True crime: serial killers and murderers Books
Headline Publishing Group Serial Killers of Russia: Case Files from the
Book SynopsisFor fans of Christopher Berry-Dee's Talking with Serial Killers series, this chilling new book explores the dark heart of Russia. For decades, it has been assumed that the United States of America was the serial killer capital of the world.Now, criminologists believe that Russia (and previously the Soviet Union) has been, secretly, the biggest home of serial killers for almost a century.In Serial Killers of Russia, bestselling true crime author Wensley Clarkson reveals the inside stories and gruesome details behind the country's most notorious and previously unknown murderers. Using information from a vast range of new and archive sources, Clarkson tells stories of the dangerous, the devious and the truly shocking, and tackles why the nation has become a breeding ground for humanity's most evil.These are the most horrifying cases from the darkest corners of Russia.
£11.33
Headline Publishing Group I Am a Hitman: The Real-Life Confessions of a
Book SynopsisThe unbelievable account of life as a hitman from a man who has been doing it for decades. Hitmen commit heinous crimes virtually every day of the week and, in most instances, we don't even realise.I've been a killer for hire for more than twenty years now, but life as a fulltime professional assassin has never been easy.There have been close calls, failed attempts and a lot of looking over my shoulder.And now, I've decided to come clean and seek atonement for my life as a murderer and one of the most covertly dangerous men alive.This is an account of a life lived between our world and a shadowy underworld of criminals... a life lived under the radar of the law... a life lived in death.This is the story of my life as a hitman.
£9.99
Royal Society of Chemistry More Molecules of Murder
Book SynopsisHow can a plant as beautiful as the foxglove be so deadly and yet for more than a century be used to treat heart disease? The same is true of other naturally occurring molecules as will be revealed in this current book by award-winning author and chemist, John Emsley. More Molecules of Murder follows on from his highly-acclaimed earlier book Molecules of Murder, and again it deals with 14 potential poisons; seven of which are man-made and seven of which are natural. It investigates the crimes committed with them, not from the point of view of the murderers, their victims, or the detectives, but from the poison used. In so doing it throws new light on how these crimes were carried out and ultimately how the perpetrators were uncovered and brought to justice. Each chapter starts by looking at the target molecule itself, its discovery, its chemistry, its often-surprising use in medicine, its effects on the human body, and its toxicology. The rest of the chapter is devoted to murders and attempted murders in which it has been used. But, be reassured that murder by poison is not the threat it once was, thanks to laws which restrict access to such materials and to the skills of analytical chemists in detecting their presence in incredibly tiny amounts.Trade ReviewA fascinating book, which I thoroughly recommend. -- Dr Simon Cotton, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Birmingham * Chemistry & Industry, Issue 4, Reviews, More Posions *The book is aimed at the general reader and it fulfils this objective in an informative, clear and well-written style. The book will be of interest to those who enjoy crime novels, a number of which are mentioned in the text. Indeed the book could be a handbook for the crime writer. -- James Hanson * Science Progress, Volume 101, Number 2, June 2018, pp. 205-205(1) *Table of ContentsEthylene Glycol for Antifreeze and Loved Ones; Oxalic Acid and Murders in Manila and Liverpool; Acrylamide in Fried Foods and in Auckland; Difenacoum, Amitriptyline and York; Temazepam and the Man with a Murderous Plan; Potassium Chloride: Essential to Life Yet Deadly; Tetramethylenedisulfotetramine, a Mouthful Best Avoided; Gelsemine and Cat Meat Stew; Strychnine and Cream; Digitalis and a Mysterious Death in Verona in 1329; Curare and the Psychopathic Surgeon from Argentina; Aconitine and Wimbledon; Cantharidin and Spanish Fly; Hemlock at the End of it All
£17.99
Canelo Where The Truth Lies: A completely gripping crime thriller
Book SynopsisThe case was closed. Until people started dying…DI Thomas Ridpath was on the up in the Manchester CID: a promising detective who captured a notorious serial killer. But ten years later he’s recovering from a serious illness and on the brink of being forced out of the police. Then the murders began, in an uncanny echo of his first case.As the death count grows, old records, and bodies, go missing. Caught in a turf war between the police and the coroner’s office, Ridpath is in a race against time. A race to save his career, his marriage, and innocent lives.When a detective disappears everything is on the line. Can Ridpath save his colleague?A nail-biting crime thriller, perfect for fans of Mark Billingham, Peter James and D. S. Butler.
£11.63
Canelo Where The Dead Fall: A completely gripping crime
Book SynopsisOne chance encounter, one murder, will change everything.DI Thomas Ridpath is in the process of getting his life back together when everything goes wrong. Caught in a gruesome motorway incident, one question remains: why did nobody else see what happened? Ridpath’s investigations soon pulls the police force itself into question, and hints at something even more sinister.With Manchester on the brink of violence unlike anything seen in decades, Ridpath must battle this unprecedented conflict alongside his own demons…A nail-biting crime thriller, MJ Lee’s Where the Dead Fall is an absolute must-read, perfect for fans of Mark Billingham and Peter James.
£8.54
Bonnier Books Ltd MS-13: The Making of America's Most Notorious
Book SynopsisTHE DEFINITIVE ACCOUNT OF THE MOST INFAMOUS STREET GANG IN AMERICAIn the 1980s, El Salvador was involved in a bloody fight for control of the government. To escape the guerrilla assaults and death squads many fled to the US. As a survival instinct, they formed a group called the Mara Salvatrucha Stoners, a relatively harmless social network bound by rock and roll. But later, as they brushed against established local gangs, the group took on a harder edge, selling drugs, stealing cars and killing rivals who threatened their territories. As authorities cracked down, gang members were incarcerated and deported. But in the prison system, the group only grew stronger.Today, MS-13 is one of the most infamous street gangs on Earth, with tens of thousands of members operating in a half-dozen nations and two continents, and linked to thousands of grisly murders each year. Through the story of former gang member Norman and his family, journalist Steven Dudley brings readers inside the deadly group.
£8.54
Michael O'Mara Books Ltd One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the Real Jack the
Book SynopsisThis highly revelatory book, based on original research and completely new analysis, presents a compelling new suspect as the most notorious serial killer of all time: Jack the Ripper.Using a different analytical approach, for the first time, Sarah Bax Horton identifies a named perpetrator as Jack the Ripper by linking eye-witness accounts of the killer’s distinctive physical characteristics to his official medical records. It argues that his broken left arm, which left him unable to work in early 1888, was one of his triggers to kill as part of a serious physical and mental decline caused by severe epilepsy.This new perpetrator fits the profile as stated by the police of the day: a local man of low class of whom they became aware after the final murder, when they launched an unsuccessful surveillance operation against him. As has never been done before, the author – an experienced former government researcher with specific expertise in research and analysis – formulates a complete analysis of the killer and his methodology, including how he accosted his victims, where he took them to their deaths, his unique modus operandi of a blitz-style attack, and how he escaped from each crime scene without detection.Each of the six murders – from Martha Tabram to Marie Kelly – is discussed and reconstructed as perpetrated by this man, with his escalating violence clearly demonstrated.Trade ReviewWe have waited three decades for a book-length examination of Hyam Hyams and thankfully Sarah Bax Horton has given us one - and what an excellent job she has done. This is a well-researched, well-written, and long-needed book-length examination of a likely suspect. If you have an idea of the sort of man Jack the Ripper might have been, Hyam Hyams could be it. * Paul Begg *A book that has been too long coming...her book is well researched and written. One-Armed Jack should be on the bookshelf of everyone interested in the Whitechapel Murders...Buy it now * Adam Wood, Ripperologist and editor of Crime Through Time *
£17.09
Michael O'Mara Books Ltd One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the Real Jack the
Book SynopsisThis highly revelatory book, based on original research and completely new analysis, presents a compelling new suspect as the most notorious serial killer of all time. Using a different analytical approach, for the first time, Sarah Bax Horton identifies a named perpetrator as Jack the Ripper by linking eye-witness accounts of the killer’s distinctive physical characteristics to his official medical records. It argues that his broken left arm,which left him unable to work in early 1888, was one of his triggers to kill as part of a serious physical and mental decline caused by severe epilepsy. This new perpetrator fits the profile as stated by the police of the day: a local man of low class of whom they became aware after the final murder, when they launched an unsuccessful surveillance operation against him. As has never been done before, the author – an experienced former government researcher with specific expertise in research and analysis – formulates a complete analysis of the killer and his methodology, including how he accosted his victims, where he took them to their deaths, his unique modus operandi of a blitz-style attack, and how he escaped from each crime scene without detection.Each of the six murders – from Martha Tabram to Marie Kelly – is discussed and reconstructed as perpetrated by this man, with his escalating violence clearly demonstrated.Trade ReviewWe have waited three decades for a book-length examination Hyam Hyams and thankfully Sarah Bax Horton has given us one - and what an excellent job she has done. This is a well-researched, well-written, and long-needed book-length examination of a likely suspect.If you have an idea of the sort of man Jack the Ripper might have been, Hyam Hyams could be it. * Paul Begg *
£14.24
John Blake Publishing Ltd The Babes in the Woods Murders: The shocking true
Book SynopsisThe heartbreaking true story of two families' thirty-year fight for justice for their murdered daughtersOn 9 October 1986, Russell Bishop sexually assaulted and strangled nine-year-old Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway, in woods near Brighton. He did not answer for his crimes for over thirty years.Bishop - a petty criminal known to both girls' families - was charged after his suspiciously close involvement in the search for the bodies. But a last-minute change of testimony from his then-girlfriend allowed him to go free, and the Babes in the Woods murders became one of Britain's most infamous cold cases.In this first book on the case, veteran crime reporter Paul Cheston brings to life this thirty-year saga of murder, betrayal and injustice - before three decades of hurt led, at last, to healing, justice and hope for the parents of two murdered girls.Written with the approval and cooperation of the Fellows family, The Babes in the Woods Murders sheds light once and for all on the awful truth behind what happened on 9 October 1986, and how the courtroom dramas that unfolded over a generation finally brought down one of Britain's most depraved killers.
