Review: Frank's Bear Cave by Glenn Harvey

Synopsis:

The second decade of the 20th Century was a period of great transition, especially with the beginning of WWI in 1917. The war accelerated the industrial revolution and took an estimated forty million lives. The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic decreased the world population by upwards of another fifty million.

The United States probably experienced more changes during that brief era than in any period since. The Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote and serve on juries. Prohibition gave rise to the moonshine industry and associated gang activity. Automobiles were coming onto the scene. Yet, farmers and timbermen were using centuries-old horse-drawn technology. There was increasing demand for farm produce by the expanding population of mill workers who kept the factories humming. Likewise, the virgin forests of the northeastern U.S. were providing the lumber needed for new homes in the cities and mill towns.

People coped with the 1918 influenza pandemic and industrial accidents without health insurance or welfare assistance outside their family, friends, churches, and local social institutions. The introductory chapters provide the early 1900s, rural setting, through the experiences of one family. As all of the individuals cited are deceased, this content is based on both written and verbal memories passed down through the family, verified to the extent possible by public records. The complete 1921-22, "Trial Book" of over 1000 pages, tells the story of the murder trial.

At 1:00 am, April 3, 1921, an intruder in Frank Harvey’s Butler County, Pennsylvania, farmhouse opened a life-changing chapter in his life. The murder he witnessed led to a sensational trial, “The Commonwealth vs. Henry A. Blakeley." The resultant testimony, motions, and appeals dominated local news from April 1921 through Blakeley’s execution in October 1922.

The murder trial is told verbatim through selections from the original typewritten trial manuscript. More than seventy witnesses from many walks of life provide us with vivid images of the day and times through their unredacted words, slang, and local expressions. Witnesses for the prosecution left little doubt that the defendant was profane, mean-spirited, mentally unstable, and guilty of murder.

A verdict of first-degree murder was an automatic death sentence in Pennsylvania in 1921. Thus, the defendant’s attorneys pulled out all stops trying to convince the jury and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that the murder was not first-degree. They failed, as the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's sentence. Nonetheless, the wide range of defense witnesses provided fascinating testimony. The defendant’s attorneys called more than forty witnesses, including the defendant’s children, local drunks, and distinguished physicians, to prove the witness was acting in self-defense or was unaware of his actions due to intoxication, insanity, or being in an epileptic coma.

In the end, his body was unclaimed by the family and Henry Blakeley was interned in the prison cemetery. He left behind photographs that he had taken for his friends and a final letter that prison officials refused to release due to its extremely vile language.

~ ~ ~

Begin with the family and local history leading up to the fateful events, which are interspersed with occasional fictional chapters to give colour to events are recollected by family members.

With regards to the criminal trial, Harvey states that he has presented the testimony in a different order than the actual trial: 

Harvey presents the details of the trial through the reproduction of the original transcripts which literally encompasses nearly seventy-five percent of the tome. We finish with the accused's execution and a footnote on Blakeley's final, vile missive, wherein "... he vulgarly assails those who had anything to do with the trial ..."

Harvey finishes with a comparison of times then and now and laments that things really have not changed.

A great source for local historians who get a very of life in early 20th century Pennsylvania, as well as the court proceedings in a capital trial.  Definitely one for true crime aficionados.

Review: The Crimes That Inspired Agatha Christie by Oats and Berg

Synopsis: Did you know that many of Agatha Christie’s best-selling detective stories have their basis in reality?

‘Who killed Charles Bravo and why?’ asks retired Superintendent Spence in Elephants Can Remember. He refers to an unsolved Victorian murder mystery, one of many allusions to real life crime and criminals in Agatha Christie’s fiction. The infamous Dr Crippen, Jack the Ripper, John George Haigh, and many other real killers, fraudsters and spies, figure prominently in her plots, both explicitly and implicitly.

Many of these cases belong to British criminal history, others originate from the USA and France. They cover a time frame from the eighteenth century to the 1960s, showing that Agatha Christie was not only an inspired writer of fiction but had a knowledge of true crime as well. There are even instances where she seems to have anticipated real life crimes, as in the case of the infamous poisoner Graham Young.

