True crime Books

Book SynopsisTHE FINAL WORD FROM THE LAST KING OF GANGLAND WITH A FOREWORD BY MARTINA COLE'We couldn't, we wouldn't, let anyone take a liberty. That was never an option at that time.'Eddie Richardson is the last brand-name gangster. Say the name and the world of violent criminality grabs you by the throat.The Richardson brothers, Eddie and Charlie, and their infamous 'Torture Gang', made money while their rivals Ronnie and Reggie Kray made fatal mischief. They fought each other, but now, in 2018, Eddie Richardson says: 'They tell me blood is thicker than water, but with Charlie it wasn't so. He was evil.'With his brother dead, Eddie Richardson feels free to detail the story of a vicious family feud that provoked extravagant acrimony. No Handcuffs unravels the mysteries of decades of crime and political incident. The story of a turbulent era, it rivals the most imaginative fiction in its portrayal of gangland life with all its chanciness and rawness and careless disregard for any obstacle on the way to its target, the big money.In an inspired collaboration with bestselling author Douglas Thompson, the mature Eddie Richardson is given a voice to reflect on his journey from the scrapyards of South London to the glitz and glamour of the West End nightclubs, to the flesh and tease of Soho, down Downing Street and through the door of Number 10 to the perils of espionage and international intrigue, and his elevation to demigod status in hard-men territory - and finally as a high-security inmate at Her Majesty's pleasure, but with a personal fridge kept well stocked with gourmet food. No Handcuffs resonates today for, if anything, greed and corruption are more perverse, more rampant. As Eddie Richardson points out: 'We wrote the handbook for them.'

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Book SynopsisGangsters, hitmen, murderers and terrorists . . . Kate Kray has met them all. Using her unrivalled links to the criminal underworld, she has asked the questions many would be too terrified to utter.From seasoned hard man Roger Shaw to feared detainee Charles Bronson, Kate lifts the lid on the crimes they committed, and speaks to the men themselves to find out what exactly makes them tick. Infamous criminals, now seen as legends of British crime, open up to reveal their fated paths and the instrumental moments which caused them to turn to a life outside the law. These are the stories of the men behind the headlines, each one with a unique story to tell. But there is one thing they all have in common: they inhabit a world in which the rest of us fear to tread.

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Book SynopsisFor fans of the hit show, Death in Paradise, comes the real story of a British detective fighting crime and uncovering mysteries in the Caribbean sun . . . The Real Death in Paradise recounts the two years Inspector Richard Preston spent as one of twelve young police officers seconded to the seemingly idyllic Cayman Islands. Who wouldn't love the opportunity to work in a tropical paradise and immerse yourself in the local culture as you sunbathe on the sandy beaches and swim in the crystal clear waters? What could possibly go wrong . . . ? When faced with the reality of police life in the Caribbean - including smuggling, rescuing turtles and mysterious murders - Richard soon found out that the truth was far more interesting than he ever could have imagined. Follow Richard's adventures in this murderously enjoyable sun-kissed memoir'Wonderful... Richard's book reveals that truth really can be stranger than fiction', Daily Express

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Book Synopsis In a decade of researching and writing about crime, Simon Farquhar has met many of those professionally or personally affected by it. They all carry with them stories which the rest of the world has forgotten, but which to them remain unforgettable. Now five of the most extraordinary stories are being told, in full, for the first time. Retracing these historic tragedies with a modern eye, talking to surviving witnesses and police officers, exploring Home Office files and even previously unseen evidence, each investigation reveals powerful truths about those who take away a human life and those bereaved by their actions, while shining a new light on how our society has changed?or still needs to change. Time is also taken to explore the untold stories of what happens after sentence is passed, after the press packs up and leaves, once the rest of the world has moved on. What becomes of the survivors, and what becomes of the criminals? What traces of these crimes still remain today? Exhaustively researched and sensitively written, these remarkable accounts are both harrowing and heartbreaking, presenting us with humanity at its cruelest, at its most vulnerable, at its most compassionate and at its most courageous.

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Book SynopsisHIGHLY COMMENDED FOR BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2023'Jaw-dropping' -Val McDermid'A police memoir like no other' -Kerry Daynes, bestselling author of The Dark Side of the Mind'Honest, shocking and funny' - Barbara Machin, creator of Waking the Dead When Jackie Malton joined the police force in 1970, male recruits were given a truncheon and female recruits were given a handbag. At every step, she fought sexism and homophobia on top of the rapists, murderers, and armed robbers she tackled in the streets. And when she was harassed by her own colleagues for reporting bent coppers, Jackie was thrown into a shame and isolation that she tried to dim with alcohol. At the height of her success, as she became one of only three female detective chief inspectors in the Met, and as a chance meeting with the writer Lynda La Plante catapulted her into the world of TV, Jackie was battling her own demons harder than ever before.In this thrilling and revealing memoir, meet the real woman behind the iconic character Jane Tennison ­- every bit as tenacious, determined, and fearless, with an extraordinary story to tell.Trade ReviewJackie Malton lifts the lid on the jaw-dropping day-to-day realities that have faced women cops. * Val McDermid *Jackie Malton was one of the women who blazed a trail in the very macho world of policing. She was indeed the real Prime Suspect, viewed with suspicion because of her gender and her sexuality and, while it took its toll, she stood out, proud and independent. She gave policing a good name. A terrific read! * Baroness Helena Kennedy QC *Unputdownable. A uniquely personal journey through recent decades of policing. Searingly honest, shocking and funny. * Barbara Machin, creator and showrunner, Waking the Dead *The story of a pioneer, a determined police officer who used her talent as a force for good. If it were not for women like Jackie, policing today would be very different. * Colin Sutton, author of the Manhunt series *A fascinating account of Jackie Malton's remarkable career as a police officer, and how she used that experience to bring a new kind of authenticity to Prime Suspect and many other TV crime dramas and documentaries. * Neil McKay, TV writer and producer, Appropriate Adult *The Real Prime Suspect is a police memoir like no other. An intimate and eye-opening account of one woman's talent and tenacity in an institution that was once the bastion of white, heterosexual male privilege. Jackie Malton has my upmost respect, she is a ground-breaking detective and also the very best of us - this is a surprising, candid and unmissable read. * Kerry Daynes, bestselling author of 'What Lies Buried' and 'The Dark Side of the Mind' *

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Book Synopsis''A serious reinvestigation full of revealing background information that sheds additional light on what was then and now remains a shocking crime'' Paul French, author of Midnight in Peking''This riveting, eye-opening investigation of a 70-year-old murder mystery reads like a whodunit ... A true crime must-read'' Dean Jobb, author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream''As much social history as it is gripping true crime'' Jeremy Craddock, author of The Jigsaw Murders''A meticulously researched re-examination'' Caitlin Davies, author of Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths1950s France. A British establishment figure. A shocking crime. A miscarriage of justice. The search for truth.In 1952, in a peaceful corner of Provence, a farmer''s son stumbled upon a terrible scene. Three bodies: a husband and wife shot dead, their ten-year-old daughter savagely beaten to death. They were all British. So begins one of the most notorious murder cases in French history.Sir Jack Dr

