Foul Deeds Suspicious Deaths In Glasgow

The criminal cases vividly described by Paul Harrison in this gripping book take the reader on a journey into the dark secret side of Glasgow's long history. The city has been the setting for a series of horrific, bloody, sometimes bizarre incidents over the centuries. From crimes of brutal premeditation to those born of rage or despair, the whole range of human weakness and wickedness is represented here. There are tales of secret passion and betrayal, robbery, murder, gangland violence, executions, and instances of domestic cruelty and malice that ended in death. Among the fascinating and varied selection of cases Paul Harrison covers are an IRA ambush and gun battle, the policeman who murdered his lover, a Wild West-style shootout between police and a desperate robber, a sequence of horrendous serial murders including the case of Bible John, and the extraordinary acquittal of John Mitchell Henderson. The human dramas the author describes are often played out in the most commonplace of circumstances, but others are so odd as to be stranger than fiction. This grisly chronicle of the hidden history of Glasgow will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the dark side of human nature.

The grisly chronicle of the hidden history of Glasgow will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the dark side of human nature.

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths Around Portsmouth takes the reader on a sinister journey through centuries of local crime and conspiracy, meeting villains of all sorts along the way - cut-throats and poisoners, arsonists and assassins, mutineers, duellists and marauders, prostitutes and thieves, and the brawling seamen and common murderers who moved through the cruel underworld of this historic town. Sarah Quail has selected over 20 notorious episodes that give a fascinating insight into criminal acts and the criminal mind. She recalls intriguing and shocking cases dating from medieval times to the present day. In the process she uncovers an extraordinary variety of misdeeds, some motivated by brutal impulse or despair, others by malice, which taint the history of every age. Most of the cases she recounts involve ill-fated individuals who are only known to us because they were caught up in crime, but she also reconsiders more famous episodes like the murder of the Duke of Buckingham and the disappearance of the Cold War frogman Buster Crabb. The human dramas that are played out in these pages often take place in the most commonplace of circumstances, but others are so odd as to be stranger than fiction.

The criminal cases vividly described by Bernard Lewis in this gripping book take the reader on a journey into the dark secret side of Swanseas long history. The city has been the setting for a series of horrific, bloody, sometimes bizarre incidents over the centuries. From crimes of brutal premeditation to those born of rage or despair, the whole range of human weakness and wickedness is represented here. There are tales of secret passion and betrayal, robbery, murder and suicide, deadly fever and mutiny, executions, and instances of extraordinary domestic cruelty and malice that ended in death. The human dramas the author describes are often played out in the most commonplace of circumstances, but others are so odd as to be stranger than fiction. This grisly chronicle of the hidden history of Swansea will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the dark side of human nature.

The author of The A-Z of London Murders investigates Jack the Ripper’s stalking grounds for even more crimes and killings in England’s capital. For centuries London’s East End has been associated with some of the worst elements of human depravity, where foul deeds and murder were commonplace; and in 1888 the area’s disrepute was added to by the horrific murders committed by Jack the Ripper. The East End was populated by people crammed together in close-knit communities. As the district grew from the ancient villages along the river, much of the village atmosphere and rivalry remained—along with some of the worst corruption and vilest slums to be found anywhere in the country. For instance the residents of Bethnal Green looked down their noses at those from Hoxton, barely half a mile away. During the 1930s, after the Depression, a government report estimated 60 percent of the children in Bethnal Green suffered from malnutrition and 85 percent of the housing was unsatisfactory. These were the times when the infamous Kray Twins were cutting their teeth. The East End’s claim to fame in the annals of crime in England is not without justification, as the pages of this book show.

True-life tales of bloody killings and brutal crimes wind through the dark past of this historic town on the Thames. John J. Eddleston’s latest selection of notorious criminal cases takes the reader through a sequence of sensational episodes that have marred the history of Reading. His book, based on original research, recalls many grisly events and sad or unsavory individuals whose fate has hitherto been forgotten. Among the shocking crimes he reconstructs are those of the baby-farmer Amelia Dyer, the unsolved murder of Alfred Oliver, the suffocation of Beatrice Cox, the red Mini murder of June Cook, and the attempted murder of a family of five. This chronicle of the dark side of Reading’s long history will be fascinating reading for anyone who is interested in the town’s rich—and sometimes gruesome—past.

“A grim catalogue of killings and suspicious deaths that have darkened 130 years of Southport history is laid bare” (Southport Visitor). Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths Around Southport takes the reader on a sinister journey through centuries of local crime and conspiracy, meeting villains of all sorts along the way—cutthroats and poisoners, murderous lovers, baby-farmers and baby-killers, burglars, fraudsters, and the so-called “doctor of death.” The book records crime and punishment in Southport in all its shocking variety. Among the many acts of wickedness Geoff Wright describes are the unsolved murder of Nigel Bostock, the double-slaying of two friends, a fatal brawl at the Shakespeare pub, the wife-killing Dr. Clements, and the baffling murder of businessman Harry Baker. His chronicle of Southport’s hidden history—the history this Victorian seaside resort would prefer to forget—will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the dark side of human nature.

A collection of historical British true crime stories, with illustrations included. From the murder of Hannah Hewitt in 1732 to John Cotton’s killing in 1898, Deadly Derbyshire gathers dramatic, atmospheric true tales of murder and manslaughter in this county in England’s East Midlands. Read about the “fiery” circumstances of the death of John McMorrow; a farm tragedy at Stoney Houghton; and killings for pittances such as three eggs and a sixpence. You’ll also discover stories of unprovoked and wicked deeds and numerous suspicious deaths. Based on extensive research of newspaper archives, uncovering a large number of cases never previously explored, this compendium examines the darker side of this historical port city.