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THE TRUE CRIME FILES OF SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE looks at two real crimes in which the creator of Sherlock Holmes was involved. Not only was Conan Doyle interested in creating popular detective stories, he was interested in preventing injustices in real life. This book relates the tales of two men from completely different walks of life, involved in completely different types of crimes. Conan Doyle was a firm believer that regardless of a person’s desirability, they had the same right for justice as the peer. In THE TRUE CRIME FILES OF SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, the reader is presented with a collection of newspaper articles written by both Conan Doyle and other people involved/ concerned with these trials. Although newspaper articles can break the flow of a book, it is interesting to note that Conan Doyle wrote everything in the same manner, he wrote his Sherlock Holmes novels; he did not have distinctive genre styles. This book provides an accurate portray of the concerns and mores of the past. The most interesting element about this is that those concerns are still the concerns of modern American society. It is true that modern society has more technological advances regarding DNA; yet, the quest of unbiased justice never fades. In “The Case of George Ernest Thompson Edalji,” an Indian English lawyer is accused of mutilating animals within his town. The case against him was weak; especially since the crimes continued after Edalji was jailed. Edalji was judged guilty simply for being foreign. Conan Doyle helps the movement to reexamine the case and give Edalji a fair trail. “The Case of Oscar Slater” is a different case. He was a small time criminal charged with a murder he did not commit. Even though Slater is not a “gentleman” or even a nice person, Conan Doyle did not want the innocent punished. After some investigation, Conan Doyle is able to prove that this man did not receive a fair trial either. THE TRUE CRIME FILES OF SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE lacks the cohesion that “pure” mysteries contain; however, it is still a fascinating lack at both Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s motivations and beliefs, as well as how crimes were dealt with in the early 20th century in England. A fan of historical mysteries and biographies should be on the look out for this book.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, March 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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