Author: Stephen Wade
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1844688542
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 191
Book Description
From the eighteenth century, York was one of the places employing its own hangmen, copying London and Newgate, even to the use of the word Tyburn to define it's Knavesmire gallows, also known as the 'three-legged mare'. That was where highwayman Dick Turpin met his fate; but later, in the Victorian period, Armley Gaol in Leeds also became a hanging prison, the site of the death of the notorious killer Charlie Peace. The tales of the villains and the victims are well documented, but Stephen Wade also provides us with the stories of both Yorkshire-born hangmen and others who worked in Leeds, Hull or Wakefield. For the first time, Yorkshire's Hangmen brings together the tales of the lives and professional careers of these men, some famous, others long forgotten, who held a morbid fascination for the public. Their trade was mysterious, revolting and yet justified by many famous figures in history. The book includes accounts of killers, spies and traitors meeting their doom, but also tells something of the personalities of the hangmen, and of their moral dilemmas as they had to hang women and young people as well as hardened villains. Many of the executioners suffered terrible depression; some took their own lives, and others, such as the famous Albert Pierrepoint, even questioned their work in later life.
Yorkshire Hangmen
Author: Stephen Wade
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1844688542
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 191
Book Description
From the eighteenth century, York was one of the places employing its own hangmen, copying London and Newgate, even to the use of the word Tyburn to define it's Knavesmire gallows, also known as the 'three-legged mare'. That was where highwayman Dick Turpin met his fate; but later, in the Victorian period, Armley Gaol in Leeds also became a hanging prison, the site of the death of the notorious killer Charlie Peace. The tales of the villains and the victims are well documented, but Stephen Wade also provides us with the stories of both Yorkshire-born hangmen and others who worked in Leeds, Hull or Wakefield. For the first time, Yorkshire's Hangmen brings together the tales of the lives and professional careers of these men, some famous, others long forgotten, who held a morbid fascination for the public. Their trade was mysterious, revolting and yet justified by many famous figures in history. The book includes accounts of killers, spies and traitors meeting their doom, but also tells something of the personalities of the hangmen, and of their moral dilemmas as they had to hang women and young people as well as hardened villains. Many of the executioners suffered terrible depression; some took their own lives, and others, such as the famous Albert Pierrepoint, even questioned their work in later life.
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1844688542
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 191
Book Description
From the eighteenth century, York was one of the places employing its own hangmen, copying London and Newgate, even to the use of the word Tyburn to define it's Knavesmire gallows, also known as the 'three-legged mare'. That was where highwayman Dick Turpin met his fate; but later, in the Victorian period, Armley Gaol in Leeds also became a hanging prison, the site of the death of the notorious killer Charlie Peace. The tales of the villains and the victims are well documented, but Stephen Wade also provides us with the stories of both Yorkshire-born hangmen and others who worked in Leeds, Hull or Wakefield. For the first time, Yorkshire's Hangmen brings together the tales of the lives and professional careers of these men, some famous, others long forgotten, who held a morbid fascination for the public. Their trade was mysterious, revolting and yet justified by many famous figures in history. The book includes accounts of killers, spies and traitors meeting their doom, but also tells something of the personalities of the hangmen, and of their moral dilemmas as they had to hang women and young people as well as hardened villains. Many of the executioners suffered terrible depression; some took their own lives, and others, such as the famous Albert Pierrepoint, even questioned their work in later life.
Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen
Author: Stephen Wade
Publisher: Wharncliffe
ISBN: 1844688402
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 212
Book Description
A breathtaking history of Britain’s executioners—from the seventeenth court of King Charles II to the UK’s last official hangman of the twentieth century. In 1663, Jack Ketch delighted in his profession and gained notoriety not only because of those he executed—dukes and lords—but for how often he botched the job. Centuries later, in 1965, after nearly six hundred trips to the gallows, Albert Pierrepoint retired as Britain’s longest-running executioner. Between them are three hundred years in a fascinating history of crime, and the “turn-off men” who handled the penalties—many of them criminals themselves, doing the grim work to save their own necks. Britain’s Most Notorious Hangmen tells the stories of the men who plied their deadly trade at Tyburn tree or at the scaffolds in the prison yards across the country, including such notable “neck-stretchers” as Throttler Smith and the celebrated James Billington. But true-crime historian Stephen Wade explores the lives and crimes of many of the infamous killers that were hanged, as well. He also sheds light on the changing social norms of the country, and the moral dilemmas that arose for hangmen tasked with performing what was once considered the most crowd-pleasing free “entertainment” ever offered to the public.
