True crime Books

Book SynopsisA riveting blend of true crime and memoir, following the unravelling of a New Brunswick family after a brutal murder.On December 15, 1974, when Amy Bell was one year old, the city of Moncton, New Brunswick, was consumed with the search for two missing police officers ?Corporal Aurèle Bourgeois and Constable Michael O''Leary. They had been abducted by petty criminals Richard Ambrose and James Hutchison after a kidnapping that had scored them $15,000. The search would lead to a clearing in the woods where the officers were found ? murdered, and buried in shallow graves.Amy''s father, Ed Bell, stepped up to defend the killers. His unpopular stance?"every person accused of a crime deserves a defence" ? eventually led to the ruin of his career and his marriage, and Amy and her brother lived with the aftereffects: poverty and isolation. Ed Bell never spoke of his involvement in this case. It wasn''t until forty-two years later, when he lay dying, that Amy, now a crime historian, stumbled upon a Polaroid photograph of one of the killers among her father''s things. That discovery led her on a search for answers.Life Sentence: How My Father Defended Two Murderers and Lost Himself is a riveting work that fuses personal and criminal justice history to tell the story of a horrific crime and examine its terrible costs. Includes personal and archival news images.

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Book SynopsisIn a boarding house in West Port, an old army pensioner dies of natural causes. He owes the landlord rent. Instead of burying the body, the landlord, William Hare, and his friend, William Burke, fill the coffin with bark and sell the corpse to Dr. Robert Knox, an ambitious Edinburgh anatomist. They make a profit of GBP3 and 10 shillings. After this encouraging outcome, Burke and Hare decide to suffocate another sickly tenant. So begins the criminal career of the most notorious double act in serial killing. Here is the unvarnished, human story behind the infamous Burke and Hare murders. We delve into their past, their personalities and the circumstances that made them resort to murder as a money-making scheme. It's a tale of desperation and greed, of outsiders, ambition, corruption and betrayal. And it's all true!

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Book SynopsisIn 1945, as part of the Occupation forces sent to postwar Japan Nick Zappetti, a native of Italian East Harlem, entered a world as strange as any he had ever know, In postwar Tokyo, however, he realised there were certain opportunities. He had a failed stint as a professional wrestler, and participated in a fumbled (but famous) diamond heist. He was deported but managed to return with the assistance of the Mafia. Then Nick opened a pizza joint in what would be the centre of Tokyo's nightlife and became "the king of Roppongi and Mafia boss of Tokyo," and the intimate of some of Japan's most notorious underworld figures as well as many of its political and business leaders.Following Zappetti's rising and falling fortunes, and his love-hate relationship with his adopted country, Robert Whiting show us the sinister (and sometimes ridiculous) goings-on among Tokyo's traditional criminal gangs as they developed from local racketeers and gamblers into lynchpins of international finance, politics and corruption. Here is a fresh perspective on postwar Japan and how it went from being a defeated nation to an economic player, with a little help from some less than diplomatic friends.Trade ReviewWhiting provides fascinating snapshots of a Tokyo outsiders seldom see, a world the Japanese would prefer to keep behind the screen. * Time Magazine *This is an excellent book... An irreverent, subversive and entertaining yarn that enlightens readers about important aspects of Japanese history and the shadowy world of power. * The Japan Times *A fascinating look at some fascinating people who show how democracy advances hand in hand with crime in Japan. -- Mario PuzoAn eye-opening exploration of the complex world of Japanese organised crime. * Seattle Times *A fun book about a wretched character. * New York Times Book Review *Reads like a James Bond thriller yet manages intelligently to illuminate the seamy side of Japan's postwar economic boom * Publisher's Weekly *

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Book SynopsisA global workforce. Billions in sales. But, unlike Tesco or BP, few have heard of it. The Cartel is Britain’s biggest drugs organisation, a shadowy network stretching from the freezing, fog-banks of the Mersey to the glittering marinas of Marbella, from the coffee shops of Amsterdam to the trading floors of Canary Wharf. Run by godfathers as rich as Branson but kept in line by a new generation of teenage killers. Here is the inside story.

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Book Synopsis'The young bloods did not care whether they killed criminals or civilians . . .’ The Cartel is Britain’s biggest drugs gang, a global corporation employing thousands of criminals and flooding Britain with cocaine and heroin. Yet the established order is under threat: street gangs are overwhelming the old-school Cartel godfathers with a campaign of violence, intimidation and mayhem, heralding a series of events that has had devastating consequences for the whole of society. In Young Blood, the explosive follow-up to The Cartel, bestselling true-crime author Graham Johnson reveals how the brutal assassination of drug baron Colin ‘King Cocaine’ Smith in 2007 by a group of young bucks triggered the rise of the foot soldier, and exposes the bitter struggle that has spread throughout Europe as various factions battle to seize control of the most lucrative crime syndicate in British history.

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Book SynopsisEver since the slaying of farmer Wilkes, ambulance liaison officer, Bert Spencer, has been a strong suspect and an easy target for the Bridgewater Four campaign bandwagon, spearheaded by Daily Mirror journalist, Paul Foot and Michaelâ??s mother, Ann Whelan. Against strict prison rules, in some of the toughest maximum security establishments in the UK, Spencer started a journal to prove his innocence. Following exhaustive research true crime author, Simon W. Golding, has uncovered new evidence to the mystery. Scapegoat For Murder dissects and examines the old evidence and introduces new alarming facts about the case. No stone is left unturned as one dramatic twist follows another like an Agatha Christie novel. So who did murder the young paperboy?

