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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        August 2012

        The most remarkable woman in England

        Poison, celebrity and the trials of Beatrice Pace

        by John Wood

        This book offers the first in-depth study of one of the most gripping trials of inter-war Britain, that of farmer's wife Beatrice Pace for the arsenic murder of her husband. A riveting tale from the golden age of press sensationalism, the book offers insights into the era's justice system, gender debates and celebrity culture. Based on extensive research, it locates the Pace saga in the vibrant world of 1920s press reporting and illuminates a forgotten chapter in the history of civil liberties by considering the debates the case raised about police powers and the legal system. Spanning settings from the Pace's lonely cottage in the Forest of Dean to the House of Commons and using sources ranging from meticulous detective reports to heartfelt admirers' letters, The most remarkable woman in England combines serious scholarship with vivid storytelling to bring to life the extraordinary lives of ordinary people between the wars. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories
        October 2017

        The most remarkable woman in England

        Poison, celebrity and the trials of Beatrice Pace

        by John Wood

        This book offers the first in-depth study of one of the most gripping trials of inter-war Britain, that of farmer's wife Beatrice Pace for the arsenic murder of her husband. A riveting tale from the golden age of press sensationalism, the book offers insights into the era's justice system, gender debates and celebrity culture. Based on extensive research, it locates the Pace saga in the vibrant world of 1920s press reporting and illuminates a forgotten chapter in the history of civil liberties by considering the debates the case raised about police powers and the legal system. Spanning settings from the Pace's lonely cottage in the Forest of Dean to the House of Commons and using sources ranging from meticulous detective reports to heartfelt admirers' letters, The most remarkable woman in England combines serious scholarship with vivid storytelling to bring to life the extraordinary lives of ordinary people between the wars.

      • Trusted Partner
        Medicine
        June 2012

        Poison, detection and the Victorian imagination

        by Ian Burney, Bertrand Taithe, Roger Cooter, Carolyn Steedman

        This fascinating book looks at the phenomenon of murder and poisoning in the nineteenth century. Focusing on the case of William Palmer, a medical doctor who in 1856 was convicted of murder by poisoning, it examines how his case baffled toxicologists, doctors, detectives and judges. The investigation commences with an overview of the practice of toxicology in the Victorian era, and goes on to explore the demands imposed by legal testimony on scientific work to convict criminals. In addressing Palmer's trial, Burney focuses on the testimony of Alfred Swaine Taylor, a leading expert on poisons, and integrates the medical, legal and literary evidence to make sense of the trial itself and the sinister place of poison in wider Victorian society. Ian Burney has produced an exemplary work of cultural history, mixing a keen understanding of the contemporary social and cultural landscape with the scientific and medical history of the period. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Medicine
        January 2021

        Poison, detection and the Victorian imagination

        by Ian Burney

        This fascinating book looks at the phenomenon of murder and poisoning in the nineteenth century. Focusing on the case of William Palmer, a medical doctor who in 1856 was convicted of murder by poisoning, it examines how his case baffled toxicologists, doctors, detectives and judges. The investigation commences with an overview of the practice of toxicology in the Victorian era, and goes on to explore the demands imposed by legal testimony on scientific work to convict criminals. In addressing Palmer's trial, Burney focuses on the testimony of Alfred Swaine Taylor, a leading expert on poisons, and integrates the medical, legal and literary evidence to make sense of the trial itself and the sinister place of poison in wider Victorian society. Ian Burney has produced an exemplary work of cultural history, mixing a keen understanding of the contemporary social and cultural landscape with the scientific and medical history of the period.