£8.54
John Blake Publishing Ltd Killers Behind Bars: Britain's Deadliest
Book SynopsisWhen Kate married gangster Ronnie Kray, he introduced her to the most deadly criminals ever known. She persuaded them to talk about their crimes, fears and dreams. The result is a book offering an authentic, shocking and gripping insight into the criminal mind. In this true crime classic, Kate Kray delves into the world of some of Britain's most dangerous prisoners, conducting first-hand interviews with them in order to better understand their crimes. From cold contract killings to crimes of passion, this is a fascinating insight into the minds of murderers who have been punished with the longest sentence of all.
£8.54
John Blake Publishing Ltd Talking With Serial Killers: Stalkers: From the
Book SynopsisBy an expert with over twenty-five years' experience interviewing more than thirty of the most dangerous male and female serial killers of contemporary times, this latest book from the bestselling author explores the darkest corners of these thrill-killers' minds.As all law-enforcement authorities, including the FBI's elite Behavioral Science Unit, will confirm, the majority of sexual psychopaths gain most of their perverse thrills from the stalking of their unsuspecting victims, often in so many different ways.For them, the actual kill is frequently something less, after which the dead body is treated like so much garbage and simply abandoned or thrown away. Yet as these cases show, a victim has often been unwittingly followed, watched, or even visited before they are attacked, sometimes for weeks or even months.Having exhaustively studied the case histories of more than sixty modern-day sexually motivated serial murderers - some still alive, others subsequently executed - the author zeros in on the Internet porn industry as one of the main motivating drivers in cultivating fantasy stalking, which can lead to rape, multiple rapes, and homicide graduating to serial murder. Even more chillingly, anyone who is active on social media is a potential stalker's victim.
£8.54
John Blake Publishing Ltd Talking with Psychopaths and Savages: Mass
Book SynopsisA natural subject for the UK's bestselling true-crime author: a study of people who randomly kill large numbers of others (spree killers), or who set out to do so in specific places or situations (mass killers). Because of the ease of obtaining firearms in the USA, many of these, inevitably, are American, but there have been other recent examples in New Zealand and Norway, while three major mass shootings took place in the UK at Hungerford in 1987 (17 dead, including the killer), Dunblane in 1996 (18, including the killer), and in Cumbria in 2010 (13, including the killer).As such killings become more frequent, it is easy to blame them on the ready availability of firearms and weak or non-existent background checks, even though many countries, including the UK, have extremely robust firearms legislation. What is more difficult to establish, however, is the motivation behind such killings: some are occasioned by grievance, real or imagined, while others have their origins in a sense of failure or feelings of inadequacy. Other killers, however, seem to be driven by a desire for power over their fellow humans, often coupled with an overriding contempt for the lives of others. In search of answers to the questions raised, Christopher Berry-Dee offers case studies in some of the most infamous mass killings of the past fifty years, from school massacres to workplace killings, hate crimes to familicides. In doing so he demonstrates, chillingly, that such murders are almost impossible to predict, and therefore almost impossible to prevent.
£8.99
John Blake Publishing Ltd A Passion for Poison: A true crime story like no
Book SynopsisThe incredible crimes of Britain's most notorious schoolboy serial killer, Graham Young, as told by the bestselling and much-respected true crime author of The Murders at White House Farm. There are few criminal cases more astonishing yet less well known than that of Graham Young. A quintessentially British crime story set in the post-war London suburbs, it involves two sensational trials, murders both certain and probable, a clutch of forgiving relatives, and scores of surviving victims.Fourteen in the summer of 1962, Graham stood in the Old Bailey dock charged with poisoning a schoolfriend and family members by adding antimony to their packed lunches, Sunday roast and morning cups of tea. Diagnosed with multiple personality disorders, Graham's trial resulted in his detainment at Broadmoor, where he was the youngest patient.But it was on his release from Broadmoor that Graham caused the greatest harm. Finding employment in Hadlands, a photographic supplies firm, his role as junior storeman meant he was expected to make tea and coffee for his colleagues. And very soon, numerous members of staff began experiencing crippling stomach pains...A psychologically astute insight into the mind of a complex and intriguing individual, A Passion for Poison is true crime at its best. Praise for Carol Ann LeeSomebody's Mother, Somebody's Daughter: Victims and Survivors of the Yorkshire Ripper'My book of the year... the first time the stories of the women who came into the sights of notorious serial killer Peter Sutcliffe have been told, and it gives voice to their families... deeply poignant' - Lynda La PlanteOne of Your Own: The Life & Death of Myra Hindley'Scrupulously unsensational and as good a biography of Hindley as we'll get' - Sunday Times
£17.09
John Blake Publishing Ltd A Passion for Poison: A true crime story like no
Book Synopsis'The whole story is so terrible. You will be disgusted and amazed.'Graham Young, confessing his crimes to detectivesThere are few criminal cases more astonishing yet less well known than that of Graham Young. A quintessentially British crime story set in the post-war London suburbs, it involves two sensational trials, murders both certain and probable, a clutch of forgiving relatives, and scores of surviving victims.Fourteen in the summer of 1962, Graham stood in the Old Bailey dock charged with poisoning a schoolfriend and family members by adding antimony to their packed lunches, Sunday roast and morning cups of tea. Diagnosed with multiple personality disorders, Graham's trial resulted in his detainment at Broadmoor, where he was the youngest patient.But it was on his release from Broadmoor that Graham caused the greatest harm. Finding employment in Hadlands, a photographic supplies firm, his role as junior storeman meant he was expected to make tea and coffee for his colleagues. And very soon, numerous members of staff began experiencing crippling stomach pains...A psychologically astute insight into the mind of a complex and intriguing individual, A Passion for Poison is true crime at its best.Praise for Carol Ann LeeSomebody's Mother, Somebody's Daughter: Victims and Survivors of the Yorkshire Ripper'My book of the year... the first time the stories of the women who came into the sights of notorious serial killer Peter Sutcliffe have been told, and it gives voice to their families... deeply poignant' - Lynda La PlanteOne of Your Own: The Life & Death of Myra Hindley'Scrupulously unsensational and as good a biography of Hindley as we'll get' - Sunday Times
£8.99
John Blake Publishing Ltd An Evil Love: The Life and Crimes of Fred West
Book SynopsisThe reverberations from Fred West's crimes continue to this day. The story never dies.West was perhaps one of Britain's most evil, feared serial killers. His horrifying compulsion to kidnap, rape and torture his victims before murdering them showed a savagery and cruelty that can barely be believed. His 'House of Horrors' at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, became a burial ground for the women who fell into his hands.This new publication of Geoffrey Wansell's iconic, bestselling true crime masterpiece comes thirty years after West was arrested, in 1992. Dead by suicide by 1994, he never truly faced justice for the twelve murders he was charged with.Wansell, chosen as West's official biographer, gained exclusive access to all West's police interviews, prison diaries, papers, solicitor interviews - and his private collection of video tapes, as well as all the interviews given by his wife, Rose West.Once and for all, he reveals the full story of Fred and Rose West's lives and crimes, in a chilling book that sets the standard for exploring the minds of our most feared serial killers - up close and personal.