This book explains the reality of these criminals and their crimes - some of which are well known, others largely forgotten - and how they are utilised in Agatha Christie’s stories.

Armed with this book, fans of the author’s work will be able to gain new insights when reading her books either for the first time or on a repeat reading.

~ ~ ~

The Brief: This book explains the reality of these criminals and their crimes - some of which are well known, others largely forgotten - and how they are utilised in Agatha Christie’s stories.

The Book: YES! This tome for Christie fans meets the brief exactly ... and - more importantly - concisely! 

Authors Oats and Berg highlight all true crime references in Christie's books, providing concise summaries of these cases, and then discuss how they were used in the fictional stories.

Definitely one for true Agatha Christie fans!

Review: Sisters In Death by Eli Frankel

Synopsis: Who killed the Black Dahlia? In this eye-opening shocker, an award-winning producer, true-crime researcher, and Hollywood insider finally solves the greatest - and most gruesome - murder mystery of the twentieth century just before its 80th anniversary.

In January 1947, the bisected body of Elizabeth Short, completely drained of blood, was discovered in an undeveloped lot in Los Angeles. Its gruesome mutilations led to a firestorm of publicity, city-wide panic, and an unprecedented number of investigative paths led by the LAPD—all dead ends. The Black Dahlia murder remained an unsolved mystery for over seventy years.

Six years earlier and sixteen hundred miles away, another woman’s life had ended in a similarly horrific manner. Leila Welsh was an ambitious, educated, popular, and socially connected beauty. Though raised modestly on a prairie farm, she was heiress to her Kansas City family’s status and wealth. On a winter morning in 1941, Leila’s butchered body was found in her bedroom bearing unspeakable trauma.

One victim faded into obscurity. The other became notorious. Both had in common a killer whose sadistic mind was a labyrinth of dark secrets.

Eli Frankel reveals for the first time a key fact about the Black Dahlia crime scene, never before shared with the public, that leads inexorably to the stunning identification of a criminal who was at the same time amateurish and fiendish, skilled and lucky, sophisticated and brutish. Drawing on newly discovered documents, law enforcement files, interviews with the last surviving participants, the victims’ own letters, trial transcripts, military records, and more, this epic true-crime saga puts together the missing pieces of a legendary puzzle.

In Sisters in Death, the Black Dahlia cold case is finally closed.

~ ~ ~

The mystery of the Black Dahlia has intrigued many - including myself - for some time. Who really was Elizabeth Short, what was she doing in the days / weeks leading up to her death, and why was she murdered is such a brutal manner.

Frankel explores initially the murder of Liz / Beth / Betty Short in 1947 from what is popularly known and reported on. Elizabeth is the proverbial riddle wrapped up in a mystery inside an enigma. Then we move onto what Frankel perceives to be a similar murder - possibly the trial run to Elizabeth Short - that being the brutal murder of heiress Leila Welsh in 1941.

Frankel outlines the history and life of Welsh, including the love triangle she found herself in whilst a socialite at university. Then the detail of the murder, investigation, and trial - where the main suspect was her own brother! At this particular time, there was constant conflict between investigating parties, and rampant violence and corruption in the police force and judicial system was commonplace. A fair trial for Leila's brother was not on the cards - a quick and easy solution was, and as a result, the family endured more than then should.

We are then drawn back to Elizabeth Short - a more detailed look at her life in Hollywood, her associations, and a re-look at not only her final days, but of an investigation that had been tainted from the very start so that the real perpetrator literally got away with murder.

Frankel directs the reader to similarities in both cases: the bungled investigations, the return of the murderer to the scene of the crime to leave clues, witnesses and suspects discounted too easily, whilst providing information as to where, when and with whom the lives of these two women intersected. Frankel links one particular suspect to both crimes - a person of interest who warranted further investigation but wasn't. It is an intriguing proposition - and Frankel posits a plausible case for his suspect.