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Book SynopsisFrom brainwashing and blackmail to manipulation and murder, explore the terrifying world of cults in this pocket guideThe strange and disturbing world of cults is fascinating and horrifying in equal measure. Led by charismatic and deceptively charming leaders, these shadowy organizations lure people in with promises of good futures and fortune, and then trap them and control them.The Little Book of Cults is an insight into this sinister world. Discover famous cult leaders and the psychological mind games they played to gain followers; learn about the different types of cults that have sprung up throughout history, the things they believe, how they began - and how they ended - and read the true stories of the brave people who escaped these organizations and told the world the truth. Uncover shocking facts about some of the most notorious cults to ever exist, such as:- What happens to doomsday cults when the world doesn''t end- Why it can

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Book SynopsisIn The Trigger Men, bestselling author Martin Dillon delves into the dark and sinister world of Irish terrorism and counter-terrorism. Over three decades he has interviewed and investigated some of the most professional, dangerous and ruthless killers in Ireland. Now Dillon explores their personalities, motivations and bizarre crimes.Many of Ireland's assassins learned their trade in fields and on hillsides in remote parts of Ireland, while others were trained in the Middle East or with Basque separatist terrorists in Spain. Some were one-target-one-shot killers, like the sniper who terrorised the inhabitants of Washington State in the autumn of 2002, while others were bombers skilled in designing the most sophisticated explosive devices and booby traps. Another more powerful group of 'trigger men' were the influential figures in the shadows, who were experts in motivating the killers under their control. All of these men, whether they squeezed the trigger on a high-powered rifle, set the timer on a bomb or used their authority to send others out to commit horrific and unspeakable acts of cruelty, are featured in this book. The Trigger Men takes the reader inside the labyrinthine world of terrorist cells and highly classified counter-terrorism units of British Military Intelligence. The individual stories are described in gripping, unflinching detail and show how the terrorists carried out their ghastly work. Dillon also explores the ideology of the cult of the gunmen and the greed and hatred that motivated assassins in their killing sprees. There are penetrating insights into the mindset of the most infamous assassins: their social and historical conditioning, their callousness......

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Book SynopsisBetween them, the three men in the fearsome Pierrepoint dynasty executed over 800 people during a career spanning more than half a century. Henry, his brother Thomas, and his son Albert, dispatched some of the most infamous criminals of the 20th century, and in the process earned a public notoriety that followed them throughout their eventful lives.For years, the three men were faced with the task - prestigious to some, horrific to many others - of being the last point of contact for the guilty and condemned. The Pierrepoints executed criminals the nation over before travelling to many countries including Egypt and postwar Germany, where they hanged Nazi war criminals, and gained a reputation as the world's most deadly practitioners of the art of hanging."Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners" recounts the intriguing stories of the three men and the effect that their macabre occupation had on their personal lives. This definitive guide is filled with shocking inside tales from the official records and diaries kept by the Pierrepoint family. With revealing insights into the intense rivalry between fellow executioners, new light is shed on the menacing world of years gone by.

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Book SynopsisTHE NO. 1 BESTSELLERGrim, forensic and often eye-opening meticulously researched and soberly written' Sunday IndependentA fascinating book' Pat Kenny, Newstalk---Kinahan Assassins is the extraordinary story of how the killers used by Ireland's most notorious drug gang, the Kinahan Cartel, were taken down. After an audacious assassination attempt on boss Daniel Kinahan's life, the Kinahan Cartel recruited an unprecedented number of killers to retaliate against their attackers, the Hutch gang. Kinahan Assassins is the compelling behind-the-scenes account of one man's thirst for vengeance and how it proved fatal for his organization. Kinahan Assassins has the stories of the men who killed for the cartel - including vulnerable drug addicts, a former British soldier, an MMA fighter and an invisible 'Mr Nobody' who acted as a cartel quartermaster - as well as those who gave them orders. And it details how, one by one, the hit teams were identified, surveilled and captured by the Irish

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Book SynopsisDrug dealers beware. The Devil is coming to get you. Gangster Stephen French invented the perfect crime: robbing drug barons of their huge fortunes. In SAS-style swoops, French raided their fortified mansions and tortured them with horrifying violence until they paid up. Through 'taxing' the richest and most powerful crimelords in the UK, he netted over £20 million. French was no ordinary criminal. He was a world-champion fighter, he studied psychology at university to master mind-control techniques, and he used the teachings of Machiavelli and samurai warriors to outwit his enemies. The Devil also reveals French's complex relationship with Curtis Warren, the wealthiest criminal in British history. The two were childhood pals, then partners and finally bitter enemies. Now a legitimate businessman, French built up a multimillion-pound empire. Having eventually turned his back on his former life, he is now seeking to set the record straight.Trade ReviewSensational * Sunday Sport *

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Book SynopsisTwo films and numerous books have attempted to tell the shocking story of two of Britain's most ruthless gangs. For 20 years, the Essex Boys firm and their successors, the New Generation, controlled a lucrative drugs empire in Essex and throughout the south east of England by using intimidation, gratuitous violence and murder. Rampaging through the streets and clubland, they destroyed anything and anybody that dared to get in their way. Eventually torn apart by greed and paranoia, the gang members became victims of their own vile trade and hate-filled actions. Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe were all blasted repeatedly with a shotgun as they sat in their Range Rover down a remote farm track. Dean Boshell was lured to allotments, then beaten and shot execution-style three times through the head. Others, such as Darren Nicholls and Damon Alvin, turned Super Grass and disappeared into the witness protection scheme never to be seen again, while three other men are in prison serving life sentences. Steve `Nipper` Ellis is the last man standing, the only member to have survived the bloody reign of both gangs. In Essex Boy, he tells his shocking story for the first time, and reveals just how close he came to being both murderer and murder victim.Trade Review[Ellis's] story is terrifying and gripping in equal measure. It's a miracle he's here to tell the tale * News of the World *

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Book SynopsisIn 1991 Sture Bergwall, a petty criminal and drug addict, botched an armed robbery so badly that he was deemed to be more in need of therapy than punishment. He was committed to Säter, Sweden's equivalent of Broadmoor, and began a course of psychotherapy and psychoactive drugs. During the therapy, he began to recover memories so vicious and traumatic that he had repressed them: sickening scenes of childhood abuse, incest and torture, which led to a series of brutal murders in his adult years. He eventually confessed to raping, killing and even eating more than 30 victims. Embracing the process of self-discovery, he took on a new name: Thomas Quick. He was brought to trial and convicted of eight of the murders. In 2008, his confessions were proven to be entirely fabricated, and every single conviction was overturned. In this gripping book, Dan Josefsson uncovers the tangled web of deceptions and delusions that emerged within the Quick team. He reveals how a sick prisoner and mental patient, addled with prescription drugs and desperate for validation, allowed himself to become a case study for a sect-like group of therapists who practiced the controversial method of 'recovered' memory therapy. The group's leader, psychoanalyst Margit Norell, hoped that her vast study of Thomas Quick would make history... And the more lies Quick told, the better he was treated: the supposedly most dangerous serial killer and sexual predator in Sweden was practically free to come and go as he wanted. This is a study of psychoanalytic ambition and delusion, and the scandalous miscarriage of justice that it led to, written by one of Sweden's foremost investigative journalists.

