Conan Doyle for the Defense

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- Margalit Fox
Random House
Release Date:June 26, 2018

Rating:
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Synopsis: For all the scores of biographies of Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the most famous detective in the world, there is no recent book that tells this remarkable story—in which Conan Doyle becomes a real-life detective on an actual murder case. In Conan Doyle for the Defense, Margalit Fox takes us step by step inside Conan Doyle’s investigative process and illuminates a murder mystery that is also a morality play for our time—a story of ethnic, religious, and anti-immigrant bias.

In 1908, a wealthy woman was brutally murdered in her Glasgow home. The police found a convenient suspect in Oscar Slater—an immigrant Jewish cardsharp—who, despite his obvious innocence, was tried, convicted, and consigned to life at hard labor in a brutal Scottish prison. Conan Doyle, already world famous as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was outraged by this injustice and became obsessed with the case. Using the methods of his most famous character, he scoured trial transcripts, newspaper accounts, and eyewitness statements, meticulously noting myriad holes, inconsistencies, and outright fabrications by police and prosecutors. Finally, in 1927, his work won Slater’s freedom.
 
Margalit Fox, a celebrated longtime writer for The New York Times, has “a nose for interesting facts, the ability to construct a taut narrative arc, and a Dickens-level gift for concisely conveying personality” (Kathryn Schulz, New York). In Conan Doyle for the Defense, she immerses readers in the science of Edwardian crime detection and illuminates a watershed moment in the history of forensics, when reflexive prejudice began to be replaced by reason and the scientific method.

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Conan Doyle for the Defense tell the true story of the violent murder of Marion Gilchrist and the wrongful imprisonment of Oscar Slater for the crime, despite his clear innocence. Conan Doyle created one of the most famous detectives of all literature with his Sherlock Holmes.  Yet less well known is that, thanks to Holmes' fame, Conan Doyle himself also occasionally stepped in on cases where he thought he could be of use.  Oscar Slater's is one of those cases.  The brutal murder of Marion Gilchrist in 1908 Glasgow was certainly worthy of Holmes himself- a rich, reclusive, elderly lady who lived in a nearly impregnable house was found beaten to dead in that home in the 10 minute window of time when her maid stepped out to buy a paper.  Slater never heard of Miss Gilchrist, yet because he had pawned a brooch with a superficially similar description to one stolen at the crime scene he was named the killer. It didn't matter that the brooch had been pawned months before the murder (and its theft), that there was no way Slater knew of the brooch or the woman, that no eyewitness could agree on the man they saw in the neighborhood (or even if there was one or two men).  Nor did it matter that almost as soon as they named Slater as a suspect the police knew he had to be innocent.  Slater was arrested, tried, convicted, and jailed for nearly 20 years for a crime he couldn't have committed. 

Margalit Fox tells the story from two angles: following Slater and the crime and following Conan Doyle's attempts to bring to light the farce of justice that was Slater's case. While overall the book is interesting, Fox never seems able to decide what kind of story she's telling.  Is this a murder mystery where ominous statements and cliffhangers are needed at the end of every chapter?  Is it a biography of two men who only met in person once, but had a deep impact on each other's lives?  Is it a new literary critique of Conan Doyle's Holmes and his place in the canon of detective fiction? Is it a history of the development of forensic science and the criminal justice system of Scotland and England?  Fox wants the answer to be: yes, it is all of those.  The result is an interesting, though often rambling, Conan Doyle for the Defense- a story of crime that is probably more memorable because of the crime that happened after the murder- the criminally negligent (at best) railroading of an innocent man.

Although the draw of the story will be, for most people, Arthur Conan Doyle, and though Conan Doyle is on nearly every page of the book, he really had very little to do with the case as a 'case'.  The actual murderer is never caught- although Doyle and others on Slater's side had their suspicions.  Doyle does not produce the true killer and clear an innocent through any Holmesian insights.  What he does that is remarkable for the time is to step above the reflexive prejudice against Slater as a foreigner, a gambler, a Jew, and a scoundrel.  Unlike the judge, the jury, supposed 'eyewitnesses' and the general public as a whole, Doyle argued that a man was innocent until proven guilty and should not be a scapegoat for the police simply because they had no other convenient man on hand to blame.  The case against Slater was not even built on a house of cards- solid if looked at in the right light.  It was as solid as a house of Swiss Cheese.  But, as Fox goes into repetitive detail to show, because Slater was Other and could be made to fit the image of the turn of the century bogeyman, he was convicted.  

An interesting look into turn of the century British criminal justice and morals, Conan Doyle for the Defense is a highly receptive, not always well-written, slightly rambling account of a terrible miscarriage of justice and a stubborn writer's work to help champion the correction of that miscarriage.   Despite this, it will be interesting to history lovers (and especially to lawyers) and interesting to those readers looking to discover more about the life of Arthur Conan Doyle.     

I received an ARC of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review 

Ocean Light

Ocean Light (Psy-Changeling Trinity)- Nalini Singh 
Berkley/Penguin Group
Release Date: June 12, 2018

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead!

Synopsis: Security specialist Bowen Knight has come back from the dead. But there's a ticking time bomb in his head: a chip implanted to block telepathic interference that could fail at any moment--taking his brain along with it. With no time to waste, he should be back on land helping the Human Alliance. Instead, he's at the bottom of the ocean, consumed with an enigmatic changeling...

Kaia Luna may have traded in science for being a chef, but she won't hide the facts of Bo's condition from him or herself. She's suffered too much loss in her life to fall prey to the dangerous charm of a human who is a dead man walking. And she carries a devastating secret Bo could never imagine...

But when Kaia is taken by those who mean her deadly harm, all bets are off. Bo will do anything to get her back--even if it means striking a devil's bargain and giving up his mind to the enemy...

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The last time we saw Bowen Knight, human security chief of the Alliance, he was being shot by an assassin and falling into the waters of Venice, presumed dead (Silver Silence).  He was already on limited time thanks to a degrading experimental chip in his brain designed to create a shield against psychic manipulation. Thankfully for him (and readers!) his sister Lily calls in help from the mysterious changelings of BlackSea, who have a possible, highly experimental, solution to all of these problems. Two months after being shot and the events of Silver Silence (not necessary to read before this, but highly recommended because it is a fantastic book!) Bowen comes out of a coma in a BlackSea clinic and meets the station's chef, Kaia Luna.  Kaia and Bowen have plenty of suspicions to overcome, multiple traitors to uncover, and different worlds to reconcile before they can be together- if his brain doesn't kill him first.

Bowen and Kaia are an incredible couple.  He's scarred from a Psy attack when he was a teen and has dedicated his entire life to building the Alliance and protecting humans from the stronger Psy.  She's afraid of loving and losing those who matter most to her.  He is a deadly predator, a hunter determined to see the three races build bridges and live on some level of equality.  She is a graceful creature of the deep who cares for everyone within her sphere.  Two worlds meet and clash, and the sparks between them are both instant and amazing.  I especially loved Kaia- a strong and independent woman who is willing to overcome past trauma and crippling fears for a chance with the man she loves.  Bowen does a great job of figuring out how to blend their two worlds together, not allowing all the obstacles to keep them from the happiness they both deserve. Despite the almost certain death sentence he is under, he lives every moment to its fullest and never gives up. There are some fun cameos by characters from earlier books (especially Kaleb and Sahara!) but Ocean's Light, like the rest of Singh's Psy-Changeling series, can be read as a stand alone book.

Ocean's Light is the first time Nalini Singh really allows us into the mysterious world of BlackSea- the loose 'pack' of all the water changelings on the planet. Interestingly, she doesn't have one of the alpha, political, leaders being our introduction, but a more 'regular' person.  While readers (and Bowen) know Mal and Miane slightly from earlier books, Kaia is new and a more accessible person to show us the alien world of the water changelings as if it is normal.  Because to her, it is.  Singh remains very coy about who shifts into what and although we get some hints, it is clear we're going to have to wait for future books to confirm our guesses.  We don't even get solid confirmation of Kaia's animal until pretty far into the book- a nice piece of careful writing on Singh's part!    

An intense, thrilling, and emotional read, Ocean's Light is a brilliant, must-read, addition to the Psy-Changeling world and hopefully opens doors to exploring some new aspects of that world.  Wonderfully written, with excellent characters and chemistry, this is a book you won't be able to put down after starting- so make sure to clear your schedule for a few hours and enjoy! 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Wagering for Miss Blake

Wagering for Miss Blake- Callie Hutton
Entangled: Scandalous/MacMillan
Release Date: June 11, 2018

Rating:
📚📚

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Synopsis: Mr. Giles Templeton, third son of the Earl of Wexford, is a rake of the highest order and a confirmed bachelor. Yet, marriage-minded-mamas continue to drag their daughters to his attention. He's everything a young lady of the ton could want—handsome, wealthy, charming, and kind. For Miss Suzanna Blake, though, Giles is missing the one thing her parents require in a potential son-in-law—a title. 

Giles has a golden touch—investments, horses, connections but when he falls…hard for Suzanna, she turns him away, despite the passion sparking between them. At wit’s end, Giles wagers her that not only will she marry him but he’ll make her fall in love with him. If Suzanna wins, she gains a sizable fortune for her favorite charity but she faces a loveless marriage to a titled man. Though her heart yearns for a true love-match with Giles, she has never gone against her parent’s wishes. All bets are off when happiness lies in losing a wager.

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Callie Hutton's Lords and Ladies in Love series (Denying the Duke) continues with Giles Templeton's story, Wagering for Miss Blake.  Giles and Suzanna meet at her cousin's wedding to his friend and Giles is instantly captivated.  He goes from thinking there's no point to marrying to being ready to propose in an hour flat.  Suzanna recognizes an attraction right away, but is far too sensible to assume that will lead to marriage.  Not only do they know nothing about each other, but her mother refuses to allow Suzanna to look at anything less than a titled man.  

Although Giles' insta-love was pretty hard to believe, they do have a nice, instant chemistry that made you think a relation could work.  Suzanna's claims that she will only marry a title ring false and it's impossible to blame Giles for thinking he can change her mind, since Suzanna herself actually doesn't care about titles.  He might be annoyingly arrogant in believing he'll win her hand if he just keeps asking, but since he actually courts her, I was able to deal with his arrogance.  Suzanna, I had a much harder time with.  I spent the first half of the book wondering why it mattered that her mother wanted a suitor with a title since Suzanna herself didn't care- and wondering why she didn't admit to Giles early on that that was the problem. After we finally meet Suzanna's parents, things are a little easier to understand.  Her mother is a complete terror and rules over her father so he only makes decisions based on what will get him the least harangued.  It became more of a surprise that Suzanna wanted to marry for love at all, since the only reason her father allowed her mother to be so controlling was that he loved her- and was willing to sacrifice both his happiness and his daughter's for his beloved wife's.  

The idea of wagering on whether Giles would marrying her- and she'd fall in love with him- seemed to me pretty pointless.  Both are competitive, but the real competition should have been whether they could work together to change Mrs. Blake's mind.  Then right when Suzanna thinks she's figured out how to work around her mother, Giles misinterprets something and, instead of fighting for this incredible love he claims he feels, he turns and runs.  I thought Suzanna let him off the hook far more easily than she should have, but eventually there's a happy ending and a pretty clear set-up for the next book.  A lot of Wagering felt more like it was a bridge book to get you to the next in the series- presumably Hawk's book- without emotionally investing me in the characters enough that I'd go out of my way to look for the next one when it comes out.  

Wagering for Miss Blake is a quick read, with shallow characters and an equally shallow plot line- entertaining enough to pass the time, but not so interesting a book, writing, or characters that I find myself wanting to read more in the series. 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Price of Greatness

The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy- Jay Cost
Basic Books
Release Date: June 5, 2018

Rating:
📚📚

Synopsis: In the history of American politics there are few stories as enigmatic as that of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison's bitterly personal falling out. Together they helped bring the Constitution into being, yet soon after the new republic was born they broke over the meaning of its founding document. Hamilton emphasized economic growth, Madison the importance of republican principles.

Jay Cost is the first to argue that both men were right--and that their quarrel reveals a fundamental paradox at the heart of the American experiment. He shows that each man in his own way came to accept corruption as a necessary cost of growth. The Price of Greatness reveals the trade-off that made the United States the richest nation in human history, and that continues to fracture our politics to this day.

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The Price of Greatness explores the origins of much of the American political and economic engines that we still see today, from the starting point of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.  These two Founding Fathers quickly became divided over America's identity and path, and Jay Cost argues that both men were, in ways, right- and wrong.

I always like learning about original context in history- political, social, economic, etc. and The Price of Greatness does explain some of America's early economic ideas. Unfortunately, the book was a little too dry and rambling (and repetitive) for me to manage more than about a chapter at a time, which means I probably didn't retain or understand as much information as I would have liked.  Particularly by the end, Cost seems to stray from the original point of the book- which I took to be the creation of early American political and economic systems- to wander down a recital of various historical ways the government has not acted 'for the people, by the people'.  He begins to talk about corruption- as we understand the term today and as Madison and Hamilton would have used the term- and tries to show the reader how to return to America's founding greatness.  But all he really succeeds in showing us, in my opinion, is that human nature and greed will naturally take advantage of any system, and that there will always be conflict.  

Ultimately, The Price of Greatness does only a mediocre job in explaining "the Creation of American Oligarchy", but if you can get through the dry and repetitive writing, there are some interesting historical nuggets hidden within the text.  I'm not entirely sure, however, I found it worth the effort of working through reading the book.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review