£8.99
John Blake Publishing Ltd Murder Investigation Team: Jack the Ripper: A
Book SynopsisLondon, 1888, and one-man's brutal campaign of violence has taken the lives of unsuspecting victims, cut London to the core and carved his name into history. Well, not his name, exactly. Whomever this man was, remains a mystery but there are few people who haven't heard of his nickname: Jack the Ripper.The same is true for those said to have died at his hands. If Polly Nicholls, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly had not fallen to his knife, their names would have been lost to history. Instead, they themselves are as much a part of the folklore as their killer. Then there are those who investigated the crimes: the ordinary men, doing their jobs as best they could, who will always be associated with the failed attempts to catch this monster. But if those crimes had happened today, how would they be investigated and how would the approach differ? There is no doubt, how detectives work has changed dramatically over those 130 years. Although, in many senses, things are very much the same. Solving murders relies on an understanding of people, be that the victims, the witnesses and, most importantly, the killers themselves.In Murder Investigation Team: Jack the Ripper, while journeying through these infamous murders, through meticulous contemporary research, witness statements and reporting, ex-detective Steven Keogh will revisit the crimes that were committed, why these lives were taken, and attempt to discover just who was Jack the Ripper? Applying modern-day investigative approaches to the 19th century investigation, and with ground-breaking insight from one of the UK's leading criminal profilers, Pippa Gregory, join Steven on a gruesome and incredible journey of discovery into one of the most infamous crimes in British history.
£8.99
John Blake Publishing Ltd Talking with Psychopaths and Savages: Guilty but
Book SynopsisThe plea of insanity in criminal cases can be traced back at least to the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, which dates from 1755-1759 BC. It is a complicated defence, and its origins in modern law lie with the 'M'Naghten Rules' of 1843, formulated by British judges as a jury instruction in cases where a plea of insanity had been entered. Daniel M'Naghten shot and killed one Edward Drummond, believing him to be the British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, and was acquitted on the grounds of insanity, and the M'Naghten Rules still exert considerable influence over defences today.Clearly a plea of insanity in murder cases is of critical importance when the death penalty is still applied, and even today it may still be the difference between a life sentence in a high-security prison, or an indeterminate one in a secure psychiatric hospital. Meanwhile, 27 of the USA's 50 states have retained or readopted the death penalty, and at least 54 other countries, including China, Russia, India, Iran and Saudi Arabia, also retain it. Naturally, a criminal who was liable to swing for murder could, and sometimes did, make every attempt to appear insane, and this book examines some of these cases, as well as trials in which the accused was indeed judged to be insane. The failure rate is high; of seven American serial killers who deployed the defence in their trials, only two were successful, ending their days in secure psychiatric facilities; two were executed, and the other three either died or were killed while serving full-life sentences, or are still in gaol.
£12.74
John Blake Publishing Ltd Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege and the Murdaugh
Book SynopsisIn Tangled Vines, bestselling true crime author John Glatt reconstructs the rise of the prestigious Murdaugh family and the shocking double murder that led to the downfall of its patriarch, Alex Murdaugh.Among the lush, tree-lined waterways of South Carolina low country, the Murdaugh name means power. A century-old, multimillion-dollar law practice has catapulted the family into incredible wealth and local celebrity--but it was an unimaginable tragedy that would thrust them into the national spotlight. On June 7th, 2021, prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh discovered the bodies of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on the grounds of their thousand-acre hunting lodge. The mystery deepened only months later when Alex himself was discovered shot in the head on a local roadside.But as authorities scrambled for clues and the community reeled from the loss and media attention, dark secrets about this Southern legal dynasty came to light. The Murdaughs, it turned out, were feared as much as they were loved. And they wouldn't hesitate to wield their influence to protect one of their own; two years before he was killed, a highly intoxicated Paul Murdaugh was at the helm of a boat when it crashed and killed a teenage girl, and his light treatment by police led to speculation that privilege had come into play. As bombshells of financial fraud were revealed and more suspicious deaths were linked to the Murdaughs, a new portrait of Alex Murdaugh emerged: a desperate man on the brink of ruin who would do anything, even plan his own death, to save his family's reputation.Trade Review"Glatt has produced the equivalent of a juicy John Grisham novel, featuring a lead more 'dark and totally devoid of conscience' than anyone he's ever researched. This real-life Southern noir lingers." * Publishers Weekly *"Readers will be swept up in this account." * Booklist *
£8.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Jack the Ripper
Book SynopsisFact. Fiction. Legend. The predatory ritual, the escalating savagery of the crimes, the grisly trophies taken from his victim's bodies, the games played with his pursuers, the cannibalism: Jack the Ripper's reign of terror in London's East End during the autumn of 1888 casts a long shadow. Many have murdered more, but few have killed so brutally and none have forged such an enduring legend. For a century and a quarter the Ripper's crimes have appalled and fascinated in equal measure, inspiring over one hundred theories about this prototypical serial killer's identity and spawning thousands of works of fiction. This collection is the ultimate exploration of the Ripper legend. It sifts through Jack's legacy, blending the true story (told via contemporary reports and a century's worth of the best analysis) with the best crime and horror fiction his depraved deeds have inspired. Some of these stories are classics, some have been written especially for this volume. Including writing from Jeffery Deaver, Anne Perry, George Bernard Shaw, Ellery Queen, Boris Akunin, Ramsey Campbell, Harlan Ellison and Robert Bloch. '1000 pages of fascinating Ripperama' The Times 'Otto has assembled a truly stellar cast of contributors' Shots Magazine 'Fascinating and thought-provoking. Not a stone is left unturned in this vast exploration of all the horrors that Jack the Ripper committed' The BookbagTrade ReviewPenzler has dug deep in producing Jack the Ripper, a carefully chosen 1000 pages of fascinating Ripperama... Not meant for quick absorption, but dipping in and out is thoroughly recommended' * The Times *This is far more than a re-tread of the known facts... Otto has assembled a truly stellar cast of contributors... The perfect nugget nestling at the heart of this mammoth compendium, however, is the chance to read Marie Belloc Lowndes' influential The Lodger in both forms' * Shots Magazine *Fascinating and thought-provoking. Not a stone is left unturned in this vast exploration of all the horrors that Jack the Ripper committed * The Bookbag *
£21.25
Canelo Jack the Ripper: The Murders and the Myths
Five brutal murders shocked London in the summer and autumn of 1888. They have never been forgotten.The Jack the Ripper case has never been solved - the killer remains a blood-spattered silhouette. Although ‘Jack’ as an entity was almost certainly invented by an unscrupulous journalist, he became an archetype - decked in the top hat and cloak of a Victorian melodrama villain, stalking the fog-wreathed streets of the old East End. The numerous Ripper theories which emerged at the time tell us more about Victorian attitudes than they do about the killer’s true identity.In Jack the Ripper the authors follow the grim homicidal trails that have permeated popular culture since the Whitechapel murders of 1888. It tells the victim’s stories in all their desperate poignancy, and explores the theories and suspects of the burgeoning field of ‘ripperology’. Conspiracy theories and myths that swirl around the case to this day, from black magicians to the royal family, are considered, as is the modern forensic view of the Ripper murders as sex crimes, with reference to disturbing modern cases such as that of the ‘Plumstead Ripper’.Terrifying and unignorable, this is the ultimate book on Jack the Ripper.
