Devon Murders

It recounts several notable cases, from the killing of Sarah and Edward Glass at Wadland Down in 1827 and the poisonings of Samuel Wescombe in Exeter in 1829 and William Ashford at Honiton Clyst in 1866, both by wives whose affections had gone elsewhere, to the horrific murder of Emma Doidge and her boyfriend William Rowe by the former's jilted suitor at Peter Tavey in 1892, as well as the strangling of schoolgirl Alice Gregory in 1916, and the triple murder of Emily Maye and her daughters at West Charleton, Kingsbridge, in 1936, which remains unsolved to this day. Above all, there is an account of Devon's most famous case, the murder of Emma Keyse at Babbacombe and the convicted servant John Lee - the man they couldn't hang. John Van der Kiste's carefully researched, well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to anyone interested in the shady side of Devon's history.

It recounts several notable cases, from the killing of Sarah and Edward Glass at Wadland Down in 1827 and the poisonings of Samuel Wescombe in Exeter in 1829 and William Ashford at Honiton Clyst in 1866, both by wives whose affections had gone elsewhere, to the horrific murder of Emma Doidge and her boyfriend William Rowe by the former's jilted suitor at Peter Tavey in 1892, as well as the strangling of schoolgirl Alice Gregory in 1916, and the triple murder of Emily Maye and her daughters at West Charleton, Kingsbridge, in 1936, which remains unsolved to this day. Above all, there is an account of Devon's most famous case, the murder of Emma Keyse at Babbacombe and the convicted servant John Lee - the man they couldn't hang. John Van der Kiste's carefully researched, well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to anyone interested in the shady side of Devon's history.

Hidden behind the picturesque facade of country lanes and rugged coastlines, quaint villages and busy market towns, the South West counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset have witnessed some of the most shocking murder cases in British history. West Country Murders brings together over 30 cases from the authors' previous collections here in one volume. They include stories of those who killed for greed, jealousy and lust, as well as those who committed murder in what a well-known judge once described as 'a gust of passion'. Some of the killers were undoubtedly insane at the time of their crimes; others were almost certainly innocent, yet paid the ultimate price for a murder they did not commit. Some remain unsolved to this day, despite the best efforts of the local constabularies. This book is sure to appeal to all those interested in the shady side of the West Country's history.

'The Murder of Diana Devon and Other Stories' contains eleven previously uncollected stories by Michael Gilbert, dating between1956 and 1991. It also includes two radio plays and a poem.

Surrey Murders is an examination of some of the county's most notorious and shocking cases. They include the 'Wigwam Girl', Joan Wolfe, who lived in a tent built by a Cree Indian Soldier before being brutally slaughtered; the infamous stabbing of Frederick Gold by 'the Serpent', Percy Lefroy Mapleton; the poisoning of the entire Beck family with a bottle of oatmeal stout, laced with cyanide; and the sailor butchered at the Devil's Punch Bowl, later immortalised in Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby. John Van der Kiste's carefully researched, well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to all those interested in the darker side of Surrey's history.

More Devon murders

When Juno Browne purchases a wardrobe to stock in her fledgling antiques store, she doesn't expect to find a dead body inside. And when the man she bought it from, rascally farmer Fred Crick, is found battered to death in his blazing cottage, the hunt for a double murderer is on. Despite the police struggling to connect the two deaths, this time Juno is resolved to ignore her impulse to investigate. Until, that is, a stranger arrives who bears an uncanny resemblance to the dead man in the wardrobe. Determined to discover how his identical twin brother died and impressed by Juno's reputation in the local press as Ashburton's amateur sleuth, Henry tries to drag her into his quest to solve the mystery, with disastrous results.