There is no such thing as the perfect crime. Yet within these pages are 13 20th-century murders whose perpetrators have - so far - escaped justice. Some may still be alive, cold cases awaiting new forensic leads but others have taken their chilling secrets to the grave.

Unsolved Murders of the UK: Cold cases from 1951 to Present Day delves into the mysterious and haunting cases of individuals who were brutally taken from this world, yet their killers were never brought to justice. From mysterious disappearances to seemingly motiveless killings, as well as other cases that continue to perplex law enforcement, this book takes a closer look at the victims, the crimes and the police investigations, as well as the theories surrounding each case. With a focus on the cold cases that have remained unsolved for decades, this book offers a comprehensive examination of the most intriguing and disturbing murders in the UK’s recent history. Join us as we explore the twisted minds of the killers and the relentless pursuit of justice for the victims and their families. This book will captivate true crime enthusiasts and armchair detectives alike.

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.

Whilst the passage of time can and has uncovered many secrets, killers could get away with their crimes in 1596 when Shakespeare penned these words and this is certainly the case in more recent times as Unsolved Murders in South Yorkshire clearly demonstrate.The early chapters include cases of historic interest where killers certainly went to the grave in the knowledge they had got away with murder. Cases include suspicious deaths which left detectives in South Yorkshire baffled, but which were, it would seem, acts of callous murder which were not recognised as such due to dubious police opinions and practices. There are also cases of clear murder such as a man shot in the head during the Victorian period, whose killer was never identified.The later chapters, however, feature more recent cold cases where there is still the possibility that the wicked men or women who were responsible for such acts of inhumanity may remain within our society.Cases include a man murdered for less than 70 in a city centre multi storey car park, a teenage girl abducted, sexually assaulted and left dead on a dung hill, a young mother who entered prostitution and died at the hands of a man with more than sex on his mind, a pregnant woman who left home one day to go shopping but was found days later dead in a ditch with her throat cut and a disabled woman who was strangled in her home which was then set ablaze.For some of these cases there is the chance that someone has information which, despite the passage of decades, could lead to one or more individuals standing trial for murder. Justice can still prevail.

The author of The A-Z of London Murders takes readers behind the bars of the city’s numerous jails and tells the tales of their most infamous inmates. London has had more prisons than any other British city. The City’s “gates” once contained prisons but probably the most notorious of all was Newgate, which stood for over seven hundred years. The eleventh-century Tower of London was used as a prison for a variety of high profile prisoners from Sir Thomas More to the Krays. Discover the background of a variety of historic places of incarceration such as the Clink, the King’s Bench Prison, and debtors’ prisons such as the Fleet Prison and the Marshalsea. “Lost” prisons such as the Gatehouse in Westminster, Millbank Penitentiary, Surrey County Gaol in Horsemonger Lane, the House of Detention, Coldbath Fields Prison, and Tothill Fields Bridewell Prison are also described in detail; as are more familiar jails: Holloway, Pentonville, Brixton, Wandsworth, and Wormwood Scrubs. In A History of London’s Prisons, Geoffrey Howse delves not only into the intricate web of historical facts detailing the origins of the capital’s prisons but also includes fascinating detail concerning the day-to-day life of prisoners—from the highly born to the most despicable human specimens imaginable—as well as those less fortunate individuals who found themselves through no fault of their own “in the clink,” some soon becoming clients of the hangman or executioner.

The memoir of a man wrongfully convicted of murder and his 27 years spent in the U.K. prison system until his conviction was overturned. On September 12, 1973, seventeen-year-old, naïve gardener Stephen Downing returned from his lunch break to discover the badly beaten, unconscious, thirty-two-year-old Wendy Sewell lying on the footpath of Bakewell Cemetery close to Catcliff Wood and the consecrated chapel where she had been attacked. Stephen ran to the nearby workmen’s building, and in the meantime Wendy’s attacker returned and dragged her body to a second location where she was subsequently found soon after. Despite having learning difficulties, Downing was immediately taken into custody, questioned at length without a solicitor, and eventually signed a false confession statement. Wendy died some two days later from her injuries. Following a very biased, three-day trial during February, 1974, Downing was found guilty by a jury, convicted, and sentenced to what was eventually a full life sentence. Just eight months later during October, 1974, there followed an appeal with fresh evidence from an eye witness who saw Wendy Sewell alive after Downing left the cemetery for lunch. However, the prosecution trashed this evidence, and the appeal failed. In the years following Downing’s incarceration, he was moved from prison to prison, continuing to maintain his innocence—and in doing so, jeopardizing any chance of parole, as he was “In Denial of Murder”—until eventually his plight reached journalist Don Hale. Hale’s tireless efforts led to an appeal in which Downing was released after some twenty-seven years, the longest miscarriage of justice in the United Kingdom’s legal history.

In 1963 George Wilson, the landlord of the Fox and Grapes public house in Sneinton, Nottingham was brutally stabbed to death outside his pub. The pub was known to all of the citizens of Nottingham as "The Pretty Windows" and this name became synonymous with one of Nottingham's most vicious and frenzied murders. George Wilson's attacker was never brought to justice. This book charts a brief history of Sneinton and the part that the pub played, and still plays, in the local community. It uses contemporary newspaper reports to examine the murder, and explores the possible links to other murders committed in the same area in the years immediately prior to and just after 1963.

Brutal acts of firestarting have ravaged the Peak District, and now a new wave of moorland infernos sweeps across the national park. For DS Ben Cooper, the blazes are best left to the firefighters, even with the arsonists still at large. But when an intruder breaks into an abandoned pub, Cooper is on the case - and he swiftly unearths a pair of grim surprises. The first is evidence of a years-old double homicide. And the second is a corpse, newly dead... What links the three deaths? Where are the missing bodies? Who is responsible - and how do the raging fires fit in? For Cooper and his rival DI Diane Fry, it's the most twisted investigation of their lives... and with an ingenious killer pulling the strings, it could also be their last. Drenched in atmosphere and danger, Stephen Booth's relentless new thriller builds to a shock finale that will catch even the most seasoned suspense readers off guard.

There is no such thing as the perfect crime. Yet within these pages are thirteen twentieth-century murders whose perpetrators have - so far - escaped justice. Some may still be alive, cold cases awaiting new forensic leads but others have taken their chilling secrets to the grave.Read about the strange theatrical vagrant found brutally murdered in a brick works. Also about the unfortunate girl strangled to death in a derelict building at Christmas; a taxi driver killed by his passenger on a lonely road; a police officers girl friend who was sexually assaulted and murdered on moorland; the dreadful killing of a servant girl; two men shot dead on a quiet highway; the discovery of mysterious and suspicious skeletal remains; and, not least, the callous murderers who allowed innocent men to be stand trial. Famous modern cases are also explored, based on new research. The Barbara Mayo murder is still in the memory of many Derbyshire people as is the Stephen Downing miscarriage of justice. A compelling read for anyone interested in true crime.