Publisher: Wharncliffe
ISBN: 1844688402
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 212
Book Description
A breathtaking history of Britain’s executioners—from the seventeenth court of King Charles II to the UK’s last official hangman of the twentieth century. In 1663, Jack Ketch delighted in his profession and gained notoriety not only because of those he executed—dukes and lords—but for how often he botched the job. Centuries later, in 1965, after nearly six hundred trips to the gallows, Albert Pierrepoint retired as Britain’s longest-running executioner. Between them are three hundred years in a fascinating history of crime, and the “turn-off men” who handled the penalties—many of them criminals themselves, doing the grim work to save their own necks. Britain’s Most Notorious Hangmen tells the stories of the men who plied their deadly trade at Tyburn tree or at the scaffolds in the prison yards across the country, including such notable “neck-stretchers” as Throttler Smith and the celebrated James Billington. But true-crime historian Stephen Wade explores the lives and crimes of many of the infamous killers that were hanged, as well. He also sheds light on the changing social norms of the country, and the moral dilemmas that arose for hangmen tasked with performing what was once considered the most crowd-pleasing free “entertainment” ever offered to the public.
A Copper at the Yard
Author: John Woodhouse
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473822459
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
Being a copper at the yard was definitely an exciting time for the author, John Woodhouse, but it did take it's toll on social and family life. From east end detective, to the Bomb Squad in London's fight back during the IRA bombings of the 1970s, to the Flying Squad in the fight against organised crime. But amongst all this there was a lighter side, from Morris Dancing, to a cross dressingdbutante at Ascot's ladies day, to undercover copis all in a days work, until out of the blue he was told he had terminal cancer and to go home and die.This book is an insight into the life of an ordinary guy who has led an extraordinary life, who has opened deaths door and closed it again, but still had time to smile at life as he endured the battle with cancer. Fighting his way back to return to duty at the yard with one lung and continuing his career, thisis the story of guts and determination. To take on the Chinese triads in their own back yard and and come out the other side is astonishing in itself, but along with all the ups and downs in his life this ordinary guy's approach to life is one of optimism and fun. This book will certainly make you laugh at times and cry at others, you can live his lifealong side him on every page.
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473822459
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
Being a copper at the yard was definitely an exciting time for the author, John Woodhouse, but it did take it's toll on social and family life. From east end detective, to the Bomb Squad in London's fight back during the IRA bombings of the 1970s, to the Flying Squad in the fight against organised crime. But amongst all this there was a lighter side, from Morris Dancing, to a cross dressingdbutante at Ascot's ladies day, to undercover copis all in a days work, until out of the blue he was told he had terminal cancer and to go home and die.This book is an insight into the life of an ordinary guy who has led an extraordinary life, who has opened deaths door and closed it again, but still had time to smile at life as he endured the battle with cancer. Fighting his way back to return to duty at the yard with one lung and continuing his career, thisis the story of guts and determination. To take on the Chinese triads in their own back yard and and come out the other side is astonishing in itself, but along with all the ups and downs in his life this ordinary guy's approach to life is one of optimism and fun. This book will certainly make you laugh at times and cry at others, you can live his lifealong side him on every page.
DNA Crime Investigations
Author: Stephen Wade
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1844688143
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 162
Book Description
A crime historian explores groundbreaking cold-case investigations, the advent of DNA evidence, and its role in long-delayed convictions and exonerations. When geneticist, Professor Alec Jeffreys worked with Leicestershire police on the 1986 case against Colin Pitchfork—the first person convicted of murder based on DNA evidence—a revolution started in the application of forensic expertise. Since then there have been several major cases in which long-standing murders and rapes have been revisited by teams of cold case detectives. Armed with DNA sampling, they have changed the landscape of criminal investigation, as well as the fates of those who thought they could get away with murder, and those who were wrongly convicted. From initial and intensive DNA lab work to the final serving of justice, true crime historian Stephen Wade examines some of the most high-profile cases of recent years: the controversial suspect in the murder of Rachel Nickell in London; the unsolved slayings of schoolchildren Keith Lyon and Lesley Molseed; the notorious World’s End pub killings; the erroneous charges against the “Cardiff Three”; the fate of Sean Hodgson, subject of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in English history; and many more.