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Book SynopsisOne of the best untold stories in the true crime/con artist genre. It features glamorous crime, intrigue, plot twists and a fascinating insight into life inEdwardian Britain.

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Book SynopsisSOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING BENICIO DEL TORO, PRODUCED BY LEONARDO DICAPRIO.Cuba, 1961.A failed invasion at The Bay of Pigs results in Fidel Castro tightening his hold over Cuba. José Miguel Battle Sr., a former cop and member of the counter-revolutionary group intent on overthrowing him, is captured.Miami, 1962.José Miguel Battle Sr. travels to the USA, chased from the island by revolution, and is renamed The Godfather. A 2,500 strong Cuban-American criminal alliance is established.Known on both sides of the law as 'The Corporation', its powerful members were fellow outcasts and enemies of Castro. A hero to many Cuban-Americans, The Godfather created a unit of trusted men who fought alongside him to reclaim their nation from the Marxist dictator.Gaining money, power and inluence by running gambling rackets, money- laundering, drug tra?cking and murder, The Corporation never gave up the dream of killing Castro and reclaiming their homeland. This explosive biography reveals how an entire generation of political exiles, refugees, racketeers, corrupt cops, hitmen (and their wives and girlfriends) became caught up in this violent desire, and built a criminal empire surviving over 40 years.An epic tale of gangsters, drugs and violence, learn how The Corporation grew into one of the USA's most sordid and deadly organisations. Trade ReviewA mob saga that has it all-brotherhood and betrayal, swaggering power and glittering success, and a Godfather whose reach seems utterly unrivaled. What a relentless, irresistible read. * Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Force *English capably covers half a century of criminal enterprise, avoiding the clichés of the true-crime genre while stocking his narrative with familiar players: the capos and goons, the cops and informants, a mistress or two, and John F. Kennedy.... Fascinating reading. * Kirkus Reviews *It's a gripping, blood-soaked story, rich in drama and suspense; if it were a novel, you might expect to see Don Winslow's name attached to it. Fans of true crime, especially those with a hankering for epic-sized stories, should flock to this book. * Booklist *

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Book SynopsisThink you know everything about the Krays?Think again.Britain's most infamous criminals: the Kray twins. The extent of their activities has always been uncertain. But now, it is time for the conclusive account of their story, from their East End beginnings, to becoming the kingpins of London's underworld.This objective account, compiled by best-selling crime author and criminal lawyer James Morton, cuts through the conflicting versions of their stories and answers burning questions still being asked, 50 years after their infamous conviction. How was the clergy involved in evading police action? What was Charlie Kray's true position with his brothers? Just how many did they kill?Featuring an in-depth discussion at the supposed claims they killed up to 30, and a deep dive into the death of champion boxer Freddie Mills, Krays: The Final Word compiles all previous accounts and then some to find the truth behind their legendary status.This is the Krays - all fact, no fiction.Trade Review'A book that reads as the ultimate case file against the Krays' The Times * The Times *

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Book SynopsisIn Cops and Horrors: Uncut Tales from the Frontline, Matt Calveley offers an up close and personal view into the life of a dedicated officer serving in one of the biggest police forces in the world. Highly decorated, Matt lived a varied career, meaning he is able to give readers an eye-opening insight into the job from all angles. On the Met's frontline, he fought violent criminals, arrested hundreds, dealt with horrific death scenes every day- and got bitten by a squirrel monkey called Clive. Matt served as custody Sergeant, provided jury protection during a huge corruption trial, and qualified as a mass fatality specialist. In Cops and Horrors, he reveals how he: * Discovered sickening photographs at a crash scene that led to a child rapist being jailed * Worked undercover in the Met's massive surveillance operation to catch Mardi Gras bomber Edgar Pearce * Expertly broke into Paul Daniel's car after the late magician locked his keys inside it * Nicked a bent 'Santa' driving a stolen limo after a high-speed Christmas morning road chase * Fought a machete-wielding maniac * Was mistaken as a stripper after hitching a lift to an emergency in a limo packed with tipsy hen party revellers Matt also gives an unprecedented, detailed account of law enforcement on London's roads. From dealing with arrogant motorists, catching drink drivers and facing catastrophic road deaths, to white-knuckle car chases and painstakingly reconstructing crash scenes, Matt has seen - and survived - it all.

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Book SynopsisWhat makes ordinary people, living normal lives, abandon everything to join a cult? Emma Kenny - psychologist and true crime expert - delves into gripping true stories of cults, operating all around us.

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Book Synopsis''Eye-popping analysis of politicians'' finances... a ground-breaking study... a fascinating and important work.'' Sunday Times''Immaculately researched... A powerful reminder that reporters can serve the public good... Should make journalists proud - and may even help to make the world a better place'' Peter Oborne, New StatesmanWho do our politicians work for? The public, or big business? If you want to understand why British politics isn''t working, the first place to start is here. Parliament Ltd reveals the financial interests that British politicians would rather you didn''t hear about. From banks and private corporations, to lobbying and the arms trade, there are MPs making millions by moonlighting in second jobs. Where does their loyalty belong - to us or to their paymasters? Meanwhile - years after the expenses scandal - they are now claiming more than ever before. In his enthrallTrade ReviewA ground-breaking study... this is a fascinating and important work. * Sunday Times *Immaculately researched... A powerful reminder that reporters can serve the public good... Should make journalists proud - and may even help to make the world a better place. -- Peter Oborne * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisRoy Shaw is the ultimate hardman. He has cult status and commands a respect that few, even in the violent world he moves in, can equal. To him, violence is simply an accepted part of his profession. He doesn't exaggerate it, he can't excuse it and he refuses to apologize for it. His name may mean nothing to you - he's no actor, no showman, no wannabe celebrity. He does, however, live by a merciless code, and though he may not have cloven hooves and a tail, if he goes after someone, all hell comes with him.Table of ContentsRoy's words speak for themselves: I'm Roy Shaw. Maybe my name means nothing to you. Why should it? I'm no actor, no showman, no wannabe celebrity. I'm not loud or brash and I don't huff or puff or growl at anyone, but I live by a merciless code. For me violence is simply an accepted part of my profession - the profession of violence. I don't exaggerate the violence I have inflicted. I can't excuse it and I certainly won't apologise for it. If that makes me the devil, then the devil I am - I haven't got horns sticking out of my head or cloven hooves and a tail, but if you're unlucky enough to have me coming after you then beware - 'cos hell's coming with me.