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Book SynopsisJust before Christmas 1908, Marion Gilchrist, a wealthy 82-year-old spinster, was found bludgeoned to death in her Glasgow home. A valuable diamond brooch was missing, and police soon fastened on a suspect - Oscar Slater, a Jewish immigrant who was rumoured to have a disreputable character. Slater had an alibi, but was nonetheless convicted and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment in the notorious Peterhead Prison. Seventeen years later, a convict called William Gordon was released from Peterhead. Concealed in a false tooth was a message, addressed to the only man Slater thought could help him - Arthur Conan Doyle. Always a champion of the downtrodden, Conan Doyle turned his formidable talents to freeing Slater, deploying a forensic mind worthy of Sherlock Holmes. Drawing from original sources including Oscar Slater's prison letters, this is Margalit Fox's vivid and compelling account of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in Scottish history.Trade ReviewLike a good murder mystery, Conan Doyle for the Defence is a fast-paced read that twists and turns with the panache of a Holmes short story. -- Paula Byrne * The Times *This is a first-class book: pacy, insightful and lucid -- James McConnachie * The Sunday Times *lucid and engaging -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *True-crime writing at its finest... a real page-turner... definitely a must for fans of Sherlock Holmes * Belfast Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS AWARD FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 LONGLISTED FOR THE 'Best Sports Book of the 21st Century' SPORTS BOOK AWARD 'Gripping ... Bensinger's impeccably sourced account serves as a sharp reminder of the gargantuan levels of largesse and excess during Fifa's bad, bad days - as well as a warning that not enough has been done to prevent them returning.' Sean Ingle, Guardian 'Bensinger deftly deploys novelistic devices to turn it into a real-life detective thriller ... [it] resembles John Grisham' Private Eye The story of FIFA's fall from grace has it all: power, betrayal, revenge, sports stars, hustlers, corruption, sex and phenomenal quantities of money, all set against exotic locales stretching from Caribbean beaches to the formal staterooms of the Kremlin and the sun-blasted streets of Doha, Qatar. In Red Card, investigative journalist Ken Bensinger takes a journey to FIFA's dark heart. He introduces the flamboyant villains of the piece - the FIFA kingpins who flaunted their wealth in private jets and New York's grandest skyscrapers - and the dogged team of American FBI and IRS agents, headed by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who finally brought them to book. Providing fresh insights on a scandal which has gripped the world, he shows how greed and arrogance brought down the most powerful institution in sporting history. A wild, gritty, gripping, and at times blackly comic story, Red Card combines world-class journalism with the pace of a thriller.Trade ReviewSpellbinding. A gripping account of how the beautiful game got grotesquely ugly. Highly recommended -- Gary LinekerA gripping white-collar crime thriller that, in its scope and human drama, ranks with some of the best investigative business books of the past 30 years. * Wall Street Journal *Red Card is the meeting of American investigative reporting and real-life cop show. -- Simon Kuper * FT *Gripping...Bensinger's impeccably sourced account serves as a sharp reminder of the gargantuan levels of largesse and excess during Fifa's bad, bad days - as well as a warning that not enough has been done to prevent them returning. -- Sean Ingle * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisDomestic terrorism. Financial uncertainty. Troops abroad, fighting an unsuccessful and bloody war against guerrilla insurgents. A violent generation gap emerging between a discontented youth and their disapproving, angry elders. This was the early seventies in America, and it was against this backdrop that the kidnapping of nineteen-year-old Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Front - a rag-tag, cult-like group of political extremists and criminals - stole headlines across the world. Using new research and drawing on the formidable abilities that made The Run of His Life a global bestseller, Jeffrey Toobin uncovers the story of the kidnapping and its aftermath in vivid prose and forensic detail.Trade ReviewWell written ... fascinating ... [captures] that strange 1970s heyday of the counter-culture when almost every student, it seemed, wanted to be engaged in revolution. -- Lynn Barber * Sunday Times *A curiously gripping tale -- Marcus Berkmann * Daily Mail *Gripping ... a very readable tale. -- Damian Whitworth * The Times *The abduction and subsequent radicalization of Patricia Hearst is one of the most bizarre but illuminating episodes of that tumultuous era of protest ...Toobin spins this complex chapter of recent history into an absorbing and intelligent page-turner. * Washington Post *Riveting ... American Heiress is a page-turner certainly, but Toobin, a gifted writer, infuses it with much more ... Even if he ridicules the ideas and condemns the violent deeds of this rag-tag group of revolutionary wannabes, they emerge not as cardboard villains but flesh and blood protagonists. * Boston Globe *Nuanced and well paced * Guardian *A clever companion piece to The Run of His Life (1996), his book about the O. J. Simpson case. Mr. Toobin has used the same winning formula of delving deeply into an American crime story that had tremendous notoriety in its day and retelling it with new resonance. Ms. Hearst's tale is much more bizarre than Mr. Simpson's ... [I]n an age of terrorism, the chronicle of how a sedate heiress named Patricia morphed into a gun-toting, invective-spouting revolutionary calling herself Tania holds a definite fascination. * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisIn February 1983, civil servant Dennis Nilsen was arrested after body parts were found to be blocking drains at the house where he lived. As the squad car drove him away, he confessed he had strangled 15 young men. It wasn't just the crimes that stunned the police, but the way Nilsen talked. He spoke as if he loved the young men he killed. His words seemed bizarre. When newspapers carried stories of how the 37-year-old lured men back to his flat and why, the nation was shocked by his sheer evil. Yet some psychiatrists considered him a man of rare, complex, and extreme psychological problems. Moreover, they had never met a killer who seemed so keen to understand his own psyche. Whilst on remand in Brixton Prison, Nilsen filled 55 exercise books with thoughts. During his subsequent thirty years in prison he has continued to write, most notably on the first draft of a multi-volume autobiography. The Home Office has now banned it, calling the work pornographic and outrageous. Only one journalist has read the book. Using exclusive access to Nilsen's writing and extensive independent research, Russ Coffey explains what Nilsen says and how much of it we can believe. This is a shocking glimpse into the mind of a killer.

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Book SynopsisJimmy Tippett Jnr was born into gangster aristocracy. Son of legendary boxer and South London heavy, Jimmy Tippett, he grew up rubbing shoulders with the most notorious faces in London. The result was a lifestyle amongst the criminal elite - and with an upbringing like JImmy's, what could go wrong? He had the brains, the muscle and the balls to be a player, and when the work was done there were cars, cash, drugs, girls and high times. His reputation as a man never to be crossed was undisputed. But was Jimmy traveled deeper into the heart of the underworld, his judgement began to falter. Mired in cocaine and paranoia, his operation began to come off the rails. Friend and foe alike became targets, and the world he had known for so long threatened to tear him apart...

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Book Synopsis'Powerful...His extensively reported tales of individual whistleblowers and their often cruel fates are compelling...They reveal what it can mean to live in an age of fraud.' Washington Post'Tom Mueller's authoritative and timely book reveals what drives a few brave souls to expose and denounce specific cases of corruption.' George SorosWe are living in a time of mind-boggling corruption, but we are also, as it happens, living in a golden age of whistleblowing. Over the past two decades, the brave insiders who decide to expose wrongdoing have gained unprecedented legal and social stature, emerging as the government's best weapon against corporate misconduct - and the citizenry's best defense against government gone bad. They are also forcing us to consider fundamental questions about our democracy, especially the proper balance between free speech and state secrecy, and between individual rights and corporate power.Drawing on relentless original research, including in-depth interviews with more than 200 whistleblowers and the elite coterie of legal trailblazers who have armed them for battle - plus scores of politicians, intelligence analysts, government watchdogs, cognitive scientists, and other experts - Crisis of Conscience is a modern-day David-and-Goliath saga, told through a series of riveting cases drawn from Big Pharma, the military, and beyond. Whistleblowers are not only heroes who expose and anatomize corruption and ensure that it is punished usually at enormous cost to themselves - Mueller shows how they are also models we all must think and act more like if our democracy is to survive.Trade ReviewPowerful... His extensively reported tales of individual whistleblowers and their often cruel fates are compelling...They reveal what it can mean to live in an age of fraud. * Washington Post *Authoritative and timely -- George SorosA spectacular book -- Ralph NaderFascinating * Daniel Ellsberg, author of The Doomsday Machine *An extraordinary book, both meticulously researched and a page-turner * Wendell Potter, author of Nation on the Take *Wide-ranging, detailed, compelling, and often alarming -- Michael MandelbaumPowerful... A must-read * Library Journal (Starred Review) *Engrossingly examines the ethics, mechanics, and reverberations of whistleblowing of all kinds... Superb * Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) *A fascinating history of the self-deputized referees who blow the whistle on illicit activities. * Booklist *Exceptionally timely * Publishers Weekly *[A] trenchant examination * New Yorker *A masterful, eye-opening account * Fast Company *Crisis of Conscience should be assigned reading for every elected official and civil servant, from the lowest municipality to the highest level in Congress, the executive branch and the federal bureaucracy * Spectator *Expansive * Observer *Table of Contents1: Becoming a Whistleblower 2: Question Authority 3: The Money Dance 4: Blood Ivory Towers 5: Reaping the Nuclear Harvest 6: Money Makes the World Go Round 7: Ministries of Truth EPILOGUE: The Banana Republic Wasn't Built in a Day

