Known as a ‘terror to evil-doers’, Caminada is at the top of his game as he stalks nefarious criminals through the seedy streets of Manchester’s underworld. Born in the slums, he has an intimate knowledge of the labyrinth of dark alleyways and the shady characters that inhabit them. Caminada’s compelling story bears all the hallmarks of Arthur Conan Doyle and establishes this indefatigable investigator as one of the most formidable detectives of the 19th century and a real-life Sherlock Holmes.
Caminada - a man's whose career rivaled and paralleled that of London's Inspector Frederick Abberline. Both men came from humble beginnings, went into a trade before entering the Police Force; both were skilled and rose through the ranks; both become private detectives after leaving the force; and both would be remembered for their most famous of cases.
Buckley provides us with a series of vignettes that introduce us to this remarkable man, his methods, his crimes (ie: the one he solved), and his life. Caminada truly was unique among his peers and possibly, even among investigators regardless of the time period in which they worked. Reading some of these cases, you would be inclined to think that Caminada himself was a fictional character due to his highly successful methods of crime-fighting and policing. It is a testament to this man that we are still amazed today at his level of cunning, doggedness, and dedication to his career.
I found this to be a most interesting read - and whether he truly was the inspiration for Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes", there is no doubting the man's obvious (subconscious) influence.
See also:
- Twenty Five Years of Detective Life by Jerome Camanada
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