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Book SynopsisA decaying psychogeography unfurls the landscapes of the 196769 Michigan Murders, the 2019 Detroit serial killer, and the COVID-19 lockdown in this visceral poetry collection. Author, performance artist, and disability culture activist Petra Kuppers dissects traces of violence in the richness of the soil while honoring lost community members.

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Book SynopsisFrom the BBC's cyber correspondent and foremost voice on cybercrime, comes the insider exposé of the global rise of teen hackers

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Book SynopsisThis first installment in the New York Times bestselling Crime Files series is a chilling collection of shocking crimes and the ensuing struggles to bring the perpetrators to justice—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me. Soon to be a Lifetime original movie.The “country’s premier true crime author” (Library Journal) brings her clear-eyed, compassionate writing and investigative skills to this unputdownable anthology. Distinguished by the former Seattle police officer’s razor-sharp eye for detail and her penetrating analysis of the criminal mind, the featured case in this collection is the twisted story of Randy Roth—a man who married, and murdered, for profit. Following are compelling tales of bloody vengeance, estranged relationships that turn deadly, and fateful encounters. With her trademark “unwavering voice” (Publishers Weekly), Ann Rule exposes the darkness that lurks among us.

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Book SynopsisIn this gripping work of true crime, a criminal lawyer takes readers inside the notorious Lori Vallow case and the devastating doomsday murders.A blonde beauty queen, missing children, six suspicious deaths, and the twisted Mormon doomsday writings of her fifth husband are only the beginning of a tragic crime saga that gripped Americans and instigated frantic searches all over the country. It all started when Lori Vallow met Chad Daybell at a doomsday prepper event. Their story grew like a wildfire that creates its own weather, and what happened next will shock even the most experienced true crime reader. Clinging to and manipulating one another, Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell believed the return of Jesus Christ was imminent and that God had chosen them to lead the 144,000 and usher in the new millennium. When the people closest to them began dying, it became clear they would stop at nothing to be together and fulfill their mission. When the bodies of Lor

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Book SynopsisThis book tells the history of forensics through the ?capture stories' of some of the most notorious serial killers, going back almost a century.Trade Review"Her absorbing narratives include grisly details, but emphasis on criminology elevates the text. . . . Ramsland presents concise, compelling examples of the progress of police work over the last century. Highly recommended for true crime buffs."—School Library Journal "Ramsland (The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds) surveys in this engrossing account the methods used to catch serial killers, retelling the capture of famous, and not so famous, murderers....Ramsland writes knowledgeably in an accessible style. This is a welcome addition to the true crime shelf."—Publishers Weekly​ “Readers will be chilled to the core.”—Booklist"Her absorbing narratives include grisly details, but emphasis on criminology elevates the text. VERDICT A focus on how killers are caught brings a fresh approach even to familiar cases. Ramsland presents concise, compelling examples of the progress of police work over the last century. Highly recommended for true crime buffs." —Library Journal "Ramsland writes knowledgeably in an accessible style. This is a welcome addition to the true crime shelf." —Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisRulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer - some have called him a ''Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter'' - whose crimes spanned decades, but by 1871 he was captured, chained in a cell - a psychopath holding court while curious 19th-century ''mindhunters'' got to work.From alienists (early psychiatrists who tried to analyse the source of his madness) to neurologists (who wanted to dissect his brain) to phrenologists (who analysed the bumps on his head to determine his character), each one thought he held the key to understanding the essential question: is evil born or made?Expanding on her hit podcast, Tenfold More Wicked, acclaimed crime historian Kate Winkler Dawson draws on hundreds of source materials and never-before-shared historical documents to present one of the first glimpses into the mind of a serial killer - a century before the term was coined - through the scientists whose work would come to influence criminal justice for decades to come.

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Book SynopsisPeople lie, cheat, steal and even kill for a variety of reasons, one of which is to go motor racing, a particularly expensive and egotistical sport. This intriguing book, the result of years of research, encompasses not just those who have been 'driven to crime' in order to pay for their sport but also characters within motor racing who have been involved in wrongdoing, sometimes through no fault of their own. Over 60 true stories cover webs of deceit and numerous crimes including drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement, robbery, fraud, murder and money laundering. The author investigates misdemeanours at all levels, from drivers, designers and mechanics to team owners, entrants and sponsors. This book will appeal not only to motor racing enthusiasts and cognoscenti on both sides of the Atlantic but also to anyone who enjoys reading about crime. Key content • Stories of motorsport chicanery from all over the world, including… • Fraud: Southern Organs (lay preachers who faked suicide and hid on a remote Scottish island); Jerry Dominelli (a Ponzi scheme that funded top-level racing Porsches); Jean-Pierre Van Rossem (self-styled stock-market guru who bankrolled an F1 team); Dominic Chappell (serial bankrupt racer brought down after purchasing a British department store); David Thieme (the Lotus sponsor who vanished). • Murder: David Blakely (the driver killed by his lover Ruth Ellis); Franco Ambrosio (F1 sponsor of Shadow and Arrows); Elmer George (American racer who married into Indy ‘royalty’); Ricardo Londoño-Bridge (Colombia’s first F1 driver); Mickey Thompson (1960s American drag-racing icon); Nick Whiting (casualty of the biggest gold bullion heist in British history). • Swindles: James Munroe (accounts manager who embezzled his way to a racing McLaren F1 GTR); Lord Brocket (jailed for staging the theft of his classic cars, including Ferraris); Andrea Harkness (stripper who ripped off NASCAR). • Drugs: Ian Burgess (sometime British F1 racer); Randy Lanier (drug-smuggling IMSA champion); John Paul Sr and Jr (talented son dragged into a racing father’s drug-running); Vic Lee (super-successful team owner with a dodgy transporter); the Whittington brothers (more misdeeds in IMSA circles). • Other misdemeanours: Roy James (Great Train Robbery getaway driver); Bertrand Gachot (jailed after road rage in London); Juan Manuel Fangio (kidnapped by Cuban rebels in 1958); Colin Chapman (the unresolved ‘DeLorean Affair’); ‘Spygate’ (Ferrari design secrets passed to McLaren).

