Conan Doyle for the Defence by Margalit Fox

Skip to product information
1 of 1

Conan Doyle for the Defence by Margalit Fox

Regular price
Checking stock...
Regular price
Checking stock...
Summary

Arthur and George meets The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: how the creator of Sherlock Holmes overturned one of the great miscarriages of justice.

The feel-good place to buy books
  • Free delivery in the UK
  • Supporting authors with AuthorSHARE
  • 100% recyclable packaging
  • Proud to be a B Corp – A Business for good
  • Buy-back with World of Books - Sell Your Books

Conan Doyle for the Defence by Margalit Fox

Just before Christmas 1908, Marion Gilchrist, a wealthy 82-year-old spinster, was found bludgeoned to death in her Glasgow home. A valuable diamond brooch was missing, and police soon fastened on a suspect - Oscar Slater, a Jewish immigrant who was rumoured to have a disreputable character. Slater had an alibi, but was nonetheless convicted and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment in the notorious Peterhead Prison. Seventeen years later, a convict called William Gordon was released from Peterhead. Concealed in a false tooth was a message, addressed to the only man Slater thought could help him - Arthur Conan Doyle. Always a champion of the downtrodden, Conan Doyle turned his formidable talents to freeing Slater, deploying a forensic mind worthy of Sherlock Holmes. Drawing from original sources including Oscar Slater's prison letters, this is Margalit Fox's vivid and compelling account of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in Scottish history.
Like a good murder mystery, Conan Doyle for the Defence is a fast-paced read that twists and turns with the panache of a Holmes short story-- Paula Byrne * The Times *
This is a first-class book: pacy, insightful and lucid -- James McConnachie * The Sunday Times *
lucid and engaging -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *
True-crime writing at its finest... a real page-turner... definitely a must for fans of Sherlock Holmes * Belfast Telegraph *
Margalit Fox is an award-winning senior writer at The New York Times. Her previous book, The Riddle of the Labyrinth (Profile, 2013), about the decipherment of the mysterious Bronze Age script Linear B, received the 2014 William Saroyan Prize for Nonfiction. Find her on Twitter @margalitfox
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781781253571
ISBN 10 1781253579
Title Conan Doyle for the Defence
Author Margalit Fox
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Year published 2019-06-06
Number of pages 368
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable