James McLevy
James McLevy (1796–1875) was a prominent detective in Edinburgh during the mid-19th century, and later an author of popular crime mysteries.
Biography
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 1830.
In 1833 he became Edinburgh's first detective and handled 2,220 cases during his 30-year career, almost always securing a conviction. His fame was such that the UK Parliament asked for his advice on dealing with criminals and Mary Carpenter, the great social reformer, quoted him in her paper on dealing with convicts.
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.
In popular culture
Radio
As part of its Afternoon Drama programme, BBC Radio 4 has broadcast to date eleven series of dramas written by David Ashton and starring Brian Cox as McLevy. While some of the series contain a thread connecting all of that series' stories into one storyline, the elements of each of the stories remain constant: McLevy's single-minded pursuit of and for justice on his beat (the parish of Leith in the city of Edinburgh) no matter which class of people are involved; his frustration with and contempt for "respectability" when the truth about a crime is covered up to protect upper-class people involved; his often-stormy but complex (and in Series 10 "intimate") relationship with Jean Brash, the owner and operator of "The Happy Land" (until it was burned down by vigilantes) and later "The Just Land" (so named to annoy McLevy), the "best bawdy-hoose" (brothel) in Edinburgh; his equally complex working relationship (and friendship, although neither would ever admit to it) with Irish-born Constable Martin Mulholland (McLevy's partner in investigations); and his clashes with his long-suffering, class- and politically conscious and wife-dominated superior Lieutenant Robert Roach (who nevertheless realized that McLevy's methods produced the desired results and therefore was not above turning a blind eye and occasionally even backing McLevy).
The main cast includes Siobhan Redmond as Jean Brash, Michael Perceval-Maxwell as Mulholland and David Ashton as Lieutenant Roach; in the 1999 pilot play, Phyllis Logan played Jean and John Paul Hurley played Mulholland.
Other recurring characters include Jessie Nairn (2000–2002, played by Tracey Wiles), Jean Brash's right-hand woman and "Keeper of Keys" of "The Happy Land" and "The Just Land" until she was stabbed to death by a hired killer; Hannah Semple (2003–2012, 2015-present, played by Collette O'Neil), who took over as Jean's "Keeper of Keys" until she had to flee Leith after killing a deranged sword-wielding "client" to protect Jean but returned to Leith in Series 11;[1] Constable Miller (2000–2003, played by Tom Smith), a rather inept constable who was killed in the line of duty preventing an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria (his stationhouse duties were taken over after his death by Constable Ballantyne, played by Finlay McLean); "The Countess" (2002, played by Maureen Beattie), Jean Brash's chief rival in the brothel trade; Donald McIver (played by Andrew Neil), Hannah Semple's former boyfriend and an inveterate gambler who married Hannah in Series 5 (but sadly was later shot and killed when a card game he was playing in was held up by two men with a pistol); and Inspector Alec Dunsmore of the Haymarket district (played by Jamie Newall in Series 5, later Forbes Masson in Series 11), whom McLevy despised as both an inefficient investigator and being more interested in furthering his own career than in solving crimes.