True crime fans will sink their teeth into this one - I did!

Review: Britain's Most Prolific Burglar by Martyn R Beardsley

Synopsis: Harry Edward Vickers, aka Flannelfoot, was possibly Britain’s most successful ever burglar. Not financially - he stole cash and low-value items (even, bizarrely, false teeth!). The success was in his hundreds of burglaries spread over many years without being caught. The lives of career criminals are invariably dotted with prison sentences, but thanks to his caution and cunning, Flannelfoot operated night after night, year after year with an impunity which embarrassed the police.

In the twenties and thirties, Londers were deserting the overcrowded capital for the burgeoning suburbs of ‘Metroland’. Flannelfoot was equally attracted to these areas, and one of his hallmarks was to steal a bicycle at the scene of his last break-in of the night and cycle to the nearest tube station.

Burglars and burglaries are never glamorous, but one reason why the Flannelfoot saga engendered fascination more than fear is that he was never confrontational, never violent, and in fact so stealthy that few ever saw him.

His one-man crime epidemic led to Scotland Yard assembling a team more used to solving murders than the plundering of gas meters. After a lengthy and painstaking investigation, a carefully planned night-time surveillance operation involving several teams of officers led to the sensational capture of Flannelfoot.

Flannelfoot routinely features in crime anthologies and was the subject of a feature film, but this is the first full biography of the man who became a legend in his own lifetime.

~~ ~

Whilst the premise appealed to me greatly, the narrative seemed to take as long as Flannelfoot's career of crime. Much could have been left out and thus condensed to make it a more "readable" story. Less is best in this instance.

Beardsley adds into the narrative, the careers of two of the more prominent detectives who would have much to contribute to Flannelfoot's criminal demise - these being Walter Hambrook (who I was more interested in) and Thomas Thompson.

The narrative itself fluctuates between that of Flannelfoot (Henry Vickers aka Henry Williams), until it converges on events that would see Flannelfoot brought to justice. Beardsley finishes off with a final assessment on those involved in the case, discusses the spate of copy-cat crimes, and Flannelfoot as portrayed in the media.

As I mentioned, there was some things that could easily have been left out to keep the flow of the narrative going - I dislike it when I feel that the author is "forced" to reach a set page number a book in order for publication. I personally would rather read 100 pages of actual content than 200 or more pages on waffle.

Truce-crime fans will enjoy reading this anyway.

Review: The City of the Living by Nicola Lagioia

Synopsis: In March 2016, in an apartment on the outskirts of Rome, two “ordinary” young men brutally tortured and murdered twenty-two-year-old Luca Varani. News of the seemingly inexplicable crime sent shock-waves across Rome and beyond.

After the crime comes to light, Lagioia begins investigating the crime by meeting with the victim’s family and corresponding with one of the killers. It soon becomes clear, however, that to investigate this crime means to descend into the darkest corners of Rome and of the human psyche.

Lagioia leads us through a maze of betrayed expectations, sexual confusion, economic grievances and identity crises to locate the breaking point, the point after which anything is possible.

Sharp, hypnotic, devastating, The City of The Living is not just the story of a crime, but of human nature the tension between responsibility and guilt, between the drive to oppress and the desire to be free, between who we are and who we can become.

~ ~ ~

An auto-fictional account of a much publicised murder that occurred in 2016 in Rome, Italy. The first part of the account, told in the third person narrative, deals with the crime, the arrest. The second part, told in the first person narrative, continues on, and is punctuated by personal recollections and statement of friends. The reconstruction includes legal proceedings, reports, interviews and other evidence. It is written in a style that sort of plays out events as they are happening.

Unfortunately, I was not at all engaged with the writing style or presentation. I did persevere till the end but there really was no really interest except to finish.

Review: Jack The Ripper - The Policeman by Rod Beattie

Synopsis: Imagine you were a police officer and had been dominated as a child by an abusive mother who didn’t really want you and as an adult had been served bastardy orders twice, firstly by a woman in whose house you lived and then by a woman you had a relationship with.

