going to give it another chance.