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Book SynopsisA powerful investigation into the world of extremism and redemption, from TIME journalist and author of Cast Away. "Far Out is an excellent mix of investigative journalism, entertaining storytelling and intelligent analysis. Its individual stories are like pieces of a puzzle that McDonald-Gibson assembles to offer deeply human insights into the drivers of radicalisation and extremism" - Julia Eber, author of Going Dark What makes an extremist? From obscure cults to revolutionary movements, people have always been seduced by fringe beliefs. And in today's deeply divided world, more people than ever are drawn to polarising ideologies. All too often we simply condemn those whose positions offend us, instead of trying to understand what draws people to the far edges of society -- and what can pull them back again. In Far Out, we meet eight people from across religious, ideological, and national divides who found themselves drawn to radical beliefs, including a young man who became the face of white supremacy in Trump-era America, a Norwegian woman sucked into a revolutionary conspiracy in the 1980s, a schoolboy who left Britain to fight in Syria, and an Australian from the far-left Antifa movement. By immersing us in their stories, McDonald-Gibson challenges our ideas of who or what an extremist is, and shows us not only what we can do to prevent extremism in the future, but how we can start healing the rifts in our world today.Trade ReviewFar Out is an excellent mix of investigative journalism, entertaining storytelling and intelligent analysis. Its individual stories are like pieces of a puzzle that McDonald-Gibson assembles to offer deeply human insights into the drivers of radicalisation and extremism -- Julia Eber, author of Going DarkAn eye opening and often moving account of how extremist thought takes hold. In Far Out, McDonald-Gibson asks us to open our hearts to those on the political extremes-for those with the most hateful views are the most in need of our forbearance and tolerance. A thoughtful and thought-provoking read -- Cal Flyn, author of Islands of AbandonmentThrough illuminating narratives, Far Out provides examples of how radicalization takes hold around the world, and offers clues as to how we might best counter it -- Christian Picciolini, author of Breaking Hate and White American YouthMcDonald-Gibson goes where many journalists fear to tread: into the hearts of people routinely demonised by the rest of the media. Their stories will intrigue and surprise you: this is an urgent, compelling book of the utmost necessity -- Ben RawlenceFar Out is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand, and do something about, the growing allure of toxic political ideologies. -- David Livingstone Smith, author of Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization

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Book SynopsisThe stuff of nightmares...A man alone in a bedsit with a young woman friend, who suddenly unleashes a deadly onslaught, without warning or reason. The stabs don't hurt. They seem more like punches. Then he realises that the red liquid pumping out of his body and on to the floor is his blood. He doesn't realise, as he drifts into unconsciousness before death supervenes, that he'll never wake up again ...In March 2013, Joanne Dennehy stabbed three Peterborough men to death within the space of a few days. One was her landlord, Kevin Lee. Dennehy and her sidekick, Gary Stretch, put the body into a wheelie bin and dumped his corpse in a ditch close to White Post Road in the Parish of Newborough. Lukasz Slaboszewski and John Chapman were stabbed to death and disposed of in a farmland ditch several miles away. She then attempted to murder two other men. By the grace of God they survived. Jo Dennehy is unique, for she now ranks alongside Myra Hindley and Rosemary West as one of the most heinous female serial killers in British criminal history. Only her death will bring about her release from prison. This book, by a leading criminologist and expert on serial killers, has been written with the full cooperation of the police involved in the case, and many of those who knew Joanne Dennehy and her victims.

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Book SynopsisA key player in the worst prison riot in British history at Strangeways Prison in April 1990, Alan Lord was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was drawn to trouble like water to a sponge. After experiencing a troubled childhood during which Alan was in and out of children's homes - after being put into care at the tender age of eighteen months old - Alan was a teenager in 1981 when he was sentenced to life in prison for murder during a robbery that had gone badly wrong. He served thirty-two years in various prisons throughout the United Kingdom. This book tells the truth of what goes on behind prison walls and exposes the level of inhumane treatment and brutality that Alan had to endure throughout his thirty-two year journey, during which he never stopped standing up for human rights. Fighting against the degrading prison system of the late twentieth century, Alan helped change the historical humiliating slop out and weekly shower that hundreds of thousands of prisoners had to adhere to throughout the centuries. The battle came at a cost though as it meant more time behind bars, time spent mainly in the segregation unit.Powerfully detailing the way prisoners are treated on a daily basis, Life in Strangeways is a gripping tale that will change the perception of Alan Lord: convicted murderer and riot leader.

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Book SynopsisOver the Easter weekend in 2015, an audacious gang of criminals robbed a safe depository in London's Hatton Garden, the centre of the UK's diamond trade. Shortly before, electrical cables under nearby Kingsway had caught on fire, disrupting the emergency services in the area. Coincidence? Alarms at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd went off, but the police ignored them. The burglars were caught on CCTV taking jewellery worth up to $200 million. They had used specialist equipment, taking days to tunnel through the walls of the vault. Within a month nine suspects had been arrested and valuables seized from their homes. They were aged between forty-three and seventy-six, including a father and son. The question was, were they the same gang that had made a similar daring raid in Hatton Garden safe netting GBP1.5 million over the Christmas holiday in 2004? The culprits then were never caught. In this fascinating investigation of the case and its aftermath, Gordon Bowers digs deep into the history of heists around the world and questions the motives and methods behind diamond theft.

