Conan Doyle for the Defense

The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World's Most Famous Detective Writer

By: Margalit Fox

Narrated by: Peter Forbes

“A wonderfully vivid portrait of the man behind Sherlock Holmes . . . Like all the best historical true crime books, it’s about so much more than crime.”—Tana French, author of In the Woods

A sensational Edwardian murder. A scandalous wrongful conviction. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the rescue—a true story.

After a wealthy woman was brutally murdered in her Glasgow home in 1908, the police found a convenient suspect in Oscar Slater, an immigrant Jewish cardsharp. Though he was known to be innocent, Slater was tried, convicted, and consigned to life at hard labor. Outraged by this injustice, Arthur Conan Doyle, already world renowned as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, used the methods of his most famous character to reinvestigate the case, ultimately winning Slater’s freedom.

With “an eye for the telling detail, a forensic sense of evidence and a relish for research” (The Wall Street Journal), Margalit Fox immerses readers in the science of Edwardian crime detection and illuminates a watershed moment in its history, when reflexive prejudice began to be replaced by reason and the scientific method.

Praise for Conan Doyle for the Defense

“Artful and compelling . . . [Fox’s] narrative momentum never flags. . . . Conan Doyle for the Defense will captivate almost any reader while being pure catnip for the devotee of true-crime writing.”—The Washington Post

“Developed with brio . . . [Fox] is excellent in linking the 19th-century creation of policing and detection with the development of both detective fiction and the science of forensics—ballistics, fingerprints, toxicology and serology—as well as the quasi science of ‘criminal anthropology.’”—The New York Times Book Review

“[Fox] has an eye for the telling detail, a forensic sense of evidence and a relish for research.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Gripping . . . The book works on two levels, much like a good Holmes case. First, it is a fluid story of a crime. . . . Second, and more pertinently, it is a deeper story of how prejudice against a class of people, the covering up of sloppy police work and a poisonous political atmosphere can doom an innocent. We should all heed Holmes’s salutary lesson: rationally follow the facts to find the truth.”—Time

Critic reviews

“Gripping . . . The book works on two levels, much like a good Holmes case. First, it is a fluid story of a crime. . . . Second, and more pertinently, it is a deeper story of how prejudice against a class of people, the covering up of sloppy police work and a poisonous political atmosphere can doom an innocent. We should all heed Holmes’s salutary lesson: rationally follow the facts to find the truth.”—Time

“Splendid . . . The ingredients are too good to pass up: a famous detective novelist actually playing detective, a man serving time for a murder he did not commit, and a criminal justice system slowly, and reluctantly, reckoning with the advent of forensic science.”—Sarah Weinman, The New Republic

“Entertaining.”—Newsday

“Expertly constructed, this work will appeal to Conan Doyle fans and is ideal for all true crime collections.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“[Margalit] Fox . . . does her own detective work in unpicking the opposing personalities and careers of her protagonists. . . . Like a good murder mystery, Conan Doyle for the Defense is a fast-paced read that twists and turns with the panache of a Holmes short story.”—The Times

“Fox shows the new system of forensic science, as typified by Doyle’s great creation Sherlock Holmes. . . . She wants us to see that the racialisation of crime is nothing new: bad science and economic insecurity have long been responsible for creating ‘out groups’ on whom we dump our worst terrors.”—The Guardian

“Fox expertly frames the case of Oscar Slater as another example of scapegoating. . . . If you are a Holmes devotee, you will love watching his creator take apart a flimsy criminal case through reason and meticulous examination of the evidence.”—The Seattle Times

“Fox’s engrossing book brings his case back to vivid life and highlights the part played in it by the creator of the world’s most famous detective.”—The Daily Mail

“Absorbing . . . Fox demonstrates her eye for the telling detail and her innate sense of pacing and suspense. . . . At a time when bias can and does still land innocents in jail, the relevance of the Slater case remains all too clear.”—The Jewish Week

“Riveting.”—The National Book Review

Great Book. Awful accents.

Wonderfully written nonfiction. A fascinating look at the time, place, and people. Incredibly distracting narration. Why must Brits always assume they can pull off an American accent? 90% of the time it comes across as either mockery or pastiche.

A gripping story, delightfully narrated

I first got hooked on Margalit Fox’s storytelling when she was a star obituary writer at the New York Times. This book displays all her talents, recounting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s long and ultimately thankless crusade to free a wrongly convicted man. Peter Forbes’ masterful narration, switching regional accents and voice registers, brings every character in the book to life. Thoroughly enjoyable.

CrackerJack Story

True crime plus historical detail. Well researched and full of interesting facts. Loved the book.

Conan Doyle for the Defense

Qudos to Margalit Fox and well read by Peter Forbes. A fascinating window into the Victorian views of the time, and into the multi-dimensional career of Conan Doyle.

Fascinating real life case for Sherlock's creator

I bought this title a while back because it intrigued me. Listening to the recent Audible Original documentary on Conan Doyle, I returned to listen. This is a fascinating book which gives more insight into Conan Doyle, the Victorian legal system, and the prejudices of the day. The book is well organized and I found myself racing through the title, gripped in its power. Highly recommended.