The historicity of the series is not always faultless. For example, an episode on 24 March 2015 involved a robbery of the British Linen Bank, although that bank did not obtain that title until 1906.[2]
Pilot 1999
- 1. P- 1 26 July 99 McLevy, retitled "Happy Land" in re-broadcasts (The Afternoon Play)
1st Series 2000/01
- 2. 1- 1 Dec 21 00 For Unto Us
- 3. 1- 2 Dec 28 00 The Trophy Club
- 4. 1- 3 4 1 Jan The Second Shadow
- 5. 1- 4 11 1 Jan The Burning Question
2nd Series 2002
- 6. 2- 1 19 2 Jun A Good Walk Spoilt
- 7. 2- 2 26 2 Jun Wild Justice
- 8. 2- 3 3 2 Jul The Wild Spark
- 9. 2- 4 10 2 Jul Stab in the Back
3rd Series 2003
- 10. 3- 1 1 3 Dec Behind the Curtain
- 11. 3- 2 8 3 Dec A Voice from the Grave
- 12. 3- 3 15 3 Dec The Dark Shadow
- 13. 3- 4 22 3 Dec Servant of the Crown
4th Series 2006
- 14. 4- 1 3 6 Apr A Piece of Cake
- 15. 4- 2 10 6 Apr The Sea Change
- 16. 4- 3 17 6 Apr Sins of the Fathers
- 17. 4- 4 24 6 Apr The Devil's Disguise
- 18. 4- x 25 6 Dec Christmas Special
5th Series 2009
- 19. 5- 1 27 9 Jan To Keep Him Honest
- 20. 5- 2 3 9 Feb Picture of Innocence
- 21. 5- 3 10 9 Feb The Chosen One
- 22. 5- 4 17 9 Feb The Reckoning
6th Series 2009/10
- 23. 6- 1 21 9 Dec A Bolt From the Blue
- 24. 6- 2 28 9 Dec End of the Line
- 25. 6- 3 4, 10 January Jack O' Diamonds
- 26. 6- 4 11, 10 January Queen of Spades
7th series 2011
- 27. 7- 1 2, 11 March The Firebrand
- 28. 7- 2 9, 11 March Dead Reckoning
- 29. 7- 3 16, 11 March Prince of Darkness
- 30. 7- 4 23, 11 March A Distant Death
8th series 2011
- 31. 8- 1 29, 11 November The Blue Gown
- 32. 8- 2 6, 11 December Flesh and Blood
- 33. 8- 3 13, 11 December A Fine Deception
- 34. 8- 4 20, 11 December The Last Illusion
9th series 2012
- 35. 9- 1 26, 12 November A Dangerous Remedy
- 36. 9- 2 3, 12 December No Looking Back
- 37. 9- 3 10, 12 December A Pearl in the Oyster
- 38. 9- 4 17, 12 December The Cross-Roads
10th series 2014
- 39. 10- 1 18, 14 February A Different Path
- 40. 10- 2 25, 14 February The Cat's Claw
- 41. 10- 3 4, 14 March A Sore Convulsion
- 42. 10- 4 11, 14 March A Secret Life
11th series 2015/16[3]
- 43. 11- 1 15, 15 December A Price to Pay
- 44. 11- 2 22, 15 December The Seventh Veil
- 45. 11- 3 29, 15 December The Night Walker
- 46. 11- 4 5, 16 January The Devil Makes A Move
The Pilot episode and Series One through Eight are currently available on CD[4] and audio download.[5]
Books
David Ashton has continued McLevy's story in his 2006 book Shadow of the Serpent (ISBN 978-1846971938); following volumes include Fall From Grace (2007) (ISBN 978-1-84697-050-4), Trick of the Light (2009) (ISBN 978-1846972027), featuring a young Arthur Conan Doyle, and most recently Nor Shall He Sleep (2012) (ISBN 978-1846972515), featuring Robert Louis Stevenson. Two short stories, "End of the Line" and "The Painted Lady", are available for purchase in Amazon Kindle e-book format. Ashton will be giving McLevy's "nemesis" Jean Brash a mystery of her own to solve, with McLevy in a supporting role, in Mistress of the Just Land, available in e-book format in September 2016.[6]
References
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06sgy1c
- ↑ see British Linen Bank
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06ry20s
- ↑ https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_p_n_binding_browse-b_1?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A266239%2Cn%3A72%2Cn%3A270408%2Ck%3Adavid+ashton%2Cp_n_binding_browse-bin%3A308724031&keywords=david+ashton&ie=UTF8&qid=1450287145&rnid=492562011
- ↑ http://www.audible.com/search.htm?type=search&cache=1&keywords=David+Ashton
- ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mistress-Just-Land-Brash-Mystery-ebook/dp/B01921JSD2/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450286543&sr=1-12&keywords=david+ashton