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Book SynopsisThe Hatton Garden Heist captured the public's imagination more than another other crime since The Great Train Robbery. It was supposed to make a fortune for a team of old time professional criminals. Their last hurrah. A final lucrative job that would send the old codgers off on happy retirements to the badlands of Spain and beyond. It seemed to be the stuff of legends. Tens of millions of pounds worth of valuables grabbed from secretive safety deposit boxes in a vault beneath one of the most famous gold and jewellery districts in the world. But where did it all go wrong for this band of old time villains? And why did the gang's bid to pull off the world's biggest burglary turn into a deadly game of cat and mouse featuring the police and London's most dangerous crime lords?Nobody is better placed to reveal the full story of the Hatton Garden Raid than Britain's best-connected true crime writer Wensley Clarkson. Through his unique contacts inside the London underworld, he's persuaded those who really know the truth to reveal the chilling details behind Britain's biggest ever burglary.

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Book Synopsis__________________***NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES***A gripping true-crime story of a shocking miscarriage of justice, from international bestselling thriller author John Grisham, author of A Time to Kill, The Firm and The Whistler.In the baseball draft of 1971, Ron Williamson was the first player chosen from Oklahoma. Signing with Oakland, he said goodbye to his small home town and left for California to pursue his dreams of glory.Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits - drinking, drugs and women. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept 20 hours a day on her sofa.In 1982, a 21 year-old cocktail waitress, Debra Sue Carter, was raped and murdered, and for five years the crime went unsolved. Finally, desperate for someone to blame, police came to suspect Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with murder.With no physical evidence, the prosecution's case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence.Ron Williamson was sent to Death Row.But as Grisham methodically lays out, there was no case against him. Ron Williamson was wrongly condemned to die. If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.__________________In 2018, THE INNOCENT MAN was adapted by Netflix into a gripping six-part true crime series.__________________'A master at the art of deft characterisation and the skilful delivery of hair-raising crescendos' - Irish Independent'John Grisham is the master of legal fiction' - Jodi Picoult'The best thriller writer alive' - Ken Follett'John Grisham has perfected the art of cooking up convincing, fast-paced thrillers' - Telegraph 'Grisham is a superb, instinctive storyteller' - The Times'Grisham's storytelling genius reminds us that when it comes to legal drama, the master is in a league of his own.' - Daily Record'Masterful - when Grisham gets in the courtroom he lets rip, drawing scenes so real they're not just alive, they're pulsating' - Mirror'A giant of the thriller genre' - TimeOutTrade ReviewA true story, very well told – a true Grisham classic * London Evening Standard *A true story, very well told * i *horrifying, but gripping * EVENT magazine, The Mail on Sunday *Such strong emotions are, for me at least, the sign that a True Crime book has done a complete and comprehensive job of telling the story. I think the book will have wide appeal. Fans of John Grisham's fiction will not be disappointed and should definitely be enticed to make the move to his non-fiction. For those readers interested in the American justice system and the question of Death Row then I believe this book offers a close look into the inner machinations of that system. And for lovers of True Crime - like me, then this book is most certainly up there with some of the better ones I have read.” 4 ½ star review * TheBookbag.co.uk *carefully plotted, absorbing * Real Crime *

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Book SynopsisThe true story behind the ITV series, StephenFormer Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll is most famous for being the man who finally secured convictions for the murder of Stephen Lawrence, a case previously mired by claims of institutional racism and corruption. For Clive, it was the pinnacle of a 35-year career with the world's most famous police force, the Metropolitan Police Service.Clive's prodigious rise through the ranks of the Met saw him front some of the most high-profile units at Scotland Yard. He was put in charge of their policy for sexual offences, domestic violence, child protection and the paedophile unit before heading up the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force tackling their backlist of cold cases. From action-packed moments chasing down criminals to more tender occasions, like gaining the trust of a murder victim's family, to making crucial legal history, and unearthing huge national scandals, In Pursuit of the Truth is the definitive account of modern day policing, its successes and failings included, seen through the eyes of a man who has dedicated his life to making a difference. This is a book that every part of society can learn from.

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Book SynopsisTony Long was the best ‘shot’ the Met ever had. Under the codename ‘Echo 7’, he was ‘licenced to kill’ bringing down scores of targets, sometimes with deadly force. In 1985 he opened fire on a suspect to save a four-year-old girl whose mother had been stabbed to death by her assailant. Two years later he was involved in another high profile shooting while confronting three armed criminals. On both occasions Tony was commended by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. But in the spring of 2005, coming face to face with suspected drug dealer and armed robber Azelle Rodney, a volley of point blank shots would bring his career crashing to an end, tarnish his reputation and leave him fighting a murder charge and possible life sentence. From life or death cases and botched operations to political fallouts, this book charts the controversial career from rookie seventies beat cop to Long's command of SO19 – the Met’s most elite specialist firearms unit. Long’s personal testimony and professional insight raises serious issues about the duties, pressures and responsibilities that fall on the shoulders of those we task to risk their lives, and take the lives of others, in our name.Trade ReviewGripping and action packed -- Chris Ryan

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Book SynopsisTO KNOW THE TRUE STORY BEHIND A WAR, ASK THE PEOPLE WHO FOUGHT IT 'An observation van is running surveillance on a high-level Bradford gangster. Suddenly the van is surrounded by men in balaclavas and tied shut. Out comes the can of petrol. It is set alight and the two cops inside barely escape with their lives. This incident is never reported. The gangsters clearly have informants inside the police and alerting the public would undermine the force. Everyone shrugs it off – with so much money in the drugs game, corruption is part and parcel of the whole deal' The Drug Wars have been fought on British streets for decades, bringing destruction, corruption and violence in their wake. Yet it is a story that remains fundamentally untold. Until now. In this groundbreaking book, former undercover police officer Neil Woods, who risked his life infiltrating some of the UK's most vicious gangs, pieces together the complex and terrifying reality of the drug war in Britain. Calling upon gripping first-hand accounts from those on both sides of the battle, Drug Wars is told by those who are fighting it.Trade ReviewAnyone who cares about Britain should read this extraordinary and riveting book. It will change how you see our country - and lots of things that seemed strange will start to make sense. -- Johann HariIf you want to understand how Britain succumbed to a self-defeating war on drugs benefiting only the most vicious gangsters, this book is the perfect primer with its highly-readable fusion of analysis, history and first person testimonies from the front line. -- Ian Birrell