Then, to top it all after you had become a police officer in another city you arrested a woman you thought was a prostitute, whose subsequent actions caused you to be accused of perjury and you ended up in court at the Old Bailey. Although you were found not guilty, it ruined your career and left you seriously in debt and though you were still a policeman you were taken off the streets and assigned to a menial job guarding a museum.

As a police officer you were in a perfect position to take revenge on those people you thought had ruined you, prostitutes.

This book contains the complete reason Jack the Ripper came to be. It sheds new light on the mystery of the killer. After all, who is going to suspect a policeman going about his daily duties of being one of the world’s most infamous serial killers.

In this addition to the Ripper library, author Beattie posits his own thoughts on who Jack the Ripper could have been. In this instance, his prime suspect is a policeman, of dubious antecedents, by the name of Bowden Endacott.  And suspects a plenty have been suggested in the past of the list provided by Wikipedia is anything to go by - yet police office was not mentioned.

Beattie says that "... a police officer is the only person who could have walked the streets at night knowing that he would not be questioned or suspected of being the killer ...".  In fact, this is a most plausible scenario.

His reasons for putting forth Endacott as his suspect are numerous and include factors of his childhood (a domineering mother and possibly, unwanted as being one of her last children); his being a compulsive liar; dubious police career which culminated in the "Cass Case" of 1887.

Beattie then put forward that in addition to the five traditionally accepted Ripper victims, that at least one, if not more victoims could be attributed to him - whilst at the same time, suggesting that Stride was not one of the five.  Beattie also suspects that Endacott had an accomplice, possibly a doctor or at the very least, another man.  Again, this is a reasonable assumption, regardless of the true suspect and was worthy of more study.

Unfortunately, Beattie offers no real conclusive proofs - in fact, his case could literally have been made for any police officer who walked the beat at that particular time.  Endacott just had more notoriety due in no part to the Cass Case and his consistent and blatant lying.  Beattie failed to convince me that Endacott was the most plausable suspect.

What I would have preferred is more substantial proofs against Endacott to convey Beattie's argument or at the very least, for Beattie to have developed and put forth a more-detailed case built around the potential of a police officer being the suspect.

Review: A Talent To Deceive by William Morris

Synopsis: For almost 90 years, the Lindbergh Kidnapping has been a major topic of controversy and fascination in history. After a six-week trial, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was named the ultimate culprit of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's infant son. Hauptmann pleaded that he was not guilty even as he took his last breath execution day. Since the trial, there have been many theories concluding that Hauptmann was innocent. 

A Talent to Deceive is the book that solves a mystery through investigative journalism. William Norris dives into evidence ignored by previous investigators in search of the truth. Who really committed the crime? What really happened the night of March 1, 1932? What was the motive to kidnap and murder the Lindbergh baby?

The kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh infant was the "case of the century" - it still resonates event today - and resulted in a man being sentenced to death in the electric chair. In short, five years after Charles A. Lindbergh made headlines around the world by becoming the first aviator to make a nonstop flight across the Atlantic, he was the subject of a nightmarish new story: On the evening of March 1st, 1932, his 20-month old son, Charlie, was stolen from his crib. 72 days later, a badly-decomposed body authorities identified as Charlie’s was discovered in the woods less than four miles away. But was Richard Hauptmann guilty of such a heinous crime or was there much more - much that went unsaid for the sake of reputation. In "A Talent To Deceive: The Search For The Real Killer of the Lindbergh Baby" author William Norris - reporter and political correspondent - posits just that.

And Norris is not alone in this. Though not discusses here, Lloyd C. Gardner, professor of history emeritus at Rutgers University, in his book "The Case that Never Dies: The Lindbergh Kidnapping", claims that not only was Lindbergh himself somehow involved with little Charlie’s abduction, but also believes the child’s death could have resulted from an accident during the kidnapping.