      • Trusted Partner
        Medicine
        January 2021

        Poison, detection and the Victorian imagination

        by Ian Burney

        This fascinating book looks at the phenomenon of murder and poisoning in the nineteenth century. Focusing on the case of William Palmer, a medical doctor who in 1856 was convicted of murder by poisoning, it examines how his case baffled toxicologists, doctors, detectives and judges. The investigation commences with an overview of the practice of toxicology in the Victorian era, and goes on to explore the demands imposed by legal testimony on scientific work to convict criminals. In addressing Palmer's trial, Burney focuses on the testimony of Alfred Swaine Taylor, a leading expert on poisons, and integrates the medical, legal and literary evidence to make sense of the trial itself and the sinister place of poison in wider Victorian society. Ian Burney has produced an exemplary work of cultural history, mixing a keen understanding of the contemporary social and cultural landscape with the scientific and medical history of the period.

      • Relationships

        Crazy Town: Money. Marriage. Meth.

        A Riveting Personal Account and a Thorough Global History of Methamphetamine Abuse and Addiction

        by Sterling R. Braswell

        Sterling Braswell was a millionaire—palatial ranch, stock options, and money in the bank. Then he met his high school sweetheart after not seeing her for over ten years. With their love rekindled, they were married. Life was beautiful. They had no real worries, a lovely son, and a bright future. Then she started using meth. The craziness of the next few years would leave Sterling almost completely broke—financially, emotionally, and spiritually—and nearly murdered. Welcome to crazy town . . .

      • Fiction
        April 2021

        The Missing

        by Dirk Kurbjuweit, translated by Imogen Taylor

        Based on the deeds of the most notorious serial killer in German history, Dirk Kurbjuweit’s The Missing is a sophisticated exploration of the relationship between crime, politics and society in a world in which anything seems possible.   Hanover, Germany, in the 1920s—the heady days of the Weimar Republic, of clashes between the police and political radicals, while the firebrand demagogue Adolf Hitler languishes in prison. A time of brutality and passion, of traumatised souls and attacks on democracy—and of grisly crime.   Boys are disappearing from the streets of Hanover, one by one. Every day new and gruesome rumours take wing. It’s as if the missing have vanished from the face of the earth, leaving no trace.   Detective Inspector Robert Lahnstein is assigned to the case, and is soon convinced that he is on the trail of a psychopath. Lahnstein knows he needs a new victim to lead him to the killer but he dreads the day when news will reach him of another lost boy.   The Missing is that rare book: a breathtaking thriller that also provides a complex social portrait of a fabled time. Dirk Kurbjuweit not only looks into the dark heart of a murderer but of an entire society.

      • True crime
        May 2020

        Globale Nomaden - Süden

        Drogenschmuggel übers Mittelmeer

        by Hubertus Becker

        Hubertus Becker  »Globale Nomaden – Süden«Drogenschmuggel übers Mittelmeer   »Globale Nomaden – Süden« lautet der erste von vier Bänden des Autors Hubertus Becker, der als Mitglied einer internationalen Bande von Schmugglern aufgeschrieben hat, wie es ihm und seinen Komplizen während der siebziger Jahre gelang, trotz Ronald Reagans erklärtem Drogenkrieg, trotz DEA, FBI und Interpol die Märkte in den Metropolen Europas und Amerikas mit Haschisch, Kokain und Opiaten zu versorgen. Der weitgehend dokumentarische Roman führt die Leser in Weltgegenden, in denen die Menschen andere Probleme zu bewältigen haben als im saturierten Europa. Dabei begegnen die Protagonisten prominenten Zeitgenossen wie Paco de Lucia, Nastassja Kinski, Sylvester Stallone und Bob Marley, um einige zu nennen.Der Autor nimmt uns mit ins marokkanische Rif-Gebirge, wo heute 90 Prozent des in Europa konsumierten Haschischs angebaut wird; wir begleiten die Globalen Nomaden nach Indien und ins Goldene Dreieck, wir sind dabei wie sie Geschäfte in Kolumbien anbahnen und im großen Stil Marihuana in die USA schmuggeln. Fast nebenbei scheint dabei das Porträt einer Zeit durch, wo Phänomene wie die Hippiekultur auf Ibiza, Goa, Bali und Hawaii, das Leben mit dem Outlaw Motorrad-Club in Florida sowie das Ambiente einer Opiumhöhle im indischen Bombay beschrieben werden. Durchsetzt ist der Roman immer wieder mit selbstreflexiven Betrachtungen zum Drogenkonsum, zur Kriminalität und nicht zuletzt zum (Un-)Sinn des Lebens, etwa anlässlich des Besuchs eines Ashrams in Indien.   »Wahnsinn!«, sagte er, und ich wusste nicht, ob er damit die Schwierigkeiten meinte, bei dem Wind die Zigaretten anzuzünden, ob er von dem Motorradausflug sprach, oder ob er gar das Leben an sich meinte. Es blieb sich gleich, es war jede Menge Wahnsinn um uns und in uns, und ich war vollkommen seiner Meinung.