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Book SynopsisThe shocking true-crime story of two orphaned sisters who arrived at a health retreat as patients - but only one would ever make it out alive... An extraordinary and gripping account of the starvation doctor from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If You Tell.In 1911 two British heiresses, Claire and Dora Williamson, read a brochure about a revolutionary fasting treatment that promised a lifetime of good health. The sanatorium in the village of Olalla, west of Seattle, was surrounded by a beautiful forest, sparkling waters and fresh air. The sisters agreed it sounded perfect and exactly the restorative holiday they needed.But within a month of arriving, under the supervision of Doctor Linda Burfield Hazzard, Claire and Dora began to realise the frightening truth - they were not patients but prisoners at the isolated sanitorium.Starved and on the edge of death, the sisters made several desperate attempts to escape. But only one would ever make it out alive.Chilling and harrowing, Starvation Heights is a story of two vulnerable sisters, and how they were manipulated by a cunning and dangerous doctor into believing that her monstrous treatments would 'cure' them. Will totally hook fans of The Five and The Devil in the White City.What readers are saying about Starvation Heights:"A fascinating turn-of-the-century story of medical malpractice and murder. If you liked The Alienist, you'll find Starvation Heights all the more gripping because this story is true." Michael Connelly"An engrossing and compelling look at a shocking crime in another era. Olsen's deft touch takes us back to the early 1900s so cleverly that reading Starvation Heights is akin to stepping into a time machine." Ann Rule"One of today's true-crime masters." Caitlin Rother, New York Times bestselling author"Grab a glass of wine and buckle up... If you're into dark true crime, this is the book for you!" Goodreads reviewer, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆>"I couldn't put it down." Goodreads reviewer, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ >"One of the best books I have read in a long time." Goodreads reviewer, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ >"Fascinating... a must read for any true crime or history buff." Goodreads reviewer, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ >"Mind blowing." NetGalley reviewer, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ >"A blistering good tale... mind boggling... a definite winner for fans of true crime, mystery and thrillers and one I will be reflecting on for a long time." Goodreads reviewer, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ >"A wonderful true crime read." NetGalley reviewer, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ >"In depth and well researched you will find yourself immersed... I found myself completely wound up in it and felt like I was in the courtroom. Terrific." Goodreads reviewer, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ >"True crime masterpiece... highly disturbing yet riveting and unusual." Goodreads reviewer, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ >"I absolutely loved this!... so disturbing and fascinating." Nicoles.novel.obsession, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ >"Olsen has done it again... remarkably detailed... not a book I will soon forget." Inky Book reviews, <☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ >Trade ReviewA fascinating turn-of-the-century story of medical malpractice and murder. If you liked The Alienist, you'll find Starvation Heights all the more gripping because this story is true. -- Michael ConnellyAn engrossing and compelling look at a shocking crime in another era. Olsen's deft touch takes us back to the early 1900s so cleverly that reading Starvation Heights is akin to stepping into a time machine. -- Ann RuleOne of today's true-crime masters. -- Caitlin Rother, New York Times bestselling authorAn account of real-life villainry that outdoes anything a novelist might concoct. -- Les Standiford, author of Meet You in Hell

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Book SynopsisIn 1945, as Allied bombers continued their final pounding of Berlin, the panicking Nazis began moving the assets of the Reichsbank south for safekeeping. Vast trainloads of gold and currency were evacuated from the doomed capital of Hitler's 'Thousand-year Reich'. Nazi Gold is the real-life story of the theft of that fabulous treasure - worth some 2,500,000,000 at the time of the original investigation. It is also the story of a mystery and attempted whitewash in an American scandal that pre-dated Watergate by nearly 30 years. Investigators were impeded at every step as they struggled to uncover the truth and were left fearing for their lives. The authors' quest led them to a murky, dangerous post-war world of racketeering, corruption and gang warfare. Their brilliant reporting, matching eyewitness testimony with declassified Top Secret documents from the US Archives, lays bare this monumental crime in a narrative which throngs with SS desperadoes, a red-headed queen of crime and American military governors living like Kings. Also revealed is the authors' discovery of some of the missing treasure in the Bank of England.Trade ReviewReads like the sleazy world described in Graham Greene's Third Man with several noughts added to the transactions * Daily Express *A major feat of detection . . . a remarkable story . . . the murky post-war world of racketeering and corruption . . . it is all here . . . they have solved the mystery as far as anyone could solve it * Birmingham Post *A riveting thriller-style account of what happened to the Nazi gold hoard * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA tour de force of investigative journalism, Killing Pablo tells the story of the violent rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, the head of the Colombian Medellin cocaine cartel. Escobar's criminal empire held a nation of thirty million hostage in a reign of terror that would only end with his death. In an intense, up-close account, award-winning journalist Mark Bowden exposes details never before revealed about the covert sixteen-month manhunt that was led by US Special Forces and intelligence services. With unprecedented access to important players - including Colombian president Cisar Gaviria and the incorruptible head of the special police unit that pursued Escobar, Colonel Hugo Martinez - as well as top-secret documents and transcripts of Escobar's intercepted phone conversations, Bowden has produced a gripping narrative that is a stark portrayal of rough justice in the real world.Trade ReviewVivid, fast-paced and well researched * Sunday Times *A remarkable opus of investigative journalism * The Times *Mark Bowden's thrilling, completely engrossing book brings the man and his bloody times to vivid life. I couldn't put it down. -- Howard MarksPowerfully written and well researched * Independent on Sunday *A psychotic safari * Daily Mail *A master of narrative journalism, Bowden employs the same techniques of reconstructing scenes and dialogue that made his bestselling Black Hawk Down gripping reading. * New York Times *A well researched and staggering account. * Time Out *A brilliant reconstruction... Clear and gripping * Evening Standard *Reads like a Clancyesque thriller, it's fast-paced, full of page-turning intrigue, corruption, and thwarted pursuit. * San Francisco Chronicle *A compelling, almost Shakespearean tale * Los Angeles Times *If ever there was a real-life James Bond villain, Pablo Escobar was it... 10 times better than any fictional crime story * Uncut *

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Book SynopsisIn his latest book, bestselling author Cass Pennant takes an engaging and unparalleled look at some of the most volatile and violent scenes of fans following their football clubs to have unfolded over the past five decades, and examines the lengths to which many will go to put one over their local rivals.Here is history that also examines everything from the changing face of football violence, to who gets involved - and why. It looks, too, at how the' firms' operate, both home and away, and at the effects of the football establishment's often counter-productive attempts to contain hooliganism on the psychology of supporters. Has the war on hooliganism been successfully stamped out? Can it ever be won? This remarkable and informative book gives a frank examination of football violence to show how different inter-club and inter-regional rivalries have evolved - and features many first-hand accounts of incidents that make chilling reading. It builds up to provide the most comprehensive look behind the match-day madness and the activities of some of British football's most notorious hooligans, to give answers as to why these games are so important to supporters. The history of such infamous 'firms' as the ICF, the Bushwackers, the Headhunters, and the Red Army has never been fully documented . . . until now.You're Going Home in a F*cking Ambulance is an eye-opening study of a problem that refuses to go away, by a writer who knows his subject inside-out.