Back to Norris' book - we start with a recap of known and "accepted facts" surrounding the case and are introduced to those who will feature in more depth throughout Norris' investigation. And even now at this early juncture, Norris hints at a cover-up by Lindbergh for a member of the Morrow family (his wife Anne's family). We discover that Lindbergh himself - from the very start - is obstructive and deceptive, and intent on controlling or steering the investigation - and as America's golden boy, he is allowed to do so.

Then Norris takes us on the journey of his interest and investigation in the case.  It is not a smooth journey - there are many road blocks with access to still existing documents being refused and witnesses disappearing; the discovery that in the original inquiry leads had not been followed up, forensics were lacking, and pertinent witnesses  were not questioned.

"... I was becoming perhaps a little paranoid in my suspicions of a coverup, but it seemed clear that something odd was going on ..."

Norris follows a number of lines of inquiry either overlooked or purposely ignored - and attention focuses on the Lindbergh and Morrow families as well as the character of Dr John F Condon, who not only insinuated himself into the case but was the sole liaison with the kidnappers and was an intimate of the Morrow family.

Norris discovers an anonymous letter which referred to the kidnapping as " ... one of the greatest hoaxes ever pulled on the American public .." What could this mean - was the family complicit? Norris feels that this was the case, positing that there was the theory of an "unnamed illegitimate son" trying to get even with his father and claim monies owed via inheritance. 

Or was it a harmless (family) prank that went horribly wrong as the author questions that lack of fingerprints at the crime scene, the fake ladder, the state (and behaviour) of the family themselves, the swift identification of the child's corpse and the speed at which the child's remains were cremated. And then there is that almost Sherlockian question of why the dog didn't bark in the night.

Norris' modern-day investigation is interspersed with the historical case as pertinent discoveries are made and examined. Even Lindbergh (his personal life and views) comes in for a good deal of scrutiny - especially his theories on eugenics and Social Darwinism, which provides a potential clue as to why the child may have been kidnapped in the first place - even Lloyd C. Gardner comments on this (see also: The Immortalists: Charles Lindbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel, and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever by David M. Friedman). 

Norris also pays due diligence to Bruno Hauptmann and provides some background into the man who made for the perfect patsy, and looks a little more closely at the evidence stacked against him - and that which was overlooked which may have called into question the nature of his guilt in the very beginning. 

As I originally mentioned, I never realised just how deceptive and obstructive Lindbergh and his in-laws the Morrows actually were throughout this drama. The whole train of events after the discovery of the missing child (including the investigation and trial) were almost (and horribly) farcical - and for Hauptmann - the alleged kidnapper and murderer - tragically so.

For those wanting to gain a different insight into this "crime of the century" and read about an alternate perpetrator, this is definitely for you. Norris provides enough background information for the reader that prior in-depth knowledge is not essential.

further reading:

FBI website - the Lindbergh Kidnapping

Crime Museum - the Lindbergh Kidnapping

Famous Trials - Hauptmann (Lindbergh Kidnapping)

Minnesota Historical Society - Lindbergh Kidnapping

Website - The Lindbergh Kidnapping Hoax

Review: Cry of Murder on Broadway by Julie Miller

Synopsis: In Cry of Murder on Broadway, Julie Miller shows how a woman's desperate attempt at murder came to momentarily embody the anger and anxiety felt by many people at a time of economic and social upheaval and expanding expectations for equal rights.

On the evening of November 1, 1843, a young household servant named Amelia Norman attacked Henry Ballard, a prosperous merchant, on the steps of the new and luxurious Astor House hotel. Agitated and distraught, Norman followed Ballard down Broadway before confronting him at the door to the Astor House. Taking out a folding knife, she stabbed him, just missing his heart.

Ballard survived the attack, and the trial that followed created a sensation. Newspapers in New York and beyond followed the case eagerly, and crowds filled the courtroom every day. Prominent author and abolitionist Lydia Maria Child, championed Norman and later included her story in her fiction and her writing on women's rights.