      • Biography & True Stories

        Black and White - All beauty must die

        Alles schöne muss sterben.

        by Jando / Christoper Groß

        Bestialische Ritualmorde an Weihnachten versetzen das idylische Bad Zwischenahn in angst und schrecken. Ist es ein Serienkille der hier sein Unwesen treibt und was hat die musik aus den "Murder Ballds" mit dem Täter zu tun? Es entwickelt sich ein dramatisches Psychospiel zwischen Täter und Ermittler, das nur in einem tödlichen Showdown enden kann.

      • Biography & True Stories
        June 2013

        Criminal Venice

        Mysteries and crimes of the 18th century

        by Davide Busato

        Zanmaria Millevoi, the murderous tailor from Contrada di San Mattio; Elena Sciarles, the woman burned in her house in the Chiovere di San Girolamo; Vittoria Basadonna, the noblewoman killed in the Gritti palace in San MattioMoisé; Giovan Battista Bombonati, the hairdresser from Vicenza who thought up the scam of the pot of spirits; Chiara Pentarina, the cook accused of having put poison in her master's broth in San Paterniano; the nameless drowned man fished out on the edge of the Ponte della Panada... are the protagonists of some crime stories that happened in Venice in the second half of the eighteenth century and of which we have news through the documents preserved in the State Archives.Davide Busato, deepening the development of these emblematic cases, reconstructs the working methods of the police who investigated at the time of the Serenissima and the Magistrates who coordinated the investigations, giving ample emphasis to the many curious little details of daily life of the time that emerged from the reading of the interrogations.

      • Biography: literary

        Destination Shanghai

        18 true stories of those who went…

        by Paul French

        For the privileged a cosmopolitan pleasure ground; for the desperate a port of last resort. A pot of gold at the end of an Oriental rainbow; a thick slice of hell denounced from the pulpit. The start of a journey for many; the end of the road for some. A place to find fame, or to seek anonymity; rogues, chancers, showgirls, criminals… For so many people from so many lands, there was one phrase that sent a tingle of hope or a shiver of anticipation down every spine: “DESTINATION SHANGHAI”

      • Memoirs
        January 2013

        Pain and Gain-The Untold True Story

        by Marc Schiller

        The True Story Behind The Movie Pain & GainThis book proves that sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction! What if you were kidnapped, tied to a wall for a month, starved, humiliated, tortured and then they tried to murder you, but you survived? What stories would you tell of how you were able to survive and the struggles you went through? What if you went to the police and they did not believe you? What would you do to evade those trying to kill you and how would you bring the criminals to justice before they struck again? How would that change your life and the way you perceived the world and  people? Read this amazing book to find out! The year was 1994, Marc and his family lived and ordinary middle class life in Miami, Florida. Little did he know that in November of that year his life and that of his family would change forever. The events that were to unfold could not be conceived by the wildest imagination.   In this amazing book he narrates the events that led to his kidnapping and his attempted murder. It will transport and place you in the warehouse where he was held and give you a unique perspective of the events that transpired during that horrific month and the physical and mental struggle to beat the odds and survive.   Marc chronicles his story in torturous detail. His humiliation, pain and suffering at the hands of the Sun Gang Gym and his miraculous survival.   You will understand how and why he survived and that everything can be taken from a human being, but the one's spirit and determination to survive can never be.   No one believed his story, not the police or anyone else. Nevertheless, he maintained steadfast and determined to bring the criminals to justice before they struck again.   Truly a harrowing tale and one that not only you soon won't forget but will uplift and inspire you!!