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Book Synopsis'A riveting read ... a dark story of murder and deceit with verve and insight' John Woolf, author of The Wonders THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A 19TH-CENTURY CIRCUS LEGENDOn 28 November 1911 a retired showman died violently at his home in North London. Known to the world as Lord George Sanger, he was once the biggest name in show business, and was venerated as a national institution.The death of Britain's wealthiest showman read like a popular crime thriller: a merciless killer; a famous victim; sensational media headlines; a desperate manhunt laced with police incompetencies and a dramatic denouement few could have anticipated. But for over a century, questions have persisted about the murder.Weaving in the story of George's rise to fame and the history of Britain's entertainment industry, The Killing of Lord George uses previously unpublished archive material to reconstruct the events leading up to the death and reveal the true story behind the brutal crime that shocked Edwardian England.Trade ReviewKarl Shaw's enjoyable book takes us into the often tawdry sawdust rings of Victorian showmanship ... compelling. * Literary Review *Karl Shaw has delivered a riveting read, weaving together the extraordinary biography of George Sanger - Britain's answer to PT Barnum - alongside the Edwardian investigation into his tragic and violent demise. With twists and turns along the way, and providing a unique insight into Victorian and Edwardian Britain, Shaw takes us into a dark story of murder and deceit with verve and insight backed with thorough research. -- John Woolf, author of The Wonders: Lifting the Curtain on the Freak Show, Circus and Victorian AgeFascinating * Newbury Today *

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Book SynopsisAn eye-opening account from inside an ultra-secret Customs unitMark Perlstrom is no stranger to money laundering, drug smuggling and crooked firms.In the late 1980s he started working for HM Customs and was quickly thrown in the deep end, joining Operation C-Chase, an undercover investigation that penetrated Pablo Escobar's mighty Medellin cartel, brought down the corrupt BCCI bank and stopped London's gangs from moving their ill-gotten gains around the capital.As part of the Uniforms - the new, secret, anti-money-laundering squad - high-speed car chases, bugging homes and spying on targets was day-to-day business. Told by a true insider and revealing never-before-told-secrets of the industry, India Uniform Nine lays bare the intense rivalry between crime-fighting organisations and how that leads to corruption, chaos and some scarcely believable antics in the covert world. And how Mark's own operation was nearly scuppered by a US Customs bungle.Trade ReviewAn excellent read. The author has been there and got the t-shirt, so it's completely authentic in feel and style. He was instrumental in the success of the case and was at significant personal risk during the operation and, more importantly, still lives with that risk. -- Cameron Addicott, author of The InterceptorFrom the very start of India Uniform Nine, Mark Perlstrom takes us on a fascinating journey inside the world of Customs investigations. From drug trafficking, money laundering and VAT fraud to the internal politics of working with the police, security services and corrupt colleagues along the way. An eye-opening and entertaining read throughout. -- Matt Calveley, author of Cops and Horrors

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Book SynopsisJoaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman is the most legendary of Mexican narcos. As leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, he was one of the most dangerous men in the world. His fearless climb to power, his brutality, his charm, his taste for luxury, his penchant for disguise, his multiple dramatic prison escapes, his unlikely encounters with Sean Penn - all burnished the image of the world's most famous outlaw. He was finally captured by US and Mexican law enforcement in a daring operation that was years in the making. Here is that entire epic story - from El Chapo's humble origins to his conviction in a Brooklyn courthouse. Long-serving New York Times criminal justice reporter Alan Feuer's coverage of his trial was some of the most riveting journalism of recent years. Feuer's mastery of the complex facts of the case, his unparalleled access to confidential sources in law enforcement and his powerful understanding of disturbing larger themes - what this one man's life says about drugs, walls, class, money, Mexico and the United States - will ensure that this is the one book to read about El Chapo.

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR AMAZON PRIME DOCUMENTARY SERIES'A real-life page turner more intriguing than anything on Netflix..' Matt Nixson, Mail on Sunday'[A story] almost too mad to make up, too good not to tell.' Ben Dirs, BBC World NewsIn July 1978, two bodies were discovered in the sea off Guatemala. They were found to be the remains of Chris Farmer and his girlfriend Peta Frampton, two young British graduates. Having been beaten and tortured, then thrown, still alive, into the sea, their bodies had been weighted down and dumped from the yacht on which they had been crewing. For nearly forty years, no one was charged with these brutal murders.This is the shocking and compelling story of how Chris's sister, Penny, and her family tracked down his and Peta's killer. For decades they painstakingly gathered evidence against Silas Boston, the yacht's American owner, working alongside police in the UK and the USA, as well as the FBI, until he was finally arrested and charged with two counts of murder in 2016. Astonishingly, Penny was able to track down Boston's son, whose bravery in testifying against his own father was the key to bringing down Chris and Peta's killer after so many years.Dead In The Water is the story of a murder almost unimaginable in its cruelty and one ordinary woman's unwavering determination to find justice for her brother.Chosen by O, The Oprah magazine, as one of its top twenty best true crime books of all time.'[A] moving debut... This engrossing, heartbreaking story is sure to appeal to true-crime fans'. Publishers WeeklyTrade ReviewA real-life page turner more intriguing than anything on Netflix. The gripping story of a woman who turned detective to track down her brother's killer - nearly four decades after he was brutally murdered. -- Matt Nixson * Mail on Sunday *[A story] almost too mad to make up, too good not to tell and which one day, no doubt, will be a film. -- Ben Dirs * BBC World News *'[A] moving debut... This engrossing, heartbreaking story is sure to appeal to true-crime fans'. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book Synopsis________________________________________The real-life investigation behind the hit Netflix series, from two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists.SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLD DAGGER AWARDShe said she was raped.Police said she lied.She was made to retract the report – but the nightmare only got worse.On 11 August 2008, eighteen-year-old Marie reported that a masked man had broken into her home and raped her. Within days, police – and even those closest to Marie – became suspicious of her story. Confronted by these minor inconsistencies and doubt, Marie broke down and said her story was a lie. The police charged her with making a false report. Two years later, Colorado detective Stacy Galbraith was assigned to a case of sexual assault. It bore an eerie resemblance to a rape that had taken place months earlier in a nearby town. Joining forces with the detective on that case, Edna Hendershot, the two soon discovered they were dealing with a serial rapist. As their investigation deepened, it became clear that numerous police departments had extremely similar cases on their hands – and that Marie's story bore an eerie resemblance to the cases they were investigating.Unbelievable is a chilling tale of doubt, lies, and the hunt for justice, unveiling the disturbing reality of how sexual assault is investigated and the long history of scepticism toward its victims.________________________________________Previously published as A False ReportTrade ReviewBrilliant detective work, very well told. * Evening Standard *Disturbing and meticulously researched, this is a vital book for the #MeToo era. * Stylist, Best True Crime Books Ever Written *An important and necessary book that tells a complicated, uncomfortable story clearly and with great power. * i paper *With meticulous forensic detail, this true story is as disturbing as it compelling. * Sunday Mirror *Remarkable * TLS *

