The True Crime Files of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

by Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen Hines, Steven Womack (Introduction)

Incorporating recently rediscovered original source material relating to two actual true crime cases, this intriguing study recounts two actual criminal investigations--"The Case of George Ernest Thompson Edalji" and "The Case of Oscar Slater"--in which the creator of Sherlock Holmes became involved to prove that two innocent men had been sent to prison for crimes they had not committed.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Mystery, Historical, Classics

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Ashra]

A faithfully-copied rendition of two REAL CRIME files that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the chad, just decided to try and solve for himself when he determined (correctly, as it turns out!) that the arrested defendants were falsely accused!

It was tough to read at times due to the age and repetition of the documents (over 100 years old) but I can't really fault the compiler for what actually happened. I skimmed more than I would have liked to. All the introductions and the little notes about certain goings-on were super helpful, though, and made the process more seamless.

The term "kangaroo court" is used unironically and I think that might be my perfect summation of what I just read. It's horrible how these two men were both assumed guilty in their sham trials. And these were REAL people who were pretty much saved by the skin of their teeth and a ton of letters from Conan Doyle's behalf.

What a horrifically fascinating bit of history!

[Abby]

*4.5* it was interesting but tedious at times.

[Nancy Oakes]

Don't expect an easy read here. This book is for people who are genuinely interested in a specific aspect of the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in which he takes up two cases to bring about some sort of justice where the defendants fail to receive it either from the police or from the courts. The first case is that of George Ernest Thompson Edalji, a 20-something young lawyer living with his parents at their Vicarage home. For years he had been the receiver of some very bizarre and often threatening letters; his family had been plagued with some very strange events as well. Edalji was arrested for a series of animal mutilations and taken away to prison for seven years. Now, if this sounds familiar, it may be because this was the case upon which Julian Barnes based his book (which was outstanding, by the way) Arthur and George. Conan Doyle got involved when out of nowhere, the Crown released Edalji for no known reason about halfway through his sentence, but would not grant him a pardon. He wrote to Sir Arthur to see if there was anything that the famous author could do to help. As the book notes, Conan Doyle's campaign to obtain pardon or Edalji took place mainly in the form of letters to various newspapers. Also, as the author notes, the newspaper was where most people got their info on the issues of the day -- our equivalent to newsradio, CNN and the internet combined.

The second case was that of probably wrongly-convicted Oscar Slater, who was accused of murdering a woman who lived barricaded in her flat with her collection of jewelry. Conan Doyle got on this case after Slater had been in prison for some time, and quite possibly saved him from being executed. In both cases, you get a good feel for the ineptness of the police of the time, the politics of the courts and the legal system, and especially in the Edalji case, you get a brief insight into the power of the press.

As I said, not an easy read; this one I think would be appropriate for those interested in true crime, or in the life and career of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Most of the story is told in AC Doyle's words; there is only minimal interference by the editor. Recommended.

[Phyllis]

I found this book kind of boring. That Conan Doyle took on public, written defense of these real-life cases of perceived (and, it seems, actual) injustice due to police laziness and/or incompetence coupled with possible bad defense is, in itself, interesting. But the whole arguments seem to have dragged on and on with the same points repeated ad nauseum.

One does marvel at the situations. And I did finish reading the book, which combines "The Case of George Ernest Thompson Edalji" and "The Case of Oscar Slater" into one volume. But I think I continued reading more out of a sense of outrage at the long-gone situations than real fascination.

[Susan Gaston]

Great resource material for a presentation I'm doing.

[Gürkan Çoşkun]

5/10

[Lilja]

My star rating is not fair for this book. I gave it three as I did not finish it. I read the introduction to the book written by Steven Womack, where he actually goes into great, if at times confusing, details about each of the cases the rest of the book examines. After I read said introduction I felt that reading the rest of the book would be a waste of time. All the main points and most intriguing facts and outcomes were pretty much summed up before you even got to the first chapter.
A case where one authors good intentions ruined my interest in another authors book.

[Angie]

Oh, good heavens. Interesting enough for how it reveals both Doyle's interest in law and real-time detection as well as his ingrained social biases but as dry a slog as any you could imagine since it was composed almost entirely of first-hand accounts from turn-of-the-century England.

[Kate]

A bit tedious and confusing at times, but otherwise fascinating.

[Jessica]

I don't have this book yet.

[Maida]

A ComPlEtE PAcKagE Of iNteReSt wId A TiNgE oV IntElleCt To mOuLd tHe ciRcUmStAnCeS tO EvAde tHe mOoD oF HoMoGeNiTy :)

[Hannah]

The introduction was interesting. What followed not so much.

[Yosef Shapiro]

Good idea.But, not as interesting as one would think.

[Norman Howe]

Science-Fiction

[Sue]

Everything I needed to know was in the first 26 pages, called "Introduction." As for the rest, nah.