Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In this heady true crime procedural, the creator of Sherlock Holmes uses his unparalleled detective skills to exonerate a German Jew wrongly imprisoned for a brutal murder in the early twentieth century, and sound a victory for reason over reflexive prejudice. In 1908 an elderly woman was brutally murdered in her London apartment. The police found a convenient but innocent suspect in Oscar Slater--a Jewish cardsharp living with a prostitute--who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, already the world-famous creator of Detective Sherlock Holmes, was outraged by this injustice and became obsessed with the case. Over a period of 17 years, he scoured trial transcripts, newspaper accounts, and police diaries, meticulously noting myriad holes and inconsistencies. He traveled to Glasgow to visit the crime scene and privately re-interviewed many witnesses. Finally, in 1927, his work resulted in a full exoneration for Slater.
Conan Doyle for the Defense immerses readers in the science of Edwardian crime detection, telling the story of how Conan Doyle managed to get this murder conviction overturned by employing the methods of his most famous creation. Along the way, Fox illuminates a watershed moment in the history of criminal justice when romanticism and reflexive prejudice began gradually to be replaced by reason and the scientific method.
Synopsis
In this heady true-crime procedural, the creator of Sherlock Holmes uses his unparalleled detective skills to exonerate a German Jew wrongly convicted of murder, and sound a victory for reason over reflexive prejudice. In 1908, a wealthy woman was brutally murdered in her Glasgow apartment. The police found a convenient but innocent suspect in Oscar Slater--an immigrant Jewish cardsharp--who was tried, convicted, and consigned to life at hard labor in a merciless Scottish prison. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, already world famous as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was outraged by this injustice and became obsessed with the case. He scoured trial transcripts, newspaper accounts, and eyewitness statements, meticulously noting myriad holes, inconsistencies, and outright fabrications. Finally, in 1927, his work won Slater's freedom. Conan Doyle for the Defense immerses readers in the science of Edwardian crime detection, telling the story of how Conan Doyle managed to overturn a murder conviction in the era before modern forensics--simply by employing the methods of his most famous creation. Along the way, Margalit Fox illuminates a watershed moment in the history of criminal justice, when reflexive prejudice began to be replaced by reason and the scientific method.
Synopsis
In this thrilling true-crime procedural, the creator of Sherlock Holmes uses his unparalleled detective skills to exonerate a German Jew wrongly convicted of murder. For all the scores of biographies of Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the most famous detective in the world, there is no recent book that tells this remarkable story--in which Conan Doyle becomes a real-life detective on an actual murder case. In Conan Doyle for the Defense, Margalit Fox takes us step by step inside Conan Doyle's investigative process and illuminates a murder mystery that is also a morality play for our time--a story of ethnic, religious, and anti-immigrant bias.
In 1908, a wealthy woman was brutally murdered in her Glasgow home. The police found a convenient suspect in Oscar Slater--an immigrant Jewish cardsharp--who, despite his obvious innocence, was tried, convicted, and consigned to life at hard labor in a brutal Scottish prison. Conan Doyle, already world famous as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was outraged by this injustice and became obsessed with the case. Using the methods of his most famous character, he scoured trial transcripts, newspaper accounts, and eyewitness statements, meticulously noting myriad holes, inconsistencies, and outright fabrications by police and prosecutors. Finally, in 1927, his work won Slater's freedom.
Margalit Fox, a celebrated longtime writer for The New York Times, has "a nose for interesting facts, the ability to construct a taut narrative arc, and a Dickens-level gift for concisely conveying personality" (Kathryn Schulz, New York). In Conan Doyle for the Defense, she immerses readers in the science of Edwardian crime detection and illuminates a watershed moment in the history of forensics, when reflexive prejudice began to be replaced by reason and the scientific method.
Advance praise for Conan Doyle for the Defense
"I cannot speak too highly of this remarkable book, which entirely captivated me with its rich attention to detail, its intelligence and elegant phrasing, and, most of all, its nail-biting excitement."--Simon Winchester, author of The Perfectionists and The Professor and the Madman
"Fox brings to life a forgotten cause c l bre in this page-turning account of how mystery writer-turned-real life sleuth Arthur Conan Doyle helped exonerate a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder. . . . The author's exhaustive research and balanced analysis make this a definitive account, with pertinent repercussions for our times."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Synopsis
"A wonderfully vivid portrait of the man behind Sherlock Holmes . . . Like all the best historical true crime books, it's about so much more than crime."--Tana French, author of In the Woods A sensational Edwardian murder. A scandalous wrongful conviction. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the rescue--a true story. After a wealthy woman was brutally murdered in her Glasgow home in 1908, the police found a convenient suspect in Oscar Slater, an immigrant Jewish cardsharp. Though he was known to be innocent, Slater was tried, convicted, and consigned to life at hard labor. Outraged by this injustice, Arthur Conan Doyle, already world famous as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, used the methods of his most famous character to reinvestigate the case, ultimately winning Slater's freedom.
With "an eye for the telling detail, a forensic sense of evidence and a relish for research" (The Wall Street Journal), Margalit Fox immerses readers in the science of Edwardian crime detection and illuminates a watershed moment in its history, when reflexive prejudice began to be replaced by reason and the scientific method.
Praise for Conan Doyle for the Defense
"Artful and compelling . . . Fox's] narrative momentum never flags. . . . Conan Doyle for the Defense will captivate almost any reader while being pure catnip for the devotee of true-crime writing."--The Washington Post
"Developed with brio . . . Fox] is excellent in linking the 19th-century creation of policing and detection with the development of both detective fiction and the science of forensics--ballistics, fingerprints, toxicology and serology--as well as the quasi science of 'criminal anthropology.'"--The New York Times Book Review
" Fox] has an eye for the telling detail, a forensic sense of evidence and a relish for research."--The Wall Street Journal
"Gripping . . . The book works on two levels, much like a good Holmes case. First, it is a fluid story of a crime. . . . Second, and more pertinently, it is a deeper story of how prejudice against a class of people, the covering up of sloppy police work and a poisonous political atmosphere can doom an innocent. We should all heed Holmes's salutary lesson: rationally follow the facts to find the truth."--Time
"There have been biographies of Arthur Conan Doyle before, but none quite like Margalit Fox's Conan Doyle for the Defense. Looking at the true story about one specific incident in Doyle's life in this book, Sherlock Holmes himself could be proud."--Virginia McGee Butler