£10.44
Troubador Publishing Murder Houses of Edinburgh
Book SynopsisWhich of Edinburgh’s most gruesome murders has happened in your street? And were they committed by Burke and Hare, by the Stockbridge Baby-Farmer, by the Demon Frenchman of George Street, by the Triple Killer of Falcon Avenue, or perhaps by one of the Capital’s many faceless, spectral slayers, whose name and misdeeds has long since disappeared from the public eye? This book deals with Edinburgh’s architecture of capital crime: houses inside which celebrated murders have been committed. In that tall Royal Mile tenement, a woman fell from a top-floor window in 1912 – but was she thrown out by a sinister male presence inside the house, as many witnesses thought at the time? In that old house in Candlemaker Row, not far from Greyfriars Bobby, a woman was brutally murdered by a man without arms in 1919. In that flat in Rose Street South Lane, a horrible triple murder in 1917 wiped out an entire family. That peaceful little bungalow in busy Glasgow Road is home to one of the Capital’s most impenetrable murder mysteries, which has baffled the police for 54 years. In that stairway in South Clerk Street, a woman was found battered to death in 1995, and her killer has never been brought to justice. And read about Edinburgh’s many forgotten murders, where only the murder house remains to tell the tale.
£11.69
Troubador Publishing Doctor Poison: The Extraordinary Career of Dr
Book SynopsisOne of the most notorious Victorian murders was committed by Dr George Henry Lamson, who stood trial in 1882 for poisoning his crippled brother-in-law Percy Malcolm John; he was found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed. This book is the first full-length account of the Lamson case since the relevant ‘Notable British Trials’ volume appeared back in 1912. Using contemporary newspapers, the police and Home Office files at the National Archives, and various other archival sources, it describes Lamson’s adolescence in a distinguished New York family, his successful medical studies in Paris and Edinburgh, and his valiant wartime service as a military surgeon in Serbia and Romania. Things then went rapidly downhill: he failed to establish himself as a general practitioner in Bournemouth, and descended into a maelstrom of drug addiction and moral irresponsibility, ending up a cruel, calculating murderer for the sake of profit. New light will be shed on Lamson’s motive for the murder, and on his choice of poison; arguments will be presented that the murder of Percy Malcolm John was not the first attempt on the life of this hapless youth by the murderous doctor; nor was he the first victim of this cunning and subtle Victorian poisoner par excellence.
£11.69
Ad Lib Publishers Ltd Cannibal Killers: Monsters with a Taste for
Book SynopsisAnthropophagy – humans eating their fellow-humans – creates a curious blend of revulsion and fascination. When the perpetrator is a murderer – most commonly a sadistic serial killer – the crime is not only shocking, but also bewildering. Moira Martingale’s comprehensive study, Cannibal Killers: The Impossible Monsters, was originally written in 1993, when the Internet was in its infancy, when few homes had computers and when the character Hannibal Lecter from the book and movie The Silence of the Lambs was regarded as an entirely fictional character, with no real-world counterparts or inspirations. The book demonstrated that this was an erroneous assumption. Translated into several languages and widely used as a resource by students studying for criminology degrees, this seminal work tracked the phenomenon of cannibalistic murderers throughout history, from the monstrous Sawney Bean, who killed and ate hundreds of travellers in Scotland five hundred years ago, to Jeffrey Dahmer, Andrei Chikatilo, Ed Kemper and Issei Sagawa – all loners, hiding their most terrible of secrets. Then came the World Wide Web. In this comprehensively updated edition we see that in the twenty-first century cannibals who thirst for human flesh and blood are still among us, and, alarmingly, they have moved online to find their victims.
£12.72
Ad Lib Publishers Ltd Inside the Mind of the Yorkshire Ripper: The
Book SynopsisThe police believed Sutcliffe was operating only in the Greater Manchester Police, South Yorkshire Police and West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police force areas, using his car. In fact, Sutcliffe was operating nationally and internationally, using his employer’s lorry to commit attacks. Authors Chris Clark and Tim Hicks have meticulously researched Sutcliffe’s crimes and reveal many of his previously unknown victims for the first time. The police failed to deliver justice for the victims’ families, and the media has failed to hold the police to account for this failure – both in the original investigation and in subsequent cold-case investigations. The authors hope that by bringing more of the facts of the case into the public domain and by telling the victims’ stories, they can help to bring closure for friends and relatives of victims of the Yorkshire Ripper.Trade Review'Gripping. A fascinating insight.’ -- Crime Monthly Magazine'A detailed and fascinating account. A forensic investigation with methodical collating of murders and attempted murders.' -- Keith Tordoff MBE
£9.49
Headline Publishing Group Serial Killers of Mexico: Chilling Stories of
Book SynopsisA collection of chilling stories of murders from Mexico, one of the world's most prolific hunting grounds for serial killers. 'If I was a serial killer looking for new victims, I'd head over the border to Mexico because life is cheap there and the police have got so much other sh*t to investigate, they don't bother with random killings.' - A former FBI agentFor decades, America has been considered to be the natural home of serial killers. Infamous names like Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer are internationally known and feared, and rightly so. But what if, just south of the border, there was a far more active network of serial killers? What if the perfect storm of crime, fuelled by this nation's deadly narco wars, has turned Mexico into an ideal hunting ground for many of the most bizarre and blood thirsty serial killers the world has ever seen?Serial Killers of Mexico delves into this criminal underbelly to tell the stories of the psychopathic loners, professional narco assassins and the overwhelmed law enforcement trying desperately to hunt them down.
£8.99
Troubador Publishing Attired in Deepest Mourning: Eliza Joyce, Mary
Book SynopsisBetween 1844 and 1868, three women were tried and found guilty of the brutal murder of members of their family by poison at the Lincoln Assizes. Two of them, Eliza Joyce and Priscilla Biggadike, were hanged; the third, Mary Ann Milner, committed suicide in her cell, hours before she was due to be executed. Drawing upon archive sources and the many divergent accounts in the popular press at the time, Attired in Deepest Mourning is the first comprehensive study of all three cases. It analyses in forensic detail the information, misinformation and fake news which defined the lives and deaths of three Lincolnshire women, both at the time, and subsequently. In addition, it presents hitherto unpublished material which takes the reader beyond the hackneyed narrative of the monstrous female poisoner to a more sympathetic understanding of the pressures and circumstances in which the women lived and died. Attired in Deepest Mourning is a local study which provides a valuable contribution to a full understanding of crime and punishment in mid-Victorian Britain.