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Book SynopsisBen Mezrich is the New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House in addition to many other books, both fiction and non-fiction. The major motion picture 21, starring Kevin Spacey, was based on Bringing Down the House. The Oscar-winning film The Social Network was adapted from The Accidental Billionaires. Mezrich lives in Boston with his wife and son.Trade Review... Bringing Down the House is a can't-miss deal -- Lorenzo CarcaterraA surreal cacophony of glamour, suspense and, eventually, terror. Part Tom Clancy, part Elmore Leonard...Gripping * The List *The tale laid out in Bringing Down the House is so beguiling, so agreeably reminiscent of, say Ocean's Eleven or House of Games that you find yourself mentally casting the parts as you read along... A fine yarn' Sunday TimesA lively tale that could pass for thriller fiction ... Mezrich's skilled yet easy writing draws sweat to the reader's brow * Rocky Mountain News *Bringing Down the House has a sensational story to tell * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking work of history and reportage that unveils the stranger-than-fiction world of multilevel marketing: a massive money-making scam and radical political conspiracy that has remade American society.Companies like Amway, Mary Kay, and Herbalife advertise the world?s greatest opportunity: the chance to be your own boss via an enigmatic business model called multilevel marketing, or MLM. They offer a world of pink Cadillacs, white-columned mansions, tropical vacations, and?most precious of all?financial freedom. If, that is, you?re willing to shell out for expensive products and recruit everyone you know to buy them, and if they recruit everyone they know, too, thus creating the ?multiple levels? of MLM.Overwhelming evidence suggests that most people lose money in multilevel marketing, and that many MLM companies are pyramid schemes. Yet the industry?s origins, tied to right-wing ideologues like Ronald Reagan, have escaped public scrutiny. MLM has slithered in the wake of every economic crisis of the last century, from the Depression to the pandemic, ensnaring laid-off workers, stay-at-home moms, and teachers?anyone who has been left behind by rising inequality.In Little Bosses Everywhere, journalist Bridget Read tells the gripping story of multilevel marketing in full for the first time, winding from sunny postwar California, where a failed salesman started a vitamin business, through the devoutly religious suburbs of Michigan, where the industry built its political influence, to stadium-size conventions where today?s top sellers preach to die-hard recruits. MLM has enriched powerful people, like the DeVos and Van Andel families, Warren Buffett, and President Donald Trump, all while eroding public institutions and the social safety net, then profiting from the chaos. Along the way, Read delves into the stories of those devastated by the majority-female industry: a veteran in Florida searching for healing; a young mom in Texas struggling to feed her children; a waitress scraping by in Brooklyn.A wild trip down an endless rabbit hole of greed and exploitation, Little Bosses Everywhere exposes multilevel marketing as American capitalism?s stealthiest PR campaign, a cunning grift that has shaped nearly everything about how we live, and whose ultimate target is democracy itself.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2017The gripping, fascinating account of a shocking murder case that sent late Victorian Britain into a frenzy, by the number one bestselling, multi-award-winning author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher''Her research is needle-sharp and her period detail richly atmospheric, but what is most heartening about this truly remarkable book is the story of real-life redemption that it brings to light'' John Carey, Sunday TimesEarly in the morning of Monday 8 July 1895, thirteen-year-old Robert Coombes and his twelve-year-old brother Nattie set out from their small, yellow brick terraced house in east London to watch a cricket match at Lord's. Their father had gone to sea the previous Friday, leaving the boys and their mother at home for the summer. Over the next ten days Robert and Nattie spent extravagantly, pawning family valuables to fund trips to the theatre and the seaside. During this time nobody saw or heard from tTrade ReviewNo other writer could have made the Coombes case so fascinating and so vivid ... It would be impossible to read this dry-eyed -- Cressida Connelly * Spectator *An extraordinary book which will stay with you -- Vanessa Berridge * Daily Express *Gripping... Summerscale is an exquisite storyteller. She is judicious in her use of detail, subtle in her unspoken connections between the past and the present.... This is the story of one wicked boy, but it is also a plea for compassion and empathy -- Daisy Goodwin * The Times *For her latest forensic investigation into the throttled passions of Victorian family life, Summerscale has moved forward 35 years to 1895 and turned away from the provincial bourgeois home to the working-class terraces of London’s East End ... [a] fine account ... subtle and confident -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *Unexpectedly touching... a fascinating account of a murder and its endless reverberations -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *As Kate Summerscale has proved before, she has a wonderfully sharp eye for stories which turn out not to be quite what they seem... a remarkably heartening story -- John Preston * Daily Mail *Compelling... it gripped and stoked the national imagination, just as it surely will again -- Philippa Stockley * Evening Standard *A work of social history that is as compassionate as it is absorbing... we almost feel we are wandering through these scenes ourselves -- Rebecca Gowers * The Oldie *Ultimately, the narrative is an exploration of Victorian attitudes to juvenile crime, and this pacy slice of social history acts as both hawk-eyed prosecution and gentle defence -- Zoe Apostolides * Financial Times *An absorbing account of fin-de-siecle Britain... [and] a powerful story about vulnerable and neglected children, both then and now -- Daisy Hay * Daily Telegraph *It’s a fascinating story and Summerscale tells it beautifully... [Her] sympathetic and intelligent study is full of social interest too. I can’t imagine that it could have been done better -- Alan Massie * Scotsman *The challenge, to which Ms Summerscale rises wonderfully well, is to sustain the reader’s interest in him for the remaining 50-odd years of his life … Evocative … Through a mixture of serendipity and meticulous research, Ms Summerscale is able to add one final, heart-stopping twist * Economist *Redemption comes twice in this account … An extremely touching twist … Scrupulous and occasionally startling -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *Summerscale has performed a stunning post-mortem of “the horror” at number 35 … Talk about bringing history alive * Sunday Express *It is above all her skill in creating a context for the crime which makes The Wicked Boy so readable … the sounds and smells of the East End docks, from which their father set sail, are evoked with particular vividness. More fascinating still are the ideas of the age ... An extraordinary tale of redemption * Tablet *Her research is needle-sharp and her period detail richly atmospheric, but what is most heartening about this truly remarkable book is the story of real-life redemption that it brings to light -- John Carey * Sunday Times *