The would-be murderer also attracted the support of politicians, journalists, and legal and moral reformers who saw her story as a vehicle to change the law as it related to "seduction," and advocate for the rights of workers. Cry of Murder on Broadway describes how New Yorkers, besotted with the drama of the courtroom and the lurid stories of the penny press, followed the trial for sensation. Throughout all this, Norman gained the sympathy of New Yorkers, in particular the jury, which acquitted her in less than ten minutes.

Miller deftly weaves together Norman's story to show how, in one violent moment, she expressed all the anger that the women of the emerging movement for women's rights would soon express in words.

I will preface this with my notes when at Page 38: "I am going to admit that I am struggling to find some connection with this story. It starts, goes back, moves forward; it is flooded with so much (unnecessary) information that my mind is failing to absorb it all and sift through what is relevant and what is not. I shall no doubt keep persevering ... for the time being."

I will continue by saying that I skimmed through the rest of the book - unimpressed. Quite a lot of the information could easily have been curated and inserted into the trial component of the story. I was not interested in the (vast) biographical information on a number of other players - again these could easily have been significantly shortened.

As the focus of this book seemed to be on Lydia Maria Child, author and reformer, one wonders whether of not this book should have been about her with the account of Amelia Norman being given as illustrative of her actions (with others) in bringing about reform for women.

Amelia's (and Lydia's) story ends just under the halfway mark - the rest is taken up by sources, notes and bibliography. Had I realised just how this would be structured, I would have passed. 

Review: Unsolved London Murders: The 1920s and 1930s by Jonathan Oates

Synopsis: Unsolved crimes have a special fascination, none more so than unsolved murders. The shock of the crime itself and the mystery surrounding it, the fear generated by the awareness a killer on the loose, the insight the cases give into outdated police methods, and the chance to speculate about the identity of the killer after so many years have passed - all these aspects of unsolved murder cases make them compelling reading.

In this companion volume to his best-selling Unsolved Murders of Victorian and Edwardian London, Jonathan Oates has selected over 20 haunting, sometimes shocking cases from the period between the two world wars. Included are the shooting of PC James Kelly in Gunnersbury, violent deaths associated with Fenian Conspiracies, the stabbing of the French acrobat Martial Lechevalier in Piccadilly, the strychnine poisoning of egg-seller Kusel Behr, the killing by arsenic of three members of a Croydon family, and, perhaps most gruesome of all, the case of the unidentified body parts found at Waterloo Station.

A short introduction into policing in the 1920s and 1930s is followed by a chapter on crime between the wars. We are next treated to a nice little selection of vignettes of some of the unsolved cases from 1920s and 1930s London. They are not overly long - covering the who (victim), what (the murder), how (was it committed), and though some credible suspects lurk just off page and potential reasons given for the crimes, no-one has yet been brought to justice.

Definitely one for the fans of true crime - easily readable, and very accessible for a broader range of reader.

Review: Scotland Yard's Murder Squad by Dick Kirby

Synopsis: In 1906 the Metropolitan Police Commissioner was asked by the Home Office to make available skilled investigators for murder inquiries nationwide as few constabularies had sufficiently skilled - or indeed, any - detectives.

Thus was born the Reserve Squad, or Murder Squad, as it later became known. Despite a reluctance by some forces to call upon The Met, the Murder Squad has proved its effectiveness on countless occasions with its remit extended to British territories overseas. A particularly sensitive case was the murder of a local superintendent on St Kitts and Nevis.

A former Scotland Yard detective, the author uses his contacts and experiences to get the inside track on a gruesome collection of infamous cases. Child murderers, a Peer's butler, a King's housekeeper, gangsters, jealous spouses and the notorious mass murderer Dr Bodkin Adams compete for space in this spine-chilling and gripping book which is testament to the Murder Squad's skills and ingenuity - and the evil of the perpetrators.

Brimming with gruesome killings, this highly readable book proves that there is no substitute for old fashioned footwork and instinct. 

Scene from the TV series The Sweeney

Kirby - through his vast experience and network of contacts from his Flying Squad days - is able to present an eclectic range of cases from the annals of Scotland Yard. After presenting us with a brief history, representing a nostalgic view of bygone times, we are launched into our first case, taking place at the turn of the 20th century. 

