R. Austin Freeman’s Dr Thorndyke mysteries don’t seem to be highly regarded these days, and certainly Freeman’s writing style isn’t as exciting as many of the other Golden Age writers. The Red Thumb Mark is actually Edwardian, and it would probably be more appropriate to compare Freeman to Arthur Conan Doyle rather than Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers (Doyle published the Holmes stories between 1887 and 1927, spanning the Victorian and Edwardian eras). Mouse over the link CSS tooltip showing up when your mouse over the link But Freeman was one of the founding members of the Detection Club, and he continued to write mysteries until his death in 1943, so he gets included with other Golden Age writers.