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Book Synopsis‘Security guards told the police that they were surprised by assailants who had somehow evaded the sophisticated security system. They could not say how many robbers there were…it appears to be one of the biggest robberies in U.S. history.’ New York Times, front page In 1993 $7.4 million was stolen from the Brink’s Armored Car Depot in Rochester, New York, the fifth largest robbery in US history. Sam Millar was a member of the gang who carried out the robbery. He was caught, found guilty and incarcerated, before being set free by Bill Clinton's government as an essential part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process. This remarkable book is Sam's story, from his childhood in Belfast, membership of the IRA, time spent in Long Kesh internment camps and the Brinks heist and aftermath. Unputdownable.Trade Review“On The Brinks tells the story of [Millar] an IRA activist imprisoned in the worst jails in Ireland, prior to one of the most famous robberies in American history. It this were fiction, it would be an excellent thriller, but it’s a true story, sustained by terrific writing.” * Rolling Stone Magazine *“The indomitable Irish. On The Brinks is an amazing book built in two stages. Belfast, firstly, New York, each other. Two cities for two extraordinary lives. The story of those years is terrible humiliation, torture, acts of barbarism, man reduced to the level of a beast. Between Nazi concentration camps and gulags, Long Kesh finds its place among these horrors.” * Le Figaro *“This man {Millar} is a true force of nature…with a strong will, a spirit unswervingly tough. On The Brinks is a piece of history narrated with humor, humility and simplicity. How can such a combination be possible? Yet it is true and an incredible story of Sam Millar, the indomitable Irish. Grab a copy now.” -- Corine Pirozzi * Huffington Post *“Mesmerizing and fascinating, On The Brinks is one of the most revealing and powerful memoirs you will ever read.” * New York Journal of Books *…many twists and turns…perfect for a film… * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisShe was young, very beautiful and had everything to live for - but the life of Frances Shea, briefly married to Reggie Kray, remains one of the most tragic stories of the Swinging Sixties. Courted by Reggie as a schoolgirl, her eight year relationship with him drew Frances into a world of nightclubs, fast cars, beautiful clothes and showbiz parties. Yet as time passed, she struggled to cope with the horrific world of the Kray twins, full of violence, drink, drugs - and sheer terror. By the time of her marriage, she had become inextricably linked with the Krays and their downward spiral from gangland extortion and brutality into senseless murder and mayhem. Reggie, obsessed by his wife from the day he met her, was never prepared to let her go. Despite her attempts to break free, two years after their wedding, Frances was found dead from a drug overdose. She was twenty-three. Only now can the truth about Frances Shea and her marriage to Reggie Kray finally be revealed, along with the long-hidden story behind his obsession with her.Unseen until now, documents and diaries reveal the reality of their life together - and how their tragic, doomed relationship continued to haunt the lives of those closest to Frances right to the end.

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Book SynopsisIn the early 1950s, the Berkshire Constabulary finally opened its ranks to more women. And WPC Crockford was one of those early pioneers... When 21-year-old Gwendoline Crockford signed up to join the Berkshire Constabulary in 1951, she had little idea of what she was getting herself into. Whether carrying a human skeleton out of the woods, finding a missing child, investigating thefts, or chasing an escaped zebra, every day brought fresh adventures.In this nostalgic, tender and honest account of post-war British society, we follow a bright, determined woman navigating a man's world, serving as many people as she can. From performing traffic duties to unravelling a dark secret at the heart of an impoverished family, WPC Crockford's career was full of joy, thrills – and heartbreak.Written by her daughter Ruth, this is the story of a real-life woman police constable as she embarks on her police career.

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Book SynopsisFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author, Carl ChinnAs Britain emerges into the mid-twentieth century, change is afoot. Cities are beginning to shift from smog-filled industrial hubs to more efficient metropolitan centres of commerce and, despite the country once again being blighted by war, society is beginning to shift towards a more modern, forward-thinking era. But change is not only limited to regular men and women; under the shifting tides of development, the criminal underbelly, too, is evolving, anxious for new avenues of exploitation and expansion . . .And so, in the third instalment of his best-selling series, historian Carl Chinn examines this new era in the landscape of Britain's gangs. After the violent reign of the Peaky Blinders, the intimidation of the Birmingham gang and frequent gang wars up and down the country, from the wreckage new groups are emerging with new ways of making money and causing trouble, and, like those who came before them, they leave havoc and destruction in their wake.Peaky Blinders: The Aftermath will bring this new generation of criminals into focus. And up and down the length of the country, from the dog tracks to the pubs of the East End, it delves into the murky world of the country's most villainous criminals.

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of Killing Pablo, a haunting and gripping account of the true-life search for the perpetrator of a hideous crime - the abduction and likely murder of two young girls in 1975 - and the skilful work of the cold case team that finally brought their kidnapper to justice.In 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyon, aged ten and twelve, vanished from a shopping mall in suburban Washington, D.C. As shock spread, then grief, a massive police effort found nothing. The investigation was shelved, and mystery endured. Then, in 2013, a cold case squad detective found something he and a generation of detectives had missed. It pointed them toward a man named Lloyd Welch, then serving time for child molestation.As a cub reporter for a Baltimore newspaper, Mark Bowden covered the frantic first weeks of the story. In The Last Stone, he returns to write its ending. Over months of intense questioning and extensive investigation of Welch's sprawling, sinister Appalachian clan, five skilled detectives learned to sift fact from deception. How do you get a compulsive liar, desperate to protect himself, to tell the truth?The Last Stone recounts a masterpiece of criminal interrogation and delivers a chilling and unprecedented look inside a disturbing criminal mind.Trade ReviewTrue-crime writers in America face a high bar, set by illustrious predecessors such as Truman Capote. The author of Black Hawk Down rises to the challenge in this reconstruction of how a horrific crime - the disappearance of two sisters from a mall in Maryland in 1975 - was partially solved 40 years later. Dogged and ingenious interrogation of a mendacious suspect finally gets at the truth. * The Economist Books of the Year *A stirring, suspenseful, thoughtful story that, miraculously, neither oversimplifies the details nor gets lost in the thicket of a four-decade case file. This is a cat-and-mouse tale, told beautifully. But like all great true crime, The Last Stone finds its power not by leaning into cliché but by resisting it. * New York Times *With its blistering descriptions of an American special-forces operation gone wrong, Mark Bowden's 1999 nonfiction book Black Hawk Down made for excellent action-movie fare. The story told in his latest work, the deeply unsettling The Last Stone, unfolds more slowly but is no less potent. Bowden displays his tenacity as a reporter in his meticulous documentation of the case. * Time *In 1975, Bowden was a young reporter on the Baltimore News-American, covering the fruitless search for the Lyon sisters. Almost half a century later, he has filed his copy - and it's gripping. * The Spectator *A riveting, serpentine story about the dogged pursuit of the truth, regardless of the outcome or the cost. * NPR *Bowden delivers a narrative nonfiction masterpiece in this account of fiercely dedicated police detectives working to close a cold case... This is an intelligent page-turner likely to appeal even to readers who normally avoid true crime. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Riveting...A keen synthesis of an intricate, decades-long investigation, a stomach-churning unsolved crime, and a solid grasp of time, place and character results in what is sure to be another bestseller for Bowden. * Kirkus Reviews *an investigation worthy of Prime Suspect...a masterclass of interrogation * Strong Words *Gripping, and a tribute to the tenacity of the detectives who really did turn every last stone -- Una Mannion * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY PEOPLE''S CHOICE AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE DOUGLAS STEWART PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE VICTORIAN PREMIER''S LITERARY PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE WALKLEY BOOK AWARD''I understand and sympathise with the feeling you might have that you already know the Jeffrey Epstein story. But I am not here to tell you a story about Jeffrey Epstein, or even Ghislaine Maxwell. I am here to tell you the stories of ten women, many of whom have never spoken at length before, about the real impact of sexual trauma on their lives''In November 2021, Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of five counts of sex-trafficking of minors, and now faces twenty years in prison for the role she played in Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of four girls. The trial was meticulously covered by journalist and legal reporter Lucia Osborne-Crowley, one of the only reporters allowed into the courtroom every day.The Lasting Harm is her account of that trial, a gripping true crime drama and a blistering critique of a criminal justice system ill-equipped to deliver justice for abuse survivors, no matter the outcome.Giving voice to four women and their testimonies, and supplemented by exclusive interviews, The Lasting Harm brings this incendiary trial to life, questions our age-old appetite for crime and punishment and offers a new blueprint for meaningful reparative justice.