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Book SynopsisA Daily Mail Book of the Year and a The Times and Sunday Times Best Book of 2021'Monumental.. Authoritative and highly readable.' Ben Macintyre, The Times'A fascinating history of royal espionage.' Sunday Times'Excellent... Compelling' GuardianFor the first time, Spying and the Crown uncovers the remarkable relationship between the Royal Family and the intelligence community, from the reign of Queen Victoria to the death of Princess Diana. In an enthralling narrative, Richard J. Aldrich and Rory Cormac show how the British secret services grew out of persistent attempts to assassinate Victoria and then operated on a private and informal basis, drawing on close personal relationships between senior spies, the aristocracy, and the monarchy. Based on original research and new evidence, Spying and the Crown presents the British monarchy in an entirely new light and reveals how far their majesties still call the shots in a hidden world.Previously published as The Secret Royals.Trade ReviewThis monumental book is really a history of the British secret services, focusing on the fascinating moments when this intersects with royal history... Authoritative and highly readable... As every page of this book attests, the royals have always been involved in secretly directing the affairs not just of this country but of many others. -- Ben Macintyre * The Times, 'Book of the Week' *Bizarre and disturbing episodes are revealed in this excellent history of the royal family's relationship with espionage... Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac's fascinating history argues that modern intelligence evolved out of efforts to prevent Queen Victoria being assassinated... Through unbelievably thorough research - all of it fully referenced for grateful future scholars - they have compiled something comprehensive and compelling. * Guardian *A fascinating history of royal espionage... The book, which stretches back to Elizabeth I and her spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, has something of interest on pretty much every page. -- Rowland White * Sunday Times *Gripping * Daily Mail, 'Books of the Year' *Authoritative and gripping. * Observer *Their mastery of a subject that is extensive both chronologically and in its geographical scope is assured and impressive... An intriguing alternative narrative of British royal history. -- Matthew Dennison * Sunday Telegraph *Aldrich and Cormac have written an important book. Packed with new material and fresh insights, it offers an original way of looking at royal history. It's also a very good read. -- Jane Ridley * Literary Review *[A] thorough and informed survey of how matters of high state have really worked - and work. -- Alan Judd * Spectator *Intricate, ingenious and determined... Intelligent, fair-minded and a pleasure to read. * Times Literary Supplement *A valuable and unmissable read. -- Alexander Larman * The Chap *Outstanding research that shines a light into the very darkest corners of the British establishment. Filled with royal revelations - our monarchs are viewed through an entirely new lens - as keepers of the secrets and even as spy chiefs. Were Victoria and Elizabeth II more like 007's mysterious "M"? This is the royals as we have never seen them before and each story is supported with startling new evidence. -- Kate Vigurs, author of Mission France, on The Secret RoyalsTable of Contents1: Elizabeth I and Modern Espionage 2: Popish Plots and Public Paranoia 3: Queen Victoria: Assassins and Revolutionaries 4: Queen Victoria's Secrets: War and the Rise of Germany 5: Queen Victoria's Great Game: Empire and Intrigue 6: Queen Victoria's Security: Fenians and Anarchists 7: Edward VII and the Modernization of Intelligence 8: King George V and the Great War 9: King George V and the Bolsheviks 10: Abdication: Spying on Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson 11: Outbreak of the Second World War 12: War in the Americas 13: Th e End of the Second World War 14: Raiding Missions: Fighting for the Secret Files 15: Princess Elizabeth: Codename 2519 16: Queen Elizabeth II: Coronation and Cold War 17: Nuclear Secrets 18: Queen Elizabeth's Empire: Intrigue and the Middle East 19: Discreet Diplomacy: Th e Royals in Africa 20: Discreet Diplomacy: Th e Global Queen 21: Terrorists and Lunatics, 1969-1977 22: Terrorists and Lunatics, 1979-1984 23: Going Public 24: Bugs and Bugging 25: The Diana Conspiracy

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Book Synopsis'A harrowing-but-moving story' - Stylist'Raw, brave and vulnerable. Told with such clarity and purpose' - Maxine Mei-Fung Chung'A brave and deeply moving story of fierce spirit' - Dakota JohnsonBexy Cameron was in her late twenties when the dark events of her past finally caught up with her.Bexy was born into the Children of God, one of the world's most notorious cults. She was 9 years old when she experienced her first exorcism, held in a secret commune deep in the British countryside. At 10, she was placed on Silence Restriction, forced to be silent for a whole year. Even from an early age, she knew what was happening was not right. At the age of 15, she escaped, leaving behind her parents and 11 siblings.Haunted by her past, Bexy set off on a road trip across America, embedding herself in the underbelly of religious cults, living with children who, like her, are born into the worlds their parents and cult leaders have created for them.It is a journey of meth cooks, monks, Jesus Freaks, soap-making Armageddonists, surveillance vans and finally, confronting her parents and herself.Trade ReviewBexy Cameron has achieved a remarkable feat: deftly interweaving her intensely personal memoir with a wider examination of the common threads that run through cults across the world - all revealed through elegant, sharp-eyed prose. I marveled again and again at her courage, compassion and curiosity. An extraordinary book by an extraordinary woman. * Jessica Moor, author of Keeper *An unmissable memoir * Stylist *A vivid, emotional and almost unbelievable account. * The Daily Mail *'Raw, brave and vulnerable. Told with such clarity and purpose.' * Maxine Mei-Fung Chung *An extraordinary story * Christine Lampard *Astonishing... a jaw-dropping memoir * Irish Times Magazine *Powerful, beautiful and exceptionally written * Glamour Magazine *One of the most incredible stories I've ever heard * Joe Marler *Gripping and unforgettable, an incredible journey * Annie Mac *Defiantly not a misery memoir * The Times *Its rare to find writing so pure and captivating * Katie O’Connell Marsh *Its Thelma and Louise meets Wild Wild Country * Rankin *Lively and engaging, a powerful story of healing and transformation * Hunger Magazine *

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Two true-crime cases from the hit TV series Murder is ForeverMURDER, INTERRUPTED. Rich, cheating financier Frank Howard wants his wife dead, and he's willing to pay Billie Earl Johnson whatever it takes. But when the bullet misses the mark, Billie Earl and Frank will turn on each other in a fight for their lives . . . MOTHER OF ALL MURDERS. Dee Dee Blancharde is a local celebrity. Television reports praise her as a single mother who tirelessly cares for her wheelchair-bound, chronically ill daughter. But when Gypsy Rose realises she isn't actually sick and Dee Dee has lied all these years, the daughter exacts her revenge . . .

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Book SynopsisTwo true-crime cases from the hit TV series Murder is ForeverHOME SWEET MURDER: Lawyer Leo Fisher and his wife Sue are enjoying a quiet Sunday dinner at home. Until a man in a suit rings at their front door claiming to be an SEC agent. By the end of the evening, two people will be shot, stabbed and tortured. And two others will fare worse . . . MURDER ON THE RUN: The middle-aged housekeeper found dead with a knife in her throat was bad. But the little boy was worse. After a bloody double homicide that puts Omaha, Nebraska, on the map, Detective Derek Mois promises the boy's parents he will catch the killer, no matter how long or far he runs . . .

