Undiscovered Scotland

 

"More Sherlock Holmes Than James Herriot: The Veterinary Detectives" is the autobiography, or, we assume, the first volume of the autobiography, of Roger S. Windsor. The author studied at the University of Edinburgh Veterinary College before going on to practice as a vet in the UK. He then went to work in Kenya, where he became the head of the Veterinary Diagnosis Laboratory. After returning to the UK he worked at the Norwich Veterinary Investigation Centre, where he decided he had found his true calling in life, as a "vet detective". Having found his niche, he went on to pursue veterinary detective work in Kenya, Argentina and Botswana. The book concludes at the end of his time in Botswana with the author and his wife deciding he would accept whichever of three possible jobs, in Ethiopia, Zambia or Peru was the first to offer him a written contract. It's giving away no more than the press release that accompanies the book to say that he went on to work in Peru, and was awarded the MBE for his achievements there: which is why we suspect a second volume is likely.

"More Sherlock Holmes..." is a fascinating read for those of us (probably most of us) whose knowledge of veterinary science is limited to what we gleaned from reading James Herriot's books. It can be fairly detailed in places, and we suspect it's probably required reading for anyone whose career aspirations revolve around following in the author's footsteps in veterinary diagnosis and investigation. The science is nicely offset, however, by the accounts of the people and animals the author interacts with, often told with a nice touch of humour that helps keep the inexpert reader engaged.

What is also very nice is the insight offered by the book into a world that is now long gone. The period covered by the book, from 1958 to 1982, saw huge changes in the wider world and, in particular, in Britain's outlook on and interaction with that world, and there have been many more changes since. What Roger S. Windsor does particularly well is capture a series of moments in time, transporting his readers not only into the world of veterinary investigation, but also capturing the feel of places that a modern visitor would find had changed significantly over the decades since the events described here took place.