True crime stories that span more than 200 years in south London history—from poisonings to passion killings. We are all drawn to understand the circumstances that lead others to commit unforgivable acts of violence—the moment that turns a caring human being into a killer, the series of events that drive ordinary people to murderous acts of inhumanity, or the slow, premeditated steps of the callous criminal. And the circumstances—and the twisted motivation—behind such violent acts are the subject of Caroline Maxton’s fascinating investigation of individuals whose misdeeds have tarnished the history of the Croydon area. Maxton investigates a wide range of murders and unexplained deaths, some of which are truly stranger than fiction. The events cover a span of several centuries, and the locations will be chillingly familiar to the inhabitants of Croydon. Local crimes that hit the national headlines, like the Bentley case of 1952, are covered in fresh detail, but the author concentrates on less well-known but equally intriguing, and shocking, episodes: the bizarre ‘mustard and cress’ murder of 1870, the brutal murder of Eliza Osborne in 1877, the Kenley Stud Farm mystery of 1922, the Birdhurst Rise poisoning of the late 1920s, and the notorious unsolved murder of eleven-year-old Miles Vallint of 1959

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Barking, Dagenham and Chadwell Heath takes the reader on a sinister journey through centuries of local crime and conspiracy, meeting villains of all sorts along the way murderous husbands and lovers, cut-throats, police-killers, highwaymen, Gunpowder Plotters and even a Nazi collaborator sentenced to death for High Treason. Luckless individuals who came to cruel or unjust ends are also recalled, from martyrs and witches to the fishermen who perished in the Great Storm of 1863 and the passengers who lost their lives when the pleasure steamer the Princess Alice sank in the Thames in 1878. There is no shortage of harrowing and revealing tales of accident and evil to recount from the history of this part of Essex to the east of London. The human dramas the authors describe are often played out in the most commonplace of circumstances, but others are so odd as to be stranger than fiction. Their grisly chronicle of the hidden history of Barking, Dagenham and Chadwell Heath will be compelling reading for anyone interested in the dark side of human nature.

Which of South London’s most gruesome murders happened in your street? Armed with this book and a good London map, you will be able to do some murder house detection work of your own. South London has a long and blood-spattered history of capital crime, and many of its murder houses still stand.

London's West End is associated with fashion and glamour but for centuries it has had a far darker side. Geoffrey Howse has uncovered an astonishing catalogue of sinister deeds, some of them famous but others long forgotten. Read about spying, treason, embezzlement, regicide, robbery, forgery, religious persecution, suicide, murder and mutilation; and 'witness' horrendous punishments such as drawing, hanging, disemboweling, quartering, castration, beheading and burning. Earlier cases include the execution of Scottish patriots (1305/6) and three monks who dared to question the supremacy of Henry VIII in 1535. Such events attracted great public attention, as did the extraordinary execution of Charles I in 1649 and, in 1820, the hanging and mutilation of the Cato Street Conspiritors. The foul murder of the famous actor William Terriss, by a madman, in 1897, is featured as are several notable cases from the twentieth century including the horrific wartime murders of Gordon Cummins, the strange disappearances of the socialist MP Victor Grayson and Lord Lucan, the Charing Cross Trunk Murder as well as the mysterious death of boxer Freddie Mills.

The twin fascinations of death and villainy will always hold us in their grim but thrilling grip. In Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Lewisham and Deptford the chill is brought close to home as each chapter investigates the darker side of humanity in cases of murder, deceit and pure malice committed over the centuries in this area of London. From crimes of passion to opportunistic killings and coldly premeditated acts of murder, the full spectrum of criminality is recounted, bringing to life the more sinister history of Lewisham and Deptford from the sixteenth century onwards. For this journey into the bloody, neglected past, Jonathan Oates has selected over 20 notorious episodes that give a fascinating insight into criminal acts and the criminal mind. The story of one of the most famous unsolved murders in history, of the great playwright Christopher Marlowe in Deptford in 1593. is followed by a catalogue of heinous crimes of every description—political conspiracies, gang killings, murders of policemen, suicide pacts, multiple poisonings, a husband who killed his wife and four children, the suicide of a crooked councillor, a motiveless murder and two unsolved murders that are as intriguing today as they were 80 years ago. The human dramas Jonathan Oates describes are often played out in the most commonplace of circumstances, but others are so odd as to be stranger than fiction. His grisly chronicle of the hidden history of Lewisham and Deptford will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the dark side of human nature.