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Book SynopsisTwo true-crime cases from the hit TV series Murder is ForeverMURDER BEYOND THE GRAVE: Stephen Small has it all – a Ferrari, fancy house, loving wife and three sons. But the only thing he needs right now is enough air to breathe. Kidnapped, buried in a box, and held for ransom, Stephen has forty-eight hours of oxygen. The clock is ticking . . . MURDER IN PARADISE: High in the Sierra Nevada mountains, developers Jim and Bonnie Hood excitedly tour Camp Nelson Lodge. They intend to buy and modernise this beautiful rustic property, but the locals don't like rich outsiders changing their way of life. After a grisly shooting, everybody will discover just how you can make a killing in real estate . . .

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____________________‘This book will make you think… it will frighten you, and it will shock you… Frankly I could not read it at night.’ – Ann Rule, author of The Stranger Beside Me: The Inside Story of Serial Killer Ted BundyHOW DO YOU CATCH A SERIAL KILLER?Interpreting the calling cards of the serial murderer, Robert Keppel reveals the answers hidden among the grisly evidence, the common threads that link each devastating act of brutal violence. Explore in unflinching detail the monstrous patterns, sadistic compulsions and depraved motives of the killer, and why they kill again and again. Signature Killers is the ultimate insight into the mind of the serial killer.From The Lonely Hearts Killer who haunted the most desperate of women in 1950s America, to the infamous symbols of evil as Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy and John Gacy, these are the cases – horrifying, graphic and unforgettable – that shed light on the darkest corners of the pathological mind.

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Book SynopsisThe world's bestselling thriller writer, James Patterson, is partnering with Discovery ID again to develop all-new true crime stories where murder isn't always the worst thing that can happen to you.MURDER OF INNOCENCE(with Max DiLallo)It's impossible to resist Andrew Luster. He's rich, charming, good-looking, and dozens of women have fallen under his spell. But there's a very dark, very dangerous side to his womanising. And it'll take a global manhunt to put him behind bars. A MURDEROUS AFFAIR(with Andrew Bourelle)Mark Putnam is a rookie FBI agent given his first assignment in a remote part of Kentucky. When female informant Susan Smith helps him make a big break in an important case, rumours begin circulating about an affair and a pregnancy. Then Susan suddenly disappears . . .

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Book Synopsis'Shanghai's champion storyteller - He grips his reader to the end' Economist'Gripping, breakneck ultra-noir reminiscent of vintage Ellroy' David Peace, author of Red or Dead'If you love Richard Lloyd Parry and David Grann, don't miss City of Devils' Megan Abbott, author of Dare Me1930s Shanghai was a haven for outlaws from all over the world: a place where pasts could be forgotten, oppression outrun, fortunes made - and lost. This is the story of 'Lucky' Jack Riley, the Slot King of Shanghai, and 'Dapper' Joe Farren, owner of the greatest clubs and casinos. It tells of their escape from American prisons and Vienna's ghetto, their rise to power, and the trail of destruction they left in their wake. Shanghai was their playground for a flickering few years, a city where for a fleeting moment even the wildest dreams seemed possible.Trade ReviewIn Mr French, who has spent years chasing Shanghai's ghosts, it has its champion storyteller. City of Devils is based on real people and events. With a fabulist's flair, Mr French supplies whatever details were withheld by the archives he has ransacked . . . The story is brought alive by Mr French's Shanghai-noir telling, which echoes Dashiell Hammett and James Ellroy . . . He grips his reader to the end. * Economist *When is a novel not a novel? When it's 'narrative non-fiction' . . . French's louche and moodily lit recreation of Shanghai is thrillingly done -- Laura Freeman * The Times *Written in a demotic, joyously profane and daringly idiosyncratic style . . . [close to] the urgent hepcat prose of James Ellroy's mid-career pomp. As with The Black Dahlia and LA Confidential, its style and subject matter are perfectly attuned, enhancing the book's doom-laden film noir atmosphere . . . deserves to replicate the popularity of Midnight in Peking * Literary Review *An astonishing achievement, magically transporting the reader back to Old Shanghai, then sweeping us through its streets and its bars in a gripping, breakneck ultra-noir narrative reminiscent of vintage Ellroy. * David Peace *Few writers are more expert at mingling crime narrative and social history, journalistic precision and novelistic sweep, than Paul French. His books paint times and places so beguiling and tell stories so vivid and harrowing that, within pages, we're utterly in their dark thrall. If you love Richard Lloyd Parry and David Grann, don't miss City of Devils. * Megan Abbott *A brilliant neo-noir about the rise and fall of two refugee outlaws at the end of Shanghai's golden age in the 1930's. Not since JG Ballard's Empire of the Sun or Andre Malraux's La Condition Humaine have I read a book that has so captured the decadence, pulchritude and madness of the 'Paris of the Orient'. I cannot recommend City of Devils highly enough. * Adrian McKinty *To understand the 'surrealistic city', as Shanghai is often nicknamed, City of Devils is an absolute must. It's a solid, groundbreaking historical true crime account, written with such vivid, well-researched details. It totally captured me, a native Shanghainese, in a time capsule of passions and pathos about the city's unknown past. * Qiu Xiaolong, author of the Inspector Chen series *Fast-paced, plot-twisty true-crime tale of the kingpins of Shanghai's Old City, land of miscreant opportunity. A Casablanca without heroes and just the thing for those who like their crime stories the darkest shade of noir. * Kirkus *Drugs, gambling, vice, and banditry power China's seaport mecca in this rollicking true crime saga . . . In French's wonderfully atmospheric portrait, Shanghai is a tapestry of grungy dive bars, swanky nightspots, drunken soldiers, brazen showgirls, Chinese gangsters, corrupt cops, and schemers . . . French's two-fisted prose makes this deep noir history unforgettable. * Publishers Weekly *With the narrative rhythm of classic noir and the polyglot slang of 1930s Shanghai, French, winner of an Edgar and a Gold Dagger for his true-crime best-seller Midnight in Peking, tells a fast-paced, page-turning yarn about the rise and fall of two of the city's crime kings . . . Gripping * Booklist *Such a rich tapestry of characters is every author's dream, but weaving their stories together within the confines of a city that didn't exactly cherish the preservation of documents and proper names takes immense skill. It also requires a love for the ways of this labyrinthine settlement, nurtured by French's years spent navigating its back streets. French superbly conveys the surrealism of life in Shanghai -- Charles Ginger * Real Crime Magazine *Plunge yourself deep into the mean milieu of Shanghai in the 1930s with this hard-boiled beauty of a chunk of noir . . . The atmosphere created runs the gamut from claustrophobic and dark to electric and menacing . . . With every human vice on show, this is excess all areas writ large. Love it! -- Jon Wise * Sunday Sport *Move over Weimar: Paul French's City of Devils, a history of glam and seedy interwar Shanghai's refugees and criminals, is nostalgic noir at its best * New York Magazine *A story with the dark resonance of James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential and the seedy glamour of Alan Furst's between-the-wars mysteries . . . Reader advisory: By the time you are done with this extraordinary book, you will believe in devils, too. * Newsday *It's hard to go wrong with dope, decadence, and the demimonde . . . French recounts all this with great energy and brio * New York Times *A love song to Shanghai . . . Knowing, cynical, slangy and carrying a crafty sting in its tail, this is the voice in which City of Devils is narrated throughout, as though it's being told over strong drinks in a dive bar. French channels the hard-boiled prose of Chandler and Ellroy in a rhythmic, tough-guy patter . . . Recounts with great panache an extraordinary period -- Marcel Theroux * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisWhen companies suffer a dramatic even catastrophic drop in their share price, it is the investors who lose their shirts and employees their jobs. But often, a company's published accounts offer clues to impending disaster, providing you know where to look. Through the forensic examination of more than 20 recent stock market disasters, Tim Steer reveals how companies hide or disguise worrying facts about the robustness of their business. In his lively style, he looks at the themes that underlie the ways companies hide the truth and he stresses that in an assessment of a company's accounts, investors should always bear in mind that the only fact is cash; everything else - profit, assets, etc - is a matter of opinion. Full of invaluable lessons for investors, the book concludes with some trenchant observations on what is wrong in the worlds of investment, audit and financial regulation, and what changes should be introduced.Trade Review[The] best book I have ever read about accounting. * Telegraph *A lot of useful hints and tips. Highly recommended * Money Week *