£9.49
Octopus Publishing Group American Black Widow: The shocking true story of
Book SynopsisFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If You Tell comes the chilling, unputdownable story of Sharon Nelson, the minister's wife whose two husbands mysteriously ended up dead.Colorado, 1976. When Reverend Mike Fuller and his beautiful wife Sharon arrive in the sleepy town of Rocky Ford, local residents think something's off about the new couple. The God-fearing minister is gruff and cold, while charismatic Sharon has her husband wrapped around her finger.It isn't long before Sharon is charming her husband's congregation, and finds herself in a tryst with local, married optometrist Perry Nelson. After the affair ends both their marriages, Sharon and Perry tie the knot. But shortly afterwards, Perry disappears. When his body is shockingly discovered the bottom of a canyon, his death is ruled an accident, allowing grieving widow Sharon to claim his substantial life insurance.Trying to move on from the tragedy, Sharon soon remarries fireman Glenn Harrelson. But when the charred remains of Glenn's body are discovered with two bullet holes in his skull, the police can't help but question if both men dying in such mysterious circumstances is one coincidence too many...Shocking, sensational and gripping, this is the true story of the black widow Sharon Nelson, a must-read tale of greed, sex and murder in a sleepy Colorado town that will have true crime fans of The Staircase, American Mother and Making a Murderer hooked from start to finish.This book was originally published as Confessions of an American Black Widow and Bitch on Wheels.Read what everyone is saying about American Black Widow:"Another winner from Gregg Olsen!!! If you really love a great, nail-biting true crime novel, THIS is it!! Once you start, it's darned hard to put down. Seriously. Mr Olsen again takes you on a twisty, narrow road... you just cannot put this book down." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Gripping... keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end... peppered with shocking revelations, twists, and turns... captivating and spine-chilling." Goodreads reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Oh my goodness... I could not put this book down... fabulous." Goodreads reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"You pick up this book and start to read. Suddenly you realize you cannot stop reading, you need to know what happened next... a page turner... this book deeply affected me and I eat true crime books for breakfast... amazing... one of Gregg Olsen's finest." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"I read this book in one sitting. I couldn't put it down." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"I couldn't put it down. Brilliantly written. I just found my favorite author." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Olsen is an incredible author. I couldn't put it down. Excellent read!... Bravo!!" Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Amazing... WOW! Another winner for Gregg Olsen!" Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Amazing... I literally could not put the book down." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Kept me riveted from the very beginning to the very last page! I strongly recommend this book for any true crime fan." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"I couldn't put the book down. The author made all the characters come alive." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Once you start you don't want to stop until you are done." Goodreads reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Amazing... a must read." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Loved the book!... I could not ask for a better read!" Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Incredible." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Excellent... kept me on the edge of my seat... You had better hang onto your hat for this read." Goodreads reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Amazing... A great page turner." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"A true story that you just can't put down!" Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Gregg Olsen always writes in a style that makes you want to read all night... keeps your attention until the end." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆"Outstanding true-crime." Amazon reviewer, ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
£8.54
Atlantic Books Life Sentence: The Brief and Tragic Career of
Book SynopsisSandtown is one of the deadliest neighbourhoods in the world; it earned Baltimore its nickname Bodymore, Murderland, and was made notorious by 'The Wire.' Drug deals dominate street corners and ruthless, casual violence abounds.Montana Barronette grew up in the centre of it all. The leader of the gang 'Trained to Go,' or TTG, when he was finally arrested, he had been nicknamed 'Baltimore's Number One Trigger Puller.' Under Tana's reign, TTG dominated Sandtown. When a string of murders were linked to TTG, each with dozens of witnesses too intimidated to testify, three detectives set out to put Tana in prison for life. For them, this was never about drugs: It was about serial murder.Acclaimed journalist Mark Bowden, who spent his youth in the white suburbs of Baltimore, returns to the city with exclusive access to the FBI files and unprecedented insight into one of the city's deadliest gangs and its notorious leader. As he traces the rise and fall of TTG, Bowden uses wiretaps, police interviews, trial transcripts and his own ongoing conversations with Tana's family and community to create the most in-depth account of an inner-city gang ever written.With his signature precision and propulsive narrative, Mark Bowden positions Tana - as a boy, a gang leader, a killer, and now a prisoner - in the context of Baltimore and America, illuminating his path for what it really was: a life sentence.Trade ReviewGripping and revealing...A powerful, nuanced depiction of gang violence in America that makes a strong case for meaningful reform * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *A scorching true-crime narrative. . . Bowden pulls no punches in his indictment of the ways in which the richest country in the world has allowed Black children for decades to be born into blighted urban neighborhoods, and saddled them with burdens that they must struggle to surmount to lead meaningful lives. This account of 'young men growing up in a place where murderous violence has become a way of life' will haunt readers long after they finish it * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *A masterpiece, right up there with Black Hawk Down and Guests of the Ayatollah. It's gripping, it's fast, it's deeply insightful and empathetic, and it's brilliantly and exhaustively reported. People should read it. -- Matt Bai, author of ALL THE TRUTH IS OUT[Bowden is] a Woodward that outdoes even Woodward. -- Malcolm Gladwell * New Yorker *Bowden turns his masterful storytelling talent to chronicling the gang's reign of terror and law enforcement's Herculean efforts to end it * Booklist *Table of Contents1: The Game (or, The Greased Path) 2: Shabangbang Shaboing 3: The Fulton Avenue Wall 4: Either You Got to Be That, or You Ain't 5: Shit Be Catching Up with Them 6: Here Come Landsman 7: The Ballad of Ronnie Jackass 8: We Hunting 9: Number One Trigger Puller 10: Gotta Take It on the Chin 11: Drinking from a Fire Hose 12: What Are We Supposed to Do Now, Clap? 13: Crabs in a Bucket
£14.99
Octopus Publishing Group Serial Killers: Shocking True Stories of the
Book SynopsisA gripping compendium of some of the world's most infamous and shocking mass murderers, such as John Wayne Gacy, the Boston Strangler, the Moors murderers and Harold Shipman, as well as some lesser-known figuresWho was the Zodiac Killer?What drove Jeffrey Dahmer to dismember his 17 victims?How many women really fell prey to Ted Bundy?Maybe it's because our animal instincts draw us to dangerous situations; maybe it's because reading about predators allows us to learn about their behaviours in a safe setting. Whatever the reason, serial killers and their crimes have fascinated us for centuries.This true crime compendium not only relates the disturbing events that transpired but also delves into the psychology of the perpetrators. The stories within are shocking and often difficult to comprehend, but with this deep dive into the world of the macabre, readers may gain a greater understanding of the motivations and thought processes of these murderers. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the psychology of crime and the human mind.
£8.99
Arcturus Publishing Ltd Evil Serial Killers: To Kill and Kill Again
Book SynopsisThe FBI estimate that there are between 25 and 50 serial killers at large in the USA at any given time. But the truth is few people kill. We occasionally say we could kill someone, but that is usually hyperbole. Most of us can imagine what it might be like to be driven to a senseless act of violence in an unendurable situation. To kill once is one thing; to kill over and over again is quite another. What drives these people who kill and kill again? Are they evil or are they mad? Serial killing is a worldwide phenomenon and no two killers are alike. Each one comes with a grisly though compelling tale that takes the reader to the darkest reaches of the human psyche.
£9.49
Arcturus Publishing Ltd The World's Most Evil Serial Killers: Crimes that
Book SynopsisThere are few people alive who are so cruel, so heartless and so undeniably evil that they will kill again and again. Yet at any one time, there are between 25 and 50 active serial killers in the USA, and their chilling crimes have fascinated us since the days of Jack the Ripper. Here you will discover how these heartless killers committed their gruesome deeds, what motivated them to kill and how, eventually, they were caught. This collection features more than 50 compelling stories, including:• Ed Kemper, who dismembered the bodies of his victims once he had finished with them;• Ted Bundy, who abducted, raped and brutally killed more than 30 women;• Charles Manson, who led a cult of mayhem and murder;• Jeffrey Dahmer, who stored a human head in his freezer;• Randy Kraft, who was pulled over for drunk driving with a body in the trunk of his car;• Alexander Pichushkin, who aimed to kill a person for every square on the chessboard.
£13.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Poet and the Murderer: A True Story of Verse,
Book SynopsisThe true story of a brilliantly forged Emily Dickinson poem sold at Sotheby’s in 1997. The author’s detective work led him across America to a prison cell in Salt Lake City, where the world’s greatest literary forger, Mark Hofmann, is serving a life sentence for double-murder. When the author sets out on the trail of a forged Emily Dickinson poem that has mysteriously turned up for sale at Sotheby’s in New York, he finds himself drawn into a world of deception and murder. The trail eventually leads, via the casinos of Las Vegas, to Utah and the darkly compelling world of Mark Hofmann, ex-Mormon and one of the most daring literary forgers and remorseless murderers of all time. As the author uncovers Hofmann’s brilliant, and disturbing, career, he takes the reader into the secret world of the Mormon Church and its controversial founder, Joseph Smith. Deeply researched but with the narrative pace of a novel, Worrall’s investigation into the life and crimes of this charismatic genius is a real-life detective story you simply won’t be able to put down. On the way, you will meet an eclectic cast of characters: undercover detectives and rare book dealers, Dickinson scholars, forensic document experts, hypnotists, gun-dealers and Mormons. As the story reaches its gripping climax, Hofmann becomes trapped in the web of his own deceptions … and turns to murder.Trade Review‘A cracking tale: the labyrinthine story he uncovers is beautifully paced and as complex as any conspiracy theory: a work of non-fiction, it reads like a thriller.’ Observer ‘Utterly enthralling’ Simon Winchester, author of ‘The Professor and the Madman’ ‘A terrific story, terrifically told’ New York Daily News ‘An adventurous and sensational narrative’ Peter Ackroyd, The Times
£11.39
Orion Publishing Co The Last Woman to be Hanged: The Ruth Ellis Story
Book SynopsisOn the eve of her hanging, Ruth Ellis wrote to a friend: 'I must close now but remember I am quite happy with the verdict, but not the way the story was told, there is so much that people don't know.' Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in Britain. This is her story.In July 1955 Ruth Ellis was sentenced to death for the shooting of her lover, motor-racing driver David Blakely. Barely three months later she was executed at Holloway prison. In this book, Robert Hancock sets the record straight. Using official documents including the transcript of her trial at the Old Bailey, he unlocks the full, secret background to the story of the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Meticulous and fair in its analysis, The Last Woman to be Hanged is an absorbing portrait of the tragic life of a young woman, a vivid snapshot of an era and a gripping account of a notorious case that shocked the nation.
