Mr. Fortune's Practice

In Short

This collection of interconnected mysteries follows Reginald Fortune, a man of medical and scientific genius who acts as an indispensable consultant to Scotland Yard. With his deceptively boyish, "plump and pinkly healthy" appearance, Fortune investigates cases that baffle the authorities, moving from the elite enclosures of Ascot to the quiet, dark corners of English country houses. The stories endure because they balance the cold precision of forensic evidence against the irrational, often diabolical impulses of the human heart, all anchored by the sharp, sparring chemistry between Fortune and the dapper Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department, Sidney Lomas.

The Story

The narrative arc is one of relentless pursuit, as Fortune encounters a series of baffling deaths that the public and the police are desperate to ignore. It begins at Ascot, where Fortune spots an "exotic" man among the blameless, uniform crowd, sensing a crime that exists before any body has even been discovered. Soon, he is called to investigate deaths that appear natural but bear the unmistakable marks of sophisticated, untraceable poisons. As the cases shift from high-society murder to the suspicious "accidental" deaths of children and caretakers, Fortune finds himself battling not just criminals, but the institutional complacency of the law.

He repeatedly clashes with officials like the Public Prosecutor, Finchampstead, who prefers a closed case over a difficult truth. Fortune’s process is methodical yet intuitive; he analyzes everything from the "evanescence of evidence"—missing keys, discarded tobacco, and strange medical histories—to the psychological state of the suspects. In the Wilton case, he unravels a plot involving bank frauds and malformed hearts, exposing how a man’s physical "heterotaxy" led to a chain of vengeance.

As the scope of his work expands, the threats become more personal and the motives more abstractly cruel. He chases a phantom thief who kidnaps a peer for a "magic stone," and later finds himself investigating a series of murders where the common factor is not money or gain, but a "devilish passion for cruelty." The resolution of these mysteries often brings little comfort. While he exposes the culprits—such as the philanthropic Lady Chantry, whose charity masked a hunger to watch others suffer—he remains haunted by the sheer "diabolical" nature of the acts. The cycle ends not with triumph, but with the weary recognition that crime is a permanent fixture of human life. Fortune, despite his successes, remains a man apart, cynical about the "noble institution" of the press and the bureaucratic blindness of the police, retreating to his lawn to sip cider cup while waiting for the next inevitable, "satisfactory" case to disturb his peace.

How It Unfolds

The Ascot observation Fortune attends a race meeting and, through a keen, almost instinctive analysis of a stranger’s physical carriage, detects a crime in progress. He warns Lomas that the "beautiful" nature of the coming mystery will defy simple official explanation.

The medical impasse The investigation into a sudden death reveals the limits of standard detective work when confronted with obscure poisons. Fortune and Lomas struggle to connect the victim’s past to his present, finding that money is absent as a motive, leaving only a trail of missing documents.

The bureaucratic obstruction As Fortune pushes for the truth, he is met with resistance from those who wish to maintain the appearance of an orderly, solved case. He mocks the "omniscience" of the press and the stubbornness of legal officials, using his wit to expose their ignorance.

The descent into darkness The cases grow increasingly morbid, moving from financial schemes to the targeting of vulnerable lives. Fortune identifies a patterns of suffering, realizing that the perpetrators are not merely greedy, but driven by a perverse desire to destroy the joy of others.

The final confrontation In the concluding movements, Fortune confronts the source of the cruelty, often finding that the murderer is someone integrated into the fabric of respectable society. He leaves the final judgment to the system, while privately acknowledging the sheer, chilling irrationality of the violence he has uncovered.

The People

Reggie Fortune is the anchor of the work: a man of science who affects a pose of "dapper, debonair" indifference to mask a profound, often wearying commitment to the truth. He wants little more than a quiet life, yet his insatiable need to solve the "unsatisfactory" keeps him tethered to the fray.

The Hon. Sidney Lomas serves as the perfect foil—the "youngest middle-aged man in Europe." As the Chief of the C.I.D., he represents the state: he is polished, pragmatic, and frequently annoyed by Fortune’s refusal to respect the boundaries of official procedure. He wants the case closed; Fortune wants it right.

Superintendent Bell is the grounded, sturdy counterpart to their intellectual flights, representing the hardworking, often frustrated rank-and-file of the police. He is loyal to Fortune, despite the doctor’s tendency to treat him like an errant schoolboy. Together, they form a strange, functional triangle—a trio that manages to function only because Fortune is the only one willing to see the "devilish" truth beneath the surface of English life.

In Its Own Voice

“Go away. No fellow has a right to be as cool as you look. Go quite away. I feel like the three fellows in the Bible who sang in the furnace.”

Fortune dismisses Lomas’s composure while they are at Ascot, feeling the weight of an impending, "anatomical" crime.

“The world’s old and men have been poisoning each other for five thousand years and science only began to look into it yesterday.”

Fortune muses on the history of crime after finding no traces of poison in a victim who clearly died of an unnatural cause.

“Genus diabolical, species feminine. Say that Lady Chantry had a devilish passion for cruelty--and it ended that night in the motor-car.”

Fortune summarizes the terrifying motive of a killer who used philanthropy to hide a deep-seated need to witness human suffering.

What It's Really About

At its heart, the book is an argument against the comfort of easy answers. Fortune’s mission is to peel back the layers of a "respectable" society to reveal the chaotic, often violent, impulses that lie beneath. It probes the tension between the "scientific" mind, which seeks to categorize and solve, and the "diabolical" heart, which often acts without logical gain. The book challenges the reader to consider the cost of maintaining the status quo, suggesting that the police and the public prefer the illusion of order over the ugly, disruptive truth. It is a meditation on the nature of cruelty—what it looks like, how it hides in plain sight, and why it is so often ignored until it is too late.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the slow, deliberate buildup of a classic detective story will find much to admire here. The atmosphere is thick with the languid, slightly jaded sensibility of early twentieth-century England—a world of private clubs, country house weekends, and the constant, dry banter of men who have seen too much. Fortune is a captivating protagonist; his blend of extreme intellect and "naughty boy" charm makes him a precursor to later, more cynical investigators.

However, a modern reader should be prepared for the period’s specific attitudes. The prose often leans into the "upper-class" vernacular of the era, which can feel detached or even alienating to a contemporary ear. Furthermore, the casual, sometimes dismissive way the characters treat suicide and mental instability reflects the clinical, sometimes cold, sensibilities of the time. The length and the deliberate pace of the investigations require a reader who values character-driven deduction over rapid-fire action. If you find yourself drawn to the idea of a hero who fights the bureaucracy as hard as he fights the criminal, and who finds the "beautiful crime" as intellectually stimulating as it is morally abhorrent, this work will stay with you long after the final page.