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Book SynopsisOn September 26, 2014, 43 male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College went missing in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico. On route to a protest, local police intercepted the students and a confrontation ensued. By the morning, they had disappeared without a trace. Hernández reconstructs almost minute-by-minute the events of those nights in late September 2014, giving us what is surely the most complete picture available: her sources are unparalleled, since she has secured access to internal government documents that have not been made public, and to video surveillance footage the government has tried to hide and destroy. Hernández demolishes the Mexican state's official version, which the Peña Nieto government cynically dubbed the "historic truth". As her research shows, state officials at all levels, from police and prosecutors to the upper echelons of the PRI administration, conspired to put together a fake case, concealing or manipulating evidence, and arresting and torturing dozens of "suspects" who then obliged with full "confessions" that matched the official lie. By following the role of the various Mexican state agencies through the events in such remarkable detail, Massacre in Mexico shows with exacting precision who is responsible for which component of this monumental crime.Trade Review[A] detailed coverage of the government's horrifying and often clumsy attempt at a cover-up... her sources are clear and convincing. -- Rachel Nolan * London Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisThe cold-blooded murder of revolutionary icons Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in the pitched political battles of post-WWI Germany marks one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century. No other political assassination inflamed popular passions and transformed Germany's political climate as that killing in the night of 15-16 January 1919 in front of the luxurious Hotel Eden. It not only cut short the lives of two of the country's most brilliant political leaders, but also inaugurated a series of further political assassinations designed to snuff out the revolutionary flame and, ultimately, pave the way for the ultra-reactionary forces that would take power in 1933. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of their untimely deaths, Klaus Gietinger has carefully reconstructed the events on that fateful night, digging deep into the archives to identify who exactly was responsible for the murder, and what forces in high-placed positions had a hand in facilitating it and protecting the culprits.Trade ReviewThe Murder of Rosa Luxemburgis the most painstaking account of the events, drawing on meticulous archival research and interviews with some of the last surviving participants in the events. * rs21 *History repeats itself "first as tragedy and then as farce", as Marx said, and Gietinger is good at bringing out the absurdity of the farce that followed the murder. * The Guardian *[Gietinger] tells a gripping if unsavoury tale of collusion, duplicity and mendacity. * Morning Star *Gietinger's book serves as a powerful historical document; a meta-narrative that seeks to right the wrongs of the past. * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisThe Dartford Crossing: a vital transport hub connecting Kent and Essex, the busiest river crossing in Europe, and the site of some of the most vicious organised crime today...For the last decade, there has been a intense turf war in the south-east of England between two sets of criminal gangs:On one side, there's the 'Establishment' - the old-school firms that have operated for decades and weaved their way into all areas of their communities. On the other, 'The New Kids on the Bloc' - mainly Eastern European gangswho have muscled in, boasting they'll crush anyone in their way and dominate the British underworld.The Dartford Crossing, due to its location between London and the ports of the south-east, has become the epicentre of these battles.Since Brexit began, the war has become even bloodier as both gangs try to claim new territory before the borders close. In an already terrifying and volatile world of drug smuggling, people trafficking, prostitution and money laundering, all rules are out and the body count is rising...With research and interviews from both sides conducted by one of true crime's most established names, The Crossing is a ground-breaking and fascinating look inside the UK's newest crime phenomenon.

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Book SynopsisTHE ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR SURVIVING LIFE IN PRISONCharles Bronson knows more about life in prison than anyone else in Britain - on either side of the bars. Jailed originally in 1974, his life since then has been once unbroken stretch of over forty-five years, much of it in solitary confinement, moved repeatedly as prison after prison failed to contain his explosive temper. It would be enough to break an ordinary man - but Bronson is no ordinary man, and this is no ordinary prison diary.Written by our most notorious prisoner, Behind Bars is Bronson's irreverent, hard-hitting and darkly funny guide to life in Britain's penal institutions. From the correct way to brew vintage prison 'hooch' and how to keep the screws from finding it, to taming techniques for prison wildlife that may be your only friends on long stretches in solitary; from the fastest way to win a canteen fight to how to plan a prison wedding, this book tells you everything you need to know - and a few things you don't - about what goes on behind the locked doors of Britain's historic (and sometimes pre-historic) jail cells. Don't get nicked without it.

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Book SynopsisWelcome to an after-dark world of new money, hedonism and excess. A world of luxurious nightclubs where racketeers, gamblers and glamorous women mixed with entrepreneurs, bunny girls, politicians and policemen. Bandit Country is a gripping, atmospheric true-crime noir. It is the story of Britain's 1960's gambling boom, as the country emerged from years of hardship to embrace exotic night-life and entertainment, all supplied by the Mafia. It is an emotional, visceral story of brothers: the Luvaglios, who dreamed of an empire founded among the hard industrial skylines and bridges of Newcastle, built on good times and bright lights - dreams that, for a moment, were lived in technicolour; and the Kray twins, who looked up to this new kingdom from London and saw a slice of action they wanted for themselves. And above all, it is a story of betrayal, murder and a shocking miscarriage of justice, as empires crumble, friends turn on friends, and the good times come screeching to a halt. Sure to be loved by fans of Peaky Blinders, this story - that inspired classic British gangster film Get Carter - isn't quite like anything you've read before. Turn the page and roll the dice. . .Trade ReviewChannels the hard-edged realism of Get Carter into a salutary thriller * Racing Post *

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