Yup.... Pretty much.... 

Just Finished Reading: American Sherlocks – Stories from the Golden Age of the American Detective edited by Nick Rennison (FP: 2021) [332pp] 

With the popularity of Sherlock Holmes both in his own country and across Europe, it should come as no surprise that he was both applauded and duplicated in the United States especially in the new media of daily newspapers and periodic magazines. This collection of 15 short stories dating from 1890 to 1920 shows off the range of results. 

As with all collections the quality of tale – both in its execution and narrative style – was variable. In fact, the first half of the book didn't impress me very much at all. Only when I reached the second half did I actually start enjoying the experience. I'm not sure if this was the result of stories improving or whether, as the moved deeper into the early 20th century, they simply became both more modern and more familiar.  

The first story, The Doomdorf Mystery by Melville Davisson Post (creator of 'Uncle Abner') was a locked room mystery that (unfortunately for my enjoyment) I solved instantly once a single 'off-hand' clue was provided. The 'mystery' rested on the readers (and a secondary character's) ignorance of basic physics that everyone these days should be familiar with – even if you haven't watched/read endless detective stories. 

Likewise other stories depended on the detectives 'sleight of hand' or rather dubious deductive reasoning. There was certainly very little in the way of forensic evidence or, rather surprisingly, police involvement at any point! Having read the previous non-fiction on early US crime scene forensics I now appreciate just why the police flayed about so much and built their cases on precious little actual evidence. My advice to criminals of that age – both fictional and real – was to claim they're innocent, go to trial and cause so much doubt about the prosecution case that they'd walk free more often than not. 

After the halfway mark things did get more interesting. One thing I did find surprising was the few female detectives. I think that the thing that struck me most strongly was that not only did they exist but that they were respected both inside the stories and by the reading public (who would've been predominantly male at that point I'm guessing. A case in point (pun not intended this time) was the amateur detective Elinor Frost in Christabel's Crystal (1905) that read very much like an English country house drama. More to my taste was professional female detective Clare Kendall in The Mystery of the Stolen Da Vinci by Arthur B Reeve (1913) where she uses all the technology of the period – the telephone, telegraph, fast cars and an intriguing recording device - to solve the crime. 

A few general observations are worth noting. Most of the crimes – not ALL murders! - seemed to take place in the upper echelons of society. I'm guessing that the 'mean streets' narratives of the 1930's – 1950's was a reaction to this. Very few of the stories involve the police at all – even once the crime or mystery is solved. Then there was the surprising number of suicides – by the caught criminal – sprinkled throughout the collection. I'm (very much) guessing that this was considered swift justice and cut out any messy court case – although handing the miscreant over to the authorities and either leaving it at that or adding a few lines on sentencing would have sufficed. Overall, this was worth the read if slightly disappointing. More Sherlock's to come. Reasonable.  

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet, that did not commit suicide."

John Adams, 1814.

Happy Birthday: Emil Zátopek (19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner who won three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He came first in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs before he decided at the last minute to compete in the first marathon of his life, which he also won. Zátopek was nicknamed the "Czech Locomotive".

In 1954, Zátopek was the first runner to break the 29-minute barrier in the 10,000 metres. Three years earlier in 1951, he had broken the hour for running 20 km. He was considered one of the greatest runners of the 20th century and was also known for his brutally tough training methods. He popularised interval training after World War II.

Zátopek is the only person to win the 5,000 metres (24 July 1952), 10,000 metres (20 July 1952) and marathon (27 July 1952) in the same Olympic Games. In February 2013, the editors at Runner's World selected him as the greatest runner ever.

Just Finished Reading: American Sherlock – Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of Crime Scene Investigation by Kate Winkler Dawson (FP: 2020) [274pp] 

Whenever I read about criminal investigation in the 19th century (fictional or otherwise) I can't help but wonder how anything was actually solved before the advent of modern forensics. It would appear that the lack of CSI as well as the lack of understanding (or belief) by members of the jury lasted well into the early 20th century. However, one man (in the US) was determined to change that – Edward Oscar Heinrich. Starting as a pharmacist assistant and later chemist he was determined to bring scientific principles into criminal investigation as well as into the courtroom not only to prosecute the guilty but to ensure that the right people ended up in prison rather than someone who just happened to be the most obvious person in the wrong place at the wrong time.  

It wasn't long before Heinrich was asked for every time a local police force hit a problem. As his fame spread, he began attending incidents across the country – much to the dismay of his wife and children. Inevitably as he all too often identified suspects from the smallest items of physical evidence, he was just as often called to the stand to show the jury exactly what he found and to explain exactly why it was important. [I was actually shocked more than once at how contaminated the crime scenes of the era where – not only be the number of police officers at any particular scene but by the members of the public who wanted to see blood but also to take 'souvenirs' of the event. Most of the cases would fail these days because of the sheer amount of contamination of the crime scene.] The biggest frustration that Heinrich struggled with was the fact that juries often either didn't understand his evidence or simply dismissed it as fantasy or what we might call today 'technobabble'. But this was the age where fingerprinting was just coming into regular use and the concept of blood types had only just been recognised, so it's hardly surprising that even the police themselves were sceptical of any scientific explanation – most especially when it contradicted their own 'gut feelings' or prejudices. 

Scattered throughout with some of his most famous cases (only one of which I had previously heard of) this was an interesting look at the earliest days of modern forensic science and the uphill struggles its practitioners had both in solving crimes and convincing juries that their science could prove who actually did do it (and of course sometimes the 'science' was nothing of the sort). Although this was, primarily, a biography of the man himself I was a little disappointed that it didn't focus more of the science. I was also slightly irritated by the repeated mention of his financial worries and his rivalry with other 'experts' in forensics. But these niggles were generally a minor affair. Overall, an interesting look at the period – 1920's and 30's – and the crimes committed then. Reasonable and more Sherlock Holmes Adjacent (SHA) content to come.  

WOW.... Things are tougher out there than I thought.....