As with many of the earlier cases, forensics was in its infancy, and detectives were still expected to put in the hard slog and discover or reveal the evidence for themselves. Fingerprinting was in use as was the traditional "line up", but it was the sharp-eye witness and the sifting through the circumstantial evidence that aided in a conviction. Only one case presented featured the "court room confession" and a number of cases are still unsolved; and not all our suspects paid the ultimate price. We meet along the way a mixed bag of detectives - a "suspicion" of detectives if you like - and I enjoyed the "what happened to ..." at the end.

For those interested in true crime and / or police methods, this will prove an enjoyable read.

read also:

> Scotland Yard's Flying Squad by Dick Kirby

> The Sweeney by Dick Kirby

Review: Scotland Yard's First Cases by Joan Lock

Synopsis: When Scotland Yard’s first detective branch was set up in 1842 crime was very different from today.

The favoured murder weapon was the cut-throat razor; carrying a pocket watch was dangerous; the most significant clue at a murder scene could be the whereabouts of a candlestick or hat; large households (family, servants and lodgers) complicated many a case and servants sometimes murdered their masters.

Detectives had few aids and suffered many disadvantages (having none of the scientific and forensic tools of today); the detectives had no transport and were expected to walk; all reports had to be handwritten, and the only means of keeping contact with colleagues and disseminating information was by post, horseback or foot. In spite of these handicaps and severe press criticism, the detectives achieved some significant successes.

Joan Lock includes such classic cases as the First Railway Murder, as well as many fascinating, fresh reports, weaving in new developments like the electric telegraph against a background of authentic Victorian police procedure.

History:

In June 1829, the British Parliament established Greater London's Metropolitan Police, popularly known as "peelers" or "bobbies." 

Prior to this, London had an unsophisticated system of policing that attempted to secure civil order through appointed representatives called “tythings,” which was essentially a citizen-based system of self-policing through individuals and groups of people referred to as parish constables. They worked in cooperation with local Justices to maintain order and ensure laws were upheld. The system was widely established until economic changes came as a result of the industrial revolution, as well as social disorder that led to a considerable increase in crime and violence, and it failed entirely.

Scotland Yard, the site of their first headquarters, opened on September 29, 1829, and eventually became the official name of the force.  In 1842 the Detective Department set up by the Met; in 1869 the National Criminal Record set up to make use of the new telegraph communications between forces; and in 1877 CID (Criminal Investigations Department) formed with 200 detectives, and later 600 more in 1883.

Scotland Yard became infamous over the years for several high-profile landmark cases involving mystery, violence and murder. During construction of New Scotland Yard, workers discovered a female’s dismembered torso and the unsolved case became known as the “Whitehall Mystery,” which was related to the particular building in which the body was found. An anonymous letter was sent on May 30, 1884, threatening to bomb government-owned buildings in London, in addition to Scotland Yard. That night, explosive devices were detonated. On November 13, 1887, Britain’s “Bloody Sunday” took place during which 2,000 police officers disrupted a Social Democratic Federation meeting in Trafalgar Square that led to more than 100 casualties.

In what nearly paralyzed the citizens of London’s East End in fear, Jack the Ripper began his murderous rampage between 1888 and 1891. During investigations by Scotland Yard’s police officers and Inspector Frederick Abberline’s attempt at performing anthropometry, which uses specific facial features to identify criminals, more than 160 people were accused of the murders. However, by 1892, leads ended and the murders stopped, so the case was officially closed.

The stories Lock has included in her book make for interesting reading. It was well researched and I liked the use of original documents - police reports, newspaper articles and contemporary accounts - to add weight and authenticity to the narrative. These also illustrate the political attitudes of the era; highlights the struggles between the different policing forces, whilst also painting a less than untarnished picture of a press corp intent on doing more harm than good. 

The only downside for me was the structure - maybe discernible paragraphing and additional pagination would have made for a more flowing style and methodology.