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co This Woman: Myra Hindley’s Prison Love Affair and
Book SynopsisIn 1973, Myra Hindley, the most notorious woman in Britain, is serving a life sentence for the moors murders - a case that shocked the world. Behind bars she has fallen in love.When Hindley is refused parole she persuades a sympathetic prison officer and former nun to help her break out of London's grim Holloway prison. The women plan to run away together to Brazil.Twenty years after Hindley's death, this extraordinary true story is brought to life in vivid new detail by Howard Sounes, author of the true crime classic Fred & Rose, drawing on unseen prison files and new interviews with former Holloway inmates, prison officers and detectives. It is a tale of infatuation and manipulation, crime and punishment.Despite her part in the appalling murders of five children and teenagers, Myra Hindley is revealed as a highly complex woman of intelligence and charm, which she used to get what she wanted. Or was she, as her supporters claimed, a misunderstood person who regretted her past and only attempted to escape out of desperation?Revealing the 'most wicked woman in Britain' in new light, This Woman is an atmospheric prison story and a love story that will make readers think again about the woman behind the moors murders.
£16.14
Orion Publishing Co This Woman: The secret prison affair and escape
Book SynopsisIn 1973, Myra Hindley, the most notorious woman in Britain, is serving a life sentence for the moors murders - a case that shocked the world. Behind bars she has fallen in love.When Hindley is refused parole she persuades a sympathetic prison officer and former nun to help her break out of London's grim Holloway prison. The women plan to run away together to Brazil.Twenty years after Hindley's death, this extraordinary true story is brought to life in vivid new detail by Howard Sounes, author of the true crime classic Fred & Rose, drawing on unseen prison files and new interviews with former Holloway inmates, prison officers and detectives. It is a tale of infatuation and manipulation, crime and punishment.Despite her part in the appalling murders of five children and teenagers, Myra Hindley is revealed as a highly complex woman of intelligence and charm, which she used to get what she wanted. Or was she, as her supporters claimed, a misunderstood person who regretted her past and only attempted to escape out of desperation?Revealing the 'most wicked woman in Britain' in new light, This Woman is an atmospheric prison story and a love story that will make readers think again about the woman behind the moors murders.
£8.54
Orion Publishing Co What We Fear Most: A Psychiatrist’s Journey to
Book Synopsis* BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK * LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA'S ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION AWARD *---'Impressive at every level' - Jeremy Vine'Poignant, funny, engrossing' - Jo Brand'A sensitive and immersive voyage through the career of a forensic psychiatrist' - Kerry Daynes'A beautifully balanced and compassionately written memoir... This is a fascinating account of a fascinating journey' - Dr Richard ShepherdMeet Dr Ben Cave. For over thirty years he has worked in prisons and secure hospitals diagnosing and treating some of the most troubled men and women in society. A lifetime of care takes us from delusional disorders to schizophrenia, steroid abuse to drug dependency, personality disorders to paedophilia, and depression so severe a mother can kill her own baby.These are the human stories behind the headlines. The reality of a life spent working with patients with the severest mental health disorders. The tragic and often frightening truth about what happens behind closed doors.Dr Ben Cave takes us on a journey to the heart of this highly emotive environment, putting himself under the microscope as well as his patients. In the process, he allows us to share what they have taught each other, and how it has changed them. To share the psychological battle scars that come with a career on the frontline of our health service. To learn about the brilliant mental health nurses for whom physical injury and verbal abuse are a daily hazard. To learn about ourselves, and what we fear most.---Thoughtful, revealing, often haunting and always enlightening, if you liked Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd, Do No Harm by Henry Marsh and This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay this book is for you.Trade Review'A beautifully balanced and compassionately written memoir ... This is a fascinating account of a fascinating journey.' - Dr Richard Shepherd, bestselling author of Unnatural Causes'Impressive at every level. If mental illness is now being talked about, then this is the book to start the conversation. What happens when the brain breaks? Read Dr Cave to find out.' - Jeremy Vine, journalist and broadcaster'A beautifully written invitation to glimpse into Cave's often painful, but ultimately uplifting journey.' - Kerry Daynes, bestselling author of The Dark Side of the Mind 'Dr Ben Cave approaches what is often a much misunderstood area of mental illness with sensitivity and pragmatism. His sense of humour and humanity shine through.' - Jo Brand'Delightfully entertaining, witty, surprising, horrifying, and harrowing - all part of life in forensic mental health services' - Professor Kamaldeep Bhui, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford'The expert knowledge contained in this book will help us all gain a crucial understanding of the complex issue of mental health.' - Jonathan Agnew, cricket commentator and former professional cricketer'the most mesmerising, haunting and seductive book I have read in years... I have no doubt it will take it's place atop the new wave of literary, medical professionals.' - Amol Rajan, journalist and media editor'A compelling insight into the tragic and at times frightening truth about what happens behind locked doors.' - Marjorie Wallace CBE, founder and CEO of SANE'A riveting, moving, frightening, highly personal, at times depressing and yet surprisingly humorous account of a life in forensic psychiatry.' - Dr Phil Hammond, British physician, broadcaster, comedian and commentator'Cave has a compassionate, hopeful attitude towards his work, despite some incredibly sad experiences and challenging situations' - Charlotte Runcie, Daily Telegraph
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Hitmen: The Shocking True Story of a Family
Book SynopsisThe No 1 Bestseller!'A triumph' Nicola Tallant, Sunday World Crime World podcast'An incredible catalogue of mayhem ... amazing' Pat Kenny, Newstalk'Riveting' Irish TimesMeet the Wilsons - the deadliest family in crimeBrothers Eric, Keith and John Wilson, their cousin Alan, and nephew Luke shared a trade - assassination. Working for Ireland's criminal gangs they brought bloodshed and chaos to the streets.The Wilsons were not choosy about their targets. Hutches, Real IRA chiefs or random opponents from pub rows - they were all the same to them. Nor were they picky about motives - as long as the price was right, they asked no questions.The Hitmen is the shocking story of how a family cornered the market in intimidation and vengeance. It details the terrible cost in human suffering, particularly the death of an innocent teenage girl, Mariaora Rostas, when she randomly crossed their path. And it reveals how, one by one, each of the Wilsons was put out of business.The Hitmen draws on exclusive access to wire taps, case files and interviews with sources close to the gang who have never spoken before. No 1 bestselling authors Stephen Breen and Owen Conlon have written an extraordinary account of a family business like no other.Trade ReviewRiveting * Irish Times *An extraordinary story . . . fascinating -- Claire Byrne * RTÉ *An incredible catalogue of mayhem -- Pat Kenny * Newstalk *A triumph -- Nicola Tallant * Sunday World *
£9.49
Bonnier Books Ltd The Law Killers: True Crime from Dundee
Book SynopsisTrue crime from Dundee, covering the most fascinating and chilling cases from the last century Every town has its monsters. But only when their rage explodes and unspeakable crimes are committed do we realise we hold them in our midst. Some are unpredictable psychopaths, others achieve notoriety after a moment of madness when a single out-of-character act changes their lives forever. One thing is for certain, homicide comes in many guises - the only thing most have in common is a corpse. In The Law Killers, journalist Alexander McGregor examines some of the people and deeds, which have terrorised Dundonian communities. Having reported on many of them first-hand, he has unique insight into the cases and they are as chilling as they are compelling. The father who wanted to go one better than his double-killer son...and did. The groom who promised to love, honour and cherish both his brides...before he strangled them. The thirteen-year-old who was almost as much a victim as the child she killed. The trail of slaughter that started with a break-in and ended hundreds of miles away after an escaped convict killed again...and again and again.The unsolved murder of the wealthy spinster who led a secret life. The trail of dead women in the life of a social worker who thought he could outwit the police...and nearly did
£9.49
James Currey A Death Retold in Truth and Rumour: Kenya,