      • Thriller / suspense
        June 2013

        Dolor y Dinero-La Verdadera Historia

        Pain and Gain-The Untold True Story

        by Marc Schiller

        La verdadera historia tras la película Dolor y Dinero Este libro demuestra que a veces la verdad es más extraña que la ficción! Era el año 1994, Marc y su familia vivian una vida normal en Miami, Florida. No se imaginaba que en Noviembre de ese año, su vida y la de su familia iba a cambiar para siempre. Los acontecimientos que se iban a desarrollarse no podían ser concebidos por la imaginación más vivida.En este sorprendente libro narra los acontecimientos que condujeron a su secuestro y su intento de asesinato. Lo transportara y colocara en la bodega donde fue encarcelado y le dara una perspectiva única de los hechos ocurridos durante ese mes horroroso y la lucha física y mental para vencer los obstáculos y sobrevivir.Marc narra su historia en detalle tortuoso. Su humillación, dolor y sufrimiento a manos de la banda Sun Gym y su supervivencia milagrosa.Usted va a entender cómo y por qué él sobrevivió y que a un ser humano le pueden quitar todo pero nunca su espíritu y la determinación de sobrevivir.Nadie creyó su historia, ni la policía ni ninguna otra persona. Sin embargo, mantuvo firme y decidido a llevar a los criminales ante la justicia antes de que vuelvan cometer otro crimen similar. ¡Una historia verdaderamente desgarradora y que no solamente usted no podrá olvidar pronto, sino que le motivará e inspirará!

      • True crime

        The Cameo Conspiracy

        A Shocking True Story of Murder and Injustice

        by George Skelly (Author)

        The definitive book on the case - updated, freshly edited, typeset and with new images and fully indexed for the first time in this new third edition. The true story of Liverpool’s Cameo Cinema murders vividly demonstrates the need to guard against police corruption and legal manipulation. George Kelly was hanged in 1950 for shooting dead two men early in 1949: the manager of the Cameo Cinema, Wavertree and his assistant. Undeniably from the wrong side of the tracks and involved in petty crimes of the post-Second World War era, Kelly and his coaccused Charles Connolly (who went to prison for ten years) found themselves expertly ‘fitted-up’ as riff-raff in a Kafkaesque nightmare. This is the definitive book on the Cameo case — a superbly worked account of an astonishing miscarriage of justice. It is also a snapshot of social History, of a time when fabrication of evidence and denial of the right to a fair trial could be a means of ensuring ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’. Nothing can put right a wrongful execution although in 2003 — following publication of the original version of this book — Kelly and Connolly were posthumously cleared by the Court of Appeal. The judgement condemned the ‘unsafe convictions’ and the ‘unfair trial’ as a tragic breakdown in the administration of justice, which was to be deeply regretted. This new edition tells the whole story from investigation, trial, sentence and execution to posthumous pardon.