Definitely one for those with an interest in earlier policing or Victorian London.

read more online:

Stories From The Yard

Old Bailey Online - Policing In London

History of Scotland Yard

British History - Scotland Yard & the Metropolitan Police

The Victorian Web - Maintenance of Law & Order Before 1829

History Extra - Real Life Sherlocks

Detective Policing & the State in 19th Century England

further reading:

Great cases of Scotland Yard by Eric Ambler
Strictly murder : famous cases of Scotland Yard's Murder Squad by Tom Tullett
Forty years of Scotland Yard; the record of a lifetime's service in the Criminal Investigation Department by George Dilnot

The Mile End Murder by Sinclair McKay

Synopsis: On 16th August 1860 wealthy widow Mary Emsley was murdered in her own home. The investigation that followed had an abundance of suspects, from disgruntled step children concerned about their inheritance and an admirer repeatedly rejected by the widow, to a trusted employee, former police officer and spy. The eventual public trial was dominated by surprise revelations and shock witnesses, before culminating with one of the final public executions at Newgate. But was an innocent person sent to the gallows? 

Years after the case was closed Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle became convinced a miscarriage of justice had occurred but was unable to find the real killer. After confounding the best detectives for years, the case has finally been solved by bestselling author Sinclair McKay.

From Cressida Connolly in The Spectator:

As in all the best Agatha Christies, the person who is murdered here is so universally disliked that suspicion may fall on almost anybody who knew her. Despite owning huge swathes of property, the widowed Mary Emsley employs no servants, living alone in a house she keeps locked and shuttered at night. Suspicious, stingy and scathing, she is all but friendless. She has no children and often remarks that she would sooner leave her considerable wealth to create almshouses than to her various kin. She is in the habit of ejecting any tenant who falls into even a week’s arrears. She is insensible to pleading. Some of her money is kept hidden in her coal store, but most is reinvested into housing stock. In short, she is a miserable miser.

So it is hard to feel too sorry when we learn that Mrs Emsley has been bludgeoned to death on the third floor of her own home one warm August night in 1860. There is a bloody footprint on the landing, but no sign of forced entry. She must have admitted the killer herself. The question here is less why she was killed, than by whom. For although a man named James Mullins was tried and hanged for the murder, many did not believe him to have been the true culprit. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, examining the details of the case some years later, was flummoxed by it. Sinclair McKay posits a new idea of his own. His villain is someone we have met earlier on in the story; someone who knew Mrs Emsley and was a frequent visitor; someone who hoped, in getting rid of her, to gain an inheritance.

It’s a plausible and enjoyably creepy theory, although in the absence of fingerprinting and forensics, we will never really know. A boot with human hairs attached to it was found in the lodging house of the accused’s wife, and Mullins had certainly pilfered from the widow. But these were slender findings with which to take a man’s life, and McKay does a fine job of dismantling them as proof of guilt.

From Craig Brown in The Daily Mail:

Did he actually commit the crime that sent him to the scaffold? Writing about the case 40 years later, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, felt that his guilt should be reclassified as ‘unproven’, but McKay is completely convinced that Mullins was innocent.

With elaborate taran-taras, he has waited until the last two chapters in his book to reveal the true identity of the guilty party. My lips are sealed. All I will say is that his choice of the real villain is ingenious, and artistically satisfying, too, in that it would have pleased Wilkie Collins, or even Conan Doyle.

But is it true? Perhaps it is, and perhaps it isn’t. But it doesn’t strike me that, based on McKay’s fairly slim evidence, a sensible jury would convict. My own suspicion is that Mrs Emsley might have let a total outsider into her house – she had advertised a sale of wallpaper, so would have been expecting strangers – which means that her murderer might have been anyone. 

And I suspect, too, that McKay is not quite as convinced by his solution as his publishers, who confidently state that he has finally revealed the ‘true murderer’, would have us believe. 

read also: 

Conan Doyle For The Defence

The Debatable Case of Mary Emsley

Defrosting Cold Cases

Old Bailey Online

Monmouthshire Merlin Newspaper