Book SynopsisRe-examines this unresolved murder in Kenya and the underlying role of rumour, the media and inter-state relations on how the death has been reported and investigated. Julie Ann Ward was a British tourist and wildlife photographer who went missing in Kenya's Maasai Mara Game Reserve in 1988 and was eventually found to have been murdered. Her death and the protracted search for her killers, stillat large, were hotly contested in the media. Many theories emerged as to how and why she died, generating three trials, several "true crime" books, and much speculation and rumour. At the core of Musila's study are thefollowing questions: why would this young woman's death be the subject of such strong contestations of ideas and multiple truths? And what does this reveal about cultural productions of truth and knowledge in Kenya and Britain, particularly in the light of the responses to her disappearance of the Kenyan police, the British Foreign Office, and the British High Commission in Nairobi. Building on existing scholarship on African history, narrative, gender and postcolonial studies, the author reveals how the Julie Ward murder and its attendant discourses offer insights into the journeys of ideas, and how these traverse the porous boundaries of the relationship between Kenya and Britain, and, by extension, Africa and the Global North. Grace A. Musila is a lecturer in the English Department of Stellenbosch University, South AfricaTrade ReviewA sensitive, sophisticated and subtle work...readers interested in modern African politics, the legacies of colonialism or the ethics of development will benefit greatly from Musila's insights. * RED PEPPER *Feminism and gender studies, history, international studies, African studies and literature, sociology and creative writing programmes would be among the priority home disciplines for this book. * JOHANNESBURG REVIEW OF BOOKS *What Musila does with the questions that she takes up is brilliant. This is a smart book-smart in its interconnectivity, in its insights, and in the voracious mind behind it. A Death Retold in Truth and Rumour should be assigned to upper-level classes in African studies and cultural studies. Scholars might know some of this already, but we have never seen it put together just this way. * AFRICAN STUDIES REVIEW *Grace Musila has managed to produce what must be termed an academic thriller. . . . [Her] text is an achievement - a study in the postcolonial hangovers and political ruthlessness besetting Kenya and countries like it that also exposes the lingering racism and greed of British involvement. * SAFUNDI *A mix of erudite critical analysis of the range of stories that emerged from the death of Julie Ward; examining the conduct and narratives of officialdom, the pain and search efforts of Julie's father; the seeming unwillingness of the Kenyan state to fully support Mr Ward's quest for truth and justice, as well as the British government's not-too-convincing involvement, among others. * DAILY NATION *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Versions of Truth Portrait of an Assassin State Sex, Gender and the 'Criminal' State Julie Ward's Death and the Kenyan Grapevine Wildebeest, 'Noble Savages' and Moi's Kenya: Cultural Illiteracies in the Search for Julie Ward's Killers Farms in Africa: Wildlife Tourism, Conservation and Whiteness in Postcolonial Africa Faultlines in the Official British Response to the Julie Ward Mystery Engaging Modernity Afterword by Stephanie Newell
£56.25
Amberley Publishing The Jack the Ripper Location Photographs:
Book SynopsisRipper Murders From Old Photographs is not a standard retelling of the story of the Whitechapel Murders but the tale of historically important photographs connected to the case, discovered by the author in 2007. Half of the book deals with The Whitby Collection. This is a surviving series of 27 images taken by the amateur criminologist John Gordon Whitby in 1961. They show many of the murder locations and related streets as they looked at that time. The book will not only tell the known facts about the photographer, but will - for the first time - reproduce every one of the photographs, along with modern comparison shots in colour. The second half of the book deals with an image that some have described as the most important photographic discovery in the Jack the Ripper case for quarter of a century. Before the discovery of a unique image purchased on eBay for less than $5, no photographic image was known to exist of the murder location of supposed Ripper victim Elizabeth Stride. Not only will this book present the photograph to the world for the first time, it will also discuss in detail the vast amount of research that has been undertaken to authenticate and date the image and, with frequent reference to the photo album it came from, will try to close in on identifying the photographer.
£14.39
The Mercier Press Ltd Melancholy Madness (A Coroners Casebook)
Book SynopsisBizarre tales of murder and investigation in the drumlins, valleys and towns of Monaghan in the nineteenth century, based upon a casebook just recently discovered that has never been lodged in any archive anywhere. This is NEW information and highlights such cases as: The Illigitimate Half-Sisters Of Oscar Wilde - Emily and Mary Wilde died tragically at Drumaconner House while dancing by the fire - their deaths are kept quiet so as not to shame Sir William Wilde. The Legend Of The Sleepwalking Nun - Sister Mary Keogh is discovered drowned in the Convent lake near the Crannog - to this day, local legend tells the story of her death.
£20.93
Octopus Publishing Group American Mother: The true story of a troubled
Book SynopsisFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If You Tell comes the absolutely unputdownable and chilling true-crime story of Stella Nickell-a mother and wife who did the unthinkable... and the unforgivable.At 5.02 pm on June 5, 1986, an emergency call came into the local sheriff's office in the small town of Auburn, Washington State. A distressed housewife, Stella Nickell, said her husband Bruce was having a seizure. Officers rushed to the Nickell's mobile home, to find Stella standing frozen at the door... Bruce was on the floor fighting for his life.As Stella became the beneficiary of over $175,000 in a life insurance pay-out, forensics discovered that Bruce had consumed painkillers laced with cyanide.A week later, fifteen-year-old Hayley was getting ready for another school day. Her mom, Sue, called out 'I love you' before heading into the bathroom and moments later collapsed on the floor. Sue never regained consciousness, and the autopsy revealed she had been poisoned by cyanide-tainted headache pills. Just like Bruce.While a daughter grieved the sudden and devastating loss of her mother, a young woman, Cindy, was thinking about her own mom Stella. She thought about the years of neglect and abuse, the tangled web of secrets Stella had shared with her, and Cindy contemplated turning her mom into the FBI...Gripping and heart-breaking, Gregg Olsen uncovers the shocking true story of a troubled family. He delves into a complex mother-daughter relationship rooted in mistrust and deception, and the journey of the sweet curly-haired little girl from Oregon whose fierce ambition to live the American Dream led her to make the ultimate betrayal.A sensational real-life mystery, American Mother will hook those fascinated by The Staircase and Making of a Murderer.This book was originally published as Bitter Almonds.Read what everyone is saying about Gregg Olsen:"A riveting, taut, real-life psychological suspense thrill ride... All at once compelling and original, Gregg Olsen's If You Tell is an instant true-crime classic." -M. William Phelps, New York Times bestselling author"Classic true crime in the tradition of In Cold Blood and The Stranger Beside Me." -James Renner, author of True Crime Addict"Bristling with tension, gripping from the first pages, Gregg Olsen's masterful portrait of children caught in the web of a coldly calculating killer fascinates. A read so compelling it kept me up late into the night, If You Tell exposes incredible evil that lived quietly in small-town America. That the book is fact, not fiction, terrifies." -Kathryn Casey, bestselling author of In Plain Sight"This riveting account will leave readers questioning every odd relative they've known." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)"An unsettling stunner about sibling love, courage, and resilience." -People Magazine (book of the week)"A compelling portrait of terror and a powerfully honest, yet still sensitive, look at survival." -Bookreporter"A true-crime tour de force." -Steve Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of No Stone Unturned"Olsen has done it again, giving readers a glimpse into a murderous duo that's so chilling, it will have your head spinning. I could not put this book down!" -Aphrodite Jones, New York Times bestselling author"A suspenseful, horrific, and yet fascinating character study of an incredibly dysfunctional and dangerous family by Gregg Olsen, one of today's true-crime masters." -Caitlin Rother, New York Times bestselling author
£8.54
Mirror Books Inside 10 Rillington Place: John Christie and me,
Book Synopsis10 Rillington Place: the house of death.John Reginald Halliday Christie and Timothy John Evans were hanged after a series of brutal murders in the 1940s and 1950s.But should they both have been executed?The sole survivor who grew up with Christie and Evans tells the untold story of what really happened inside 10 Rillington Place...