      • True crime

        The Oscar Slater Murder Story

        New Light On a Classic Miscarriage of Justice

        by Richard. Whittington-Egan

        Oscar Slater, a disreptuable German immigrant, living on the fringe of the Glaswegian underworld and off the proceeds of gambling and prostitution, was sentenced to death in 1909 for the brutal murder of Marion Gilchrist, a rich spinster who lived with a secret hoard of precious jewels hidden in her wardrobe in Edwardian Glasgow's fashionable West Princes Street. Slater, travelling with his mistress under a false name, was tracked down and arrested in New York. Extradited and tried in Edinburgh, he actually heard the gallows being erected for him, but was repreieved at the 11th hour and spent the next 18 years in the granite fortress of Peterhead prison, ceaselessly protesting his innocence.;Arthur Conan Doyle, turned real-life Sherlock Holmes, eventually managed to get the unjust conviction quashed and since then, argument has raged as to who really was responsible for the murder of Marion Gilchrist. One name, that of a respectable Glasgow doctor, has been an "open secret". Accused too, was Miss Gilchrist's nephew. Neither was the true killer. The author of this reinvestigation of the case argues that all previous theories have been based upon false information and the too-ready acceptance of recently honoured Detective Lieutenant Trench's investigations. All, he says, have got it wrong. Whittington-Egan looks again at the whole case and offers a new solution.

      • True crime

        The Cardiff Five

        Innocent Beyond Any Doubt

        by Satish Sekar (Author)

        Satish Sekar shows how a miscarriage of justice destroyed families, divided communities and undermined confidence in the criminal justice system. The Cardiff Five case is the first example in the 1st of a homicide in which the original suspects were vindicated by the conviction of the true killer in the DNA age. By then, they had shared 16 years in prison for a crime they did not commit. Based on a 20 year quest for the truth Scrutinises this disturbing case from day one A wake-up call for British justice Calls for a fully independent judicial inquiry Takes the reader from the sadistic killing of a prostitute in Butetown, Cardiff in 1988 to the end of 2011 when aspects of the case were referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate in the aftermath of the acquittal of a number of police officers and civilians facing conspiracy charges. Reviews 'One of the most important books ever written about criminal justice': Michael Mansfield QC 'As the local MP I came to respect and admire Satish Sekar’s thoroughness and persistence': Alun Michael 'No-one is better suited to explaining and unravelling the complexities': Duncan Campbell 'Tireless work and extraordinary insight': Bob Woffinden Author Satish Sekar is a freelance journalist and researcher. His work includes that for the feature film 'In the Name of the Father' (about the Guildford Four) and TV and radio programmes such as Panorama, Trial and Error, Law in Action, Today and Channel 4 News. He has written for the Guardian, Independent, Daily Telegraph and other newspapers as well as the satirical magazine Private Eye. A consultant on forensic issues, he has been involved in various high profile issues, including police reform, complaints against the police and the use of DNA-testing and DNA-databases. He lives in North London.

      • True crime

        The Bigmen

        Personal Memories of Glasgow's Police

        by Joe Pieri

        The Northern Division was the name given to the police force which operated within Glasgow City boundaries prior to the creation of the Strathclyde Police Force. Its recruits were drawn largely from ex-servicement who were demobbed after World War II and, as a result, they became known as The Big Men. Their name was well-deserved as they set about clearing Glasgow's streets of the gangland "neds" who had overrun the city during the war. They took no prisoners and gained a fearsome reputation for no-nonsense street policing.;This biography is written by a man who was close to them. Joe Pieri's cafe, the Savoy in Cowcaddens, was a haunt for policemen on the beat, with a blue police box situated just outside. The back shop often had a policeman in it, keeping an eye on the blue light atop the box as he made out his beat journal or had a drink. Cowcaddens was a tough city which added to the reputation of Glasgow as a mean city, but Joe has maintained a living record of what those days were really like. In this volume, he offers an insight into how the city was tamed and crime kept in check by the Big Men.

      • True crime
        October 2008

        Fred the Head

        And Other Unsolved Crimes

        by Michael Posner

        In March 1971 an off-duty special police constable found the macabre remains of a body...  The skull, protruding from the ground, revealed the skeleton of a man who had been violently murdered and buried in a shallow grave by the river Trent in Staffordshire. The naked body, except for a pair of pink socks and a wedding ring, yielded little evidence and to this day has resisted all police efforts and appeals to the public to identify him. It remains an unsolved murder of an unknown man who, for want of a better name, is called Fred the Head.

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