With his hazy command of forensics and his restless scouring for clues, the detective is an archetypal mid-Victorian figure, reflecting the inquisitiveness of an age seeking to extend the boundaries of knowledge.

Policemen, such as the Bow Street Runners and Robert Peel’s ‘Bobbies’, had, of course, been around much longer. But their methods were crude, and the methodical, evidence-sifting detective only surfaced in 1842, when the Metropolitan Police, concerned at criminals’ unhindered ability to operate across the borders of its various London districts, set up a small, centralised detective division at Scotland Yard.

Literary Review

Apr 2008

Categories

Andrew Lycett

The Old Man & the Signorina

No More Respected and More Read than Johnson

Dreaming of Gondar

A Case of Identity

Upwards from Everest

The Great Globe Itself

Day of the Journalist

Andrew Lycett Talks To Jan Morris

Half The World Away

Following The Pharohs

Love Behind A Mask

1968 And All That

Charm, Guile and Gab

Camouflage Expert

Gertrude Stein’s Bra

Murder Most Fouled-Up

For the Sake of Dahoum

The Adventure of the Concealed Manuscript

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Making A Killing

Inspector Bucket Calls

The Masque of Africa: Glimpses of African Belief

Who’s Listening In?

‘Drink Up, Dear’

Occult Finish