£8.54
And Other Stories When Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2022 British Academy Prize for Global Cultural Understanding. Novelist Alia Trabucco Zeran has long been fascinated not only with the root causes of violence against women, but by those women who have violently rejected the domestic and passive roles they were meant by their culture to inhabit. Choosing as her subject four iconic homicides perpetrated by Chilean women in the twentieth century, she spent years researching this brilliant work of narrative nonfiction detailing not only the troubling tales of the murders themselves, but the story of how society, the media and men in power reacted to these killings, painting their perpetrators as witches, hysterics, or femmes fatales . . . That is, either evil or out of control. Corina Rojas, Rosa Faundez, Carolina Geel and Teresa Alfaro all committed murder. Their crimes not only led to substantial court decisions, but gave rise to multiple novels, poems, short stories, paintings, plays, songs and films, produced and reproduced throughout the last century. In When Women Kill, we are provided with timelines of events leading up to and following their killings, their apprehension by the authorities, their trials and their representation in the media throughout and following the judicial process. Running in parallel with this often horrifying testimony are the diaries kept by Trabucco Zeran while she worked on her research, addressing the obstacles and dilemmas she encountered as she tackled this discomfiting yet necessary project.Trade Review'Throughout [When Women Kill], the language is both precise and evocative, and the author's evaluation of the various circumstances is readable, trenchant, and intersectional. A formally inventive, lyrical, feminist analysis of Chile's famous female murderers.' Kirkus Reviews, starred review ---- 'Exquisitely translated by Sophie Hughes, When Women Kill conveys the wonder of a writer determined to uncover the truth about factual events by using story.' Megan Bradbury, Times Literary Supplement ---- 'This book fascinates, illuminates and horrifies in equal measure ... It's an elegant examination of how the act of murder uncovers truths society never wants to confront.' Neil Mackay Herald Scotland ---- 'Are we as women in any way implicated by these four murderers? . . . In its portrait of the media, in the echo from the streets, in the judicial process and sentence of each of the four female killers here, we recognise the judgment of society itself, from which we cannot escape.' Nona Fernandez, La Tercera ---- 'When Women Kill is an entertaining, intelligent and well-written book that, in the process of deconstructing machismo, reflects on the power of story - be it through literature, court proceedings, news, articles, or photos - and its ability to intervene in our lives.' Marta Sanz, El Pais ---- 'When Women Kill is a magnificent work of creative nonfiction: provocative, intelligent, and moving. In it, Alia Trabucco Zeran makes use of her talents as a writer and researcher to reconstruct the complex stories of four women accused of violent crimes in the twentieth century. The result is a masterful and pertinent account full of humanity and emotion.' Fernanda Melchor ---- 'This brilliant work of essayistic nonfiction reveals forcefully and convincingly the rhetorical operations used by the patriarchy.' Lina Meruane ---- 'Tales of love and hate, exposed with a forensic and lyrical power that is rare, brilliant and deeply affecting.' Philippe Sands
£10.79
Ad Lib Publishers Ltd Cold Blooded Murder: Shocking True Stories of
Book SynopsisMurder is the most vile crime known to man. It can be triggered by love or money or sex. Those are the three big ticket items for homicide. But people are strange. They will kill for the most obscure and ridiculous of reasons. In 30 years covering murder, I have discovered each one has its own flavour. Cops and friends can be stunned by the evil lurking within a seemingly ordinary man or woman. In this collection of some of the most memorable cases I've reported on, there are serial killers, rich kid monsters, football stars and wives in pursuit of hormone-charged hijinks… The very rich and the very poor. Successful lawyers and hotel executives. Southern belles who could melt butter with a come hither wink and a sexy drawl. Daddy’s girls with gleaming smiles, good marks and possessed by the devil. These are stories of American crimes and they stretch from coast to coast. You will find cheating husbands and wives so desperate for love that they’ll kill for it. When the mob kills, it’s never personal. It’s strictly business. With the murderers in Cold Blooded Murder, it’s ALWAYS personal.
£12.44
Ad Lib Publishers Ltd A Special Place in Hell: The World's Most
Book SynopsisSunday Times bestselling author Christopher Berry-Dee is the man who talks to serial killers. A world-renowned investigative criminologist, he has gained the trust of murderers across the world, entered their high security prisons, and discussed in detail their shocking crimes. The killers' pursuit of horror and violence is described through the unique audiotape and videotape interviews which Berry-Dee conducted, deep inside the bowels of some of the world's toughest prisons. Christopher Berry-Dee has collated these interviews into this astounding, disturbing book. Not only does he describe his meetings with some of the world's most evil men and women, he also reproduces, verbatim, their very words as they describe their crimes, allowing the reader a glimpse into the inner workings of the people who have committed the worst crime possible - to mercilessly take the life of another human being.
£12.11
Ad Lib Publishers Ltd Our Georgia: The devastating murder of my
Book SynopsisGeorgia Williams’ murder at the hands of college pal Jamie Reynolds was a crime that shocked the nation: chillingly executed and horrific in its sexual depravity. But when Georgia’s devastated mother, Lynnette, and father, Steve, questioned the events leading to their daughter’s death, they discovered it was also entirely preventable. At the time of Georgia’s disappearance, Steve was – ironically – a highly-commended murder squad detective serving with West Mercia Police. The same force, Steve and Lynnette discovered, had had Reynolds in its sights for years before Georgia’s murder, but let him slip their net. Drawing on Steve’s inside police knowledge, the couple exposed the litany of failures that let Reynolds infiltrate their daughter’s life, and allowed him to kill. Now, in her powerful and moving memoir, Lynnette tries to get beyond the platitudes of ‘mistakes made and lessons learned’ to effect real change, and also details the heartbreaking aftermath of a crime that should never have happened.
£9.49
Ad Lib Publishers Ltd Murder by the Sea: True Crime Stories from our
Book SynopsisThere is something sinister about a British seaside town. On the surface they’re all funfairs and breezy promenades. Yet dig a little deeper in the sand and you soon uncover an underworld of murder, madness and mayhem… Murder by the Sea Vol 1 is a companion book to the long-running true-crime documentary series on CBS Reality. Since 2018 the programme has examined some of the most extraordinary murder cases in Britain’s seaside towns. From Blackpool to Bournemouth, Southport to Pembrokeshire, people love to be beside the seaside, but away from the piers, the arcades and beautiful beaches lurks some dark secrets. Ten of the series’ most powerful and shocking cases feature in Murder by the Sea Vol 1. From serial killers to a 1950s poisoner, from cruel husbands to an unusual murder by a mother and son, these are the true stories of wives, couples and families who had the misfortune to encounter a killer in their everyday lives. With complete access to the extensive interviews conducted by the TV production teams with detectives, forensic psychologists, witnesses and relatives, Murder by the Sea Vol 1 features exclusive additional material and insights that could not be included in the original episodes.Table of ContentsStephen Akinmurele – Blackpool serial killer who preyed on retired women John Cooper – serial killer and rapist who terrorised Pembrokeshire and eluded police for two decades Paul Longworth – Southport boat club commodore who tried to disguise the murder of his wife as a suicide Pierre Legris – Bournemouth bigamist who bludgeoned to death a woman who thought she was his second wife Malcolm Green – notorious Cardiff murderer who killed a prostitute and his best friend Louisa May Merrifield – the Blackpool Poisoner hanged in 1953 for killing her employer Mitchell Quy – murdered and dismembered his wife in Southport and taunted police for falling to locate the ‘missing person’ Robert Mochrie – former civil servant who murdered his whole family in Barry Mathew Hardman – the teen who disembowelled an elderly woman on the island of Anglesey because he wanted to be a vampire Penny John and Barry Rogers – mother and son who murdered Penny’s mother in Pembrokeshire
£8.54