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Book SynopsisWhen Patrick O'Connor went missing in August 1849, his friends were suspicious. The London dock worker was last seen in the company of Swiss-born Maria Manning and her husband in Bermondsey. By the time police officers discovered his remains under the kitchen floor, the couple had fled. This shocking crime sparked a race against time to bring these cold-blooded killers to justice. After almost a decade of unsolved murders in the capital, could Scotland Yard detectives find the murderous pair and restore public confidence in their sleuthing skills?The search for the Mannings spread beyond England and was closely followed by the Victorian public, including prominent writers such as Charles Dickens who was haunted by the case and later immortalised some of the key characters in _Bleak House_, which was published just four years later. To this day, the Bermondsey Murder remains a legendary crime in the history of Scotland Yard and mid-nineteenth century London. Using primary source mat

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Book SynopsisFrom an award-winning author comes a tale of a notorious double-murder, for readers of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, or Emmanuel Carrère's The Adversary. In 1982 Malcolm Macarthur, the wealthy heir to a small estate, found himself suddenly without money. The solution, he decided, was to rob a bank. To do this, he would need a gun and a car. In the process of procuring them, he killed two people, and the circumstances of his eventual arrest in the apartment of Ireland's Attorney General nearly brought down the government. The case remains one of the most shocking in Ireland's history. Mark O'Connell has long been haunted by the story of this brutal double murder. But in recent years this haunting has become mutual. When O'Connell sets out to unravel the mysteries still surrounding these horrific and inexplicable crimes, he tracks down Macarthur himself, now an elderly man living out his days in Dublin and reluctant to talk. As the two men circle one another, O'Connell is pushed into a confrontation with his own narrative: what does it mean to write about a murderer?Trade ReviewIn the gallery of criminals who have fascinated writers, the elegant Malcolm Macarthur is one of the most enigmatic. And in the pantheon of writers fascinated by criminals, Mark O'Connell proves himself among the most brilliant. It is one of the boundaries that cut humanity in two: those who have killed someone, those who have not. O'Connell roams around this boundary, in this grey area, from which he has brought a fascinating narrative -- Emmanuel Carrère, author of The AdversaryLike all great books, A Thread of Violence is the document of a great writer's obsession. Mark O'Connell draws the reader into a deeply engrossing story, and at the same time into a complex investigation of human brutality and of narrative writing itself. This is a superb and unforgettable book -- Sally RooneyA masterful, haunting book by an author at the height of his powers. Mark O'Connell asks us how much we can ever understand about the darkness that resides in other people, and in ourselves -- Ed CaesarA ridiculously good book. The prose is apparently knowing and smooth; the subject is anything but. Malcolm Macarthur, an infamous, ageing double murderer, exists on every page, in almost every sentence, and yet recedes continually out of reach. The effect on the reader is like being in the eye of hurricane - terrifyingly calm - the moral vortex at the heart of breathtaking violence. It's like watching dangerous dance, a folie a deux, between a deeply skilled and humane writer and a murderer with a high regard for his own etiquette. You want to chuck it across the room and then run after it and then carry on reading, as gripped as you were before -- Sam Knight, author of The Premonitions BureauStays with you for weeks. The eerie, tenuous relationship between journalist and killer lives in the legacy of Janet Malcolm and Truman Capote -- Caitlin DoughtyI read it at one sitting, so gripping was the account of Mark's conversations with a man who cannot call himself a murderer and yet killed two people utterly senselessly. The sensitivity of the work and the attention to language made this book one of the best of its kind and an example to others of how to do it -- Dr Gwen Adshead, Consultant forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and author of The Devil You KnowA Thread of Violence is nourished by a powerful moral intelligence and an enormous curiosity. Mark O'Connell circles the inner life of the murderer Malcolm Macarthur with subtlety and forensic care... Complex and disturbing as well as intriguing and compelling -- Colm ToíbínIn A Thread of Violence Mark O'Connell has investigated, with immense skill and insight, the mind of a double murderer, and in the process has shown the essential mysteriousness of such a mind-perhaps of any mind. The result is a beautifully wrought narrative that is at once frightening and thrilling. A masterly work -- John Banville[A] masterpiece -- Christopher Eccleston

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Book SynopsisWow! A stunning, nerve-wracking read. So well plotted with so many twists and turnsit kept me guessing until the very last page!' Bestselling author Patricia GibneyI don''t know what happened to my daughter. Only that she''s missing and I was the last person to see herMy name is Nora Logue. You've probably heard of me most people have.I am the mother of Daisy Logue. Seven years ago, I took her for a walk in the woods. Only I came out.I have no memory of what happened that day.I have tried to rebuild my life. Met a man, had another child Luca. But I can't let go of Daisy, or give up hope of seeing her again.And now, I have the chance to find out what happened to her.But what if pursuing the truth about my daughter risks my son's life?A whiplash-inducing, unputdownable crime thriller from the author of The Nurse, perfect for fans of CLARE MACKINTOSH and LISA JEWELL.Readers can't put down IN THE DARK!So gripping! I read this brilliant book in two sittings because I just had to know whTrade ReviewPRAISE FOR IN THE DARK: ‘Stunning writing, superb plotting, and characters that jump off the page – In The Dark is outstanding; her best yet.’ – Andrea Mara 'Dark secrets, dark motives and dark twists galore – seriously, what more can you ask for in a book?’ – M.K. Hill ‘Claire Allan’s voice and ability to keep you gripped to the page are pure magic. Prepare to lose sleep as you work your way through a rollercoaster of emotions, theories, and near-misses. This book is the poster child for taking the old missing child story we all know and flipping it on its head. I couldn’t get enough of the terrifying premise and delicious storytelling. Utterly captivating, this pulse-pounding thriller is one not to be missed. Thriller lovers, get your hands on this one and clear all your plans! In The Dark demands to be read in one sitting. – Kiersten Modglin author of The Arrangement Trilogy

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