Doncaster has world-wide fame as a railway town. For many years the name was associated with engineering, transport and of course coal. But there is a darker aspect to its history. The sinister side is explored through the research and writing of an experienced crime historian. Sensational tales have been uncovered concerning a variety of dark deeds, including a cloak-and-dagger meeting in an Elizabethan tavern and the murder of a Civil War leader. Over the years Doncaster and district has been the scene of riots, Suffragette militancy, terrible domestic tragedies, sad suicides and brutal murders. The stories here range from the notorious Baccarat Scandal which shocked Victorian society to a betting-room robbery at the races. The author also reminds us about famous criminals associated with the town, as well as a Prince and a hangman, a notorious fraudster , even a London playboy. Shocking, surprising, at times chilling but true, a new layer of the towns social history is now available for the first time; but not for the feint hearted.

This west London town has its own character—and its own deadly criminal history—from the author of Unsolved Murders of Victorian and Edwardian London. Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths Around Uxbridge takes the reader on a sinister and sad journey through centuries of local crime and conspiracy, meeting victims and villains of all sorts along the way. There is no shortage of harrowing—and revealing—incidents of evil and despair to recount from the earliest recorded history of the Uxbridge district up to the present day. Jonathan Oates’s fascinating research has uncovered some grisly events and unsavory individuals whose conduct throws a harsh light on the history of this suburban area west of London. His book records crime and punishment in all its dreadful variety. Among many acts of violence and wickedness are the burning to death of five Protestant martyrs and the execution of a turbulent priest in Tudor times, a family massacred at Denham in 1870, and several brutal murders that have never been solved or explained. Cases that stand out as particularly shocking or bizarre include a son who was killed by his mother, a woman who died after an illegal operation, the Uxbridge tea-shop murder of 1951, and a man tried for manslaughter and later murder in West Drayton, who committed suicide two decades later. This chronicle of Uxbridge’s hidden history will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the local history of the area and in the dark side of human nature.

“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.

In a superb companion volume to her best-selling book Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Guernsey, Glynis Cooper turns her attention to the dark side of the past in Jersey. And there is no shortage of shocking stories to tell—crimes of passion and despair, cases of murder, deceit and pure malice, opportunistic killings and coldly premeditated acts of wickedness that are as disturbing today as they were in their own time. For this journey into a neglected area in Jersey's history she has selected a revealing series of cases dating from the medieval period to the present day. She recalls the torture and execution of four female witches, the murderous outcome of a clash with Norman sheep stealers, a woman who married her husband's murderer and wreckers who preyed on Spanish treasure ships. And among the sensational episodes from more recent times are a schoolboy who raped a woman, the suicide of a jilted bride, the murder of French political refugees, a French general who was ruined by his lady love and corrupt officers who disgraced the Victorian police force.The human dramas Glynis Greenman describes are often played out in the most commonplace of circumstances, but others are so odd as to be stranger than fiction. Her fascinating account of Jersey's secret history will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the flaws in human nature.

Discover the Welsh city’s history of crime with these true stories and photos. This book will introduce to you villains of all sorts—casual or calculating killers, murderous husbands and lovers, gangsters, robbers, poisoners, and suicides. There is no shortage of harrowing episodes in Cardiff’s past, and this fascinating book recalls many grisly events and sad or unsavory individuals whose conduct throws a harsh light on the history of the city. Among the many shocking cases the author describes are: The murder of a Welsh Protestant by an Irish Catholic that provoked rioting The double life of a respectable widow poisoned with arsenic The exploits of a “Jack the Ripper” killer in Cardiff’s back streets The throat-slashing revenge of the Cardiff Race Track Gang The still-mysterious wartime murder of Alice Pittman The case of the Somalian sailor arrested for the brutal slaying of an elderly shopkeeper The demise of Granville Jenkins, who was cut to ribbons by a machete The accidental—or deliberate?—electrocution of Mrs. Darling This chronicle of Cardiff’s hidden past and the history the city would prefer to forget is compelling reading for anyone interested in the dark side of human nature.