From the files of The Pulp Reader Project
Outside of his own memoirs, there is not a lot known about the real life Detective McLevy. Luckily this is
starting to change; there is now another McLevy webpage focusing
primarily on the real life person, rather than the fiction. Please check
it out! www.jamesmclevy.comThis page has been created so you can find pointers to information about McLevy from around the web.
Radioplays
David Ashton's take on McLevy is now entering its 6th season. This is a brief listing of BBC Radio 4's audio dramas.
David Ashton's take on McLevy is now entering its 6th season. This is a brief listing of BBC Radio 4's audio dramas.
24 articles and growing about McLevy and Ashton. Culled from various online news sources such as scotsman.com Some are very informative, others merely curiosities.
James McLevy was a prominent detective in Edinburgh during the mid 19th century, and later an author of popular crime mysteries. The son of a farmer, he was born in Ballymacnab in County Armagh, Ireland. McLevy later moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, and became a builder's labourer before joining the police force.
In 1833 he became a detective and handled 2,220 cases during his 30-year career, almost always securing a conviction.
McLevy published a series of extremely popular books in the 1860s, including Curiosities of Crime in Edinburgh, Sliding Scale of Life and The Disclosures of a Detective. It is sometimes suggested that his writings helped to inspire Arthur Conan Doyle. McLevy sought forensic advice from members of the medical faculty at the University of Edinburgh, where Conan Doyle later studied.
In the late 1990s, the James McLevy Trophy, named after him, was donated by former Detective Superintendent John McGowan to recognise outstanding achievement in crime detection in Scotland.
