James McLevy (1796–1873) was a prominent detective in Edinburgh during the mid-19th century, and later an author of popular crime mysteries.
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.
McLevy sought forensic advice from members of the medical faculty at the University of Edinburgh, where Conan Doyle later studied.
As part of its Afternoon Drama programme, BBC Radio 4 has broadcast twelve series of dramas written by David Ashton and starring Brian Cox as McLevy, Siobhan Redmond as Jean Brash, Michael Perceval-Maxwell as Constable Martin Mulholland and David Ashton as Lieutenant Robert Roach.
Two more short stories, "End of the Line" and "The Painted Lady", are available for purchase in Amazon Kindle e-book format.