I just finished reading The Somnambulist and the Detective, at least part 1. (There's another mystery in the book that I haven't started yet.) It's by Allan Pinkerton, of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and is supposedly a true story with the names and details changed. It was published in 1875, but clearly the case took place pre-Civil War, since they still speak of slaves in the Southern town. Thus it's very interesting to see how detectives worked before any Sherlock Holmes story was published. Plus nice to see how Pinkerton operates outside of a Molly Maguires context.
