I’ve been collecting Victorian and Edwardian detective memoirs for some time, as they are an invaluable source of information on the sleuthing skills and adventures of early investigators. My latest read is the memoirs of Edinburgh detective, James McLevy, who published his recollections of his thirty-year police service after his retirement in 1860.
The two volumes of McLevy’s remembrances not only offer a detailed insight into crime and criminals in his city of Edinburgh in the mid-nineteenth century, but they also reveal how the Scottish detective tackled offences such as theft, housebreaking, forgery, fraud and the occasional murder. His fascinating casebook demonstrates his rather traditional, but effective, investigative skills, which led to his nickname, ‘Edinburgh’s Sherlock Holmes’. There are also some rather quirky episodes.
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