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1844688143
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 162
Book Description
A crime historian explores groundbreaking cold-case investigations, the advent of DNA evidence, and its role in long-delayed convictions and exonerations. When geneticist, Professor Alec Jeffreys worked with Leicestershire police on the 1986 case against Colin Pitchfork—the first person convicted of murder based on DNA evidence—a revolution started in the application of forensic expertise. Since then there have been several major cases in which long-standing murders and rapes have been revisited by teams of cold case detectives. Armed with DNA sampling, they have changed the landscape of criminal investigation, as well as the fates of those who thought they could get away with murder, and those who were wrongly convicted. From initial and intensive DNA lab work to the final serving of justice, true crime historian Stephen Wade examines some of the most high-profile cases of recent years: the controversial suspect in the murder of Rachel Nickell in London; the unsolved slayings of schoolchildren Keith Lyon and Lesley Molseed; the notorious World’s End pub killings; the erroneous charges against the “Cardiff Three”; the fate of Sean Hodgson, subject of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in English history; and many more.
Notorious Murders of the Twentieth Century
Author: Stephen Wade
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1844684083
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
The word 'murder' has always attracted widespread local and national media coverage. Once known, the story becomes the subject of discussion in a variety of places throughout the land. Some grisly tales become part of a culture that lives on for generations, whilst others, even by some of the worst serial killers, are soon forgotten. In this book experienced crime historian Stephen Wade has gathered together a collection of murders covering the entire twentieth century. Although famous in their own day, most are now forgotten by the general public, apart from the best true crime enthusiasts. The first conviction for fingerprint evidence, the last hanging in England and murderous husbands and wives are included; but there are also mysteries, unsolved killings and peculiar confessions. Meet the man who poisoned his rival's scones, a wrongful arrest and the acquittal of a good wife who shot her man dead. There are even tales from the Isle of Man, whose legislators continued to issue death penalties in the 1990s.
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1844684083
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
The word 'murder' has always attracted widespread local and national media coverage. Once known, the story becomes the subject of discussion in a variety of places throughout the land. Some grisly tales become part of a culture that lives on for generations, whilst others, even by some of the worst serial killers, are soon forgotten. In this book experienced crime historian Stephen Wade has gathered together a collection of murders covering the entire twentieth century. Although famous in their own day, most are now forgotten by the general public, apart from the best true crime enthusiasts. The first conviction for fingerprint evidence, the last hanging in England and murderous husbands and wives are included; but there are also mysteries, unsolved killings and peculiar confessions. Meet the man who poisoned his rival's scones, a wrongful arrest and the acquittal of a good wife who shot her man dead. There are even tales from the Isle of Man, whose legislators continued to issue death penalties in the 1990s.
Britain's Most Notorious Prisoners
Author: Stephen Wade
Publisher: Wharncliffe
ISBN: 1844685187
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
From Oscar Wilde to the Kray brothers—a unique history of the lives and crimes of the United Kingdom’s most famous, and infamous, inmates. Their names can chill the blood of true-crime aficionados: Peter Sutcliffe, aka The Yorkshire Ripper; child-torturer Ian Brady; cannibal Dennis Nilsen; serial killer Beverley Allitt. Some are tinged in glamour: beautiful nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis, hanged for a crime of passion. While others hold a bizarre fascination, like bare-knuckle boxer Michael Gordon Peterson. Called “the most violent prisoner in Britain” he changed his name to Charles Bronson in honor of the Death Wish star. Only to change it yet again to Charles Salvador, in honor of his favorite artist, Dali. By any name, the “one-man riot” was a prison superstar. Britain’s Most Notorious Prisoners tells the stories of these lives and many more inside the Big House where prison culture breeds a strange, unreal community. It’s also where the system learns to cope with those who refuse to live by the law of the land: killers and rapists, spies, gangster, hit-men, political prisoners, and serial offenders—as well as some who were egregiously wronged. From headline-makers to long-forgotten villains, these stories make for a thrilling and harrowing look at life, death, and survival behind bars.
Publisher: Wharncliffe
ISBN: 1844685187
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
From Oscar Wilde to the Kray brothers—a unique history of the lives and crimes of the United Kingdom’s most famous, and infamous, inmates. Their names can chill the blood of true-crime aficionados: Peter Sutcliffe, aka The Yorkshire Ripper; child-torturer Ian Brady; cannibal Dennis Nilsen; serial killer Beverley Allitt. Some are tinged in glamour: beautiful nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis, hanged for a crime of passion. While others hold a bizarre fascination, like bare-knuckle boxer Michael Gordon Peterson. Called “the most violent prisoner in Britain” he changed his name to Charles Bronson in honor of the Death Wish star. Only to change it yet again to Charles Salvador, in honor of his favorite artist, Dali. By any name, the “one-man riot” was a prison superstar. Britain’s Most Notorious Prisoners tells the stories of these lives and many more inside the Big House where prison culture breeds a strange, unreal community. It’s also where the system learns to cope with those who refuse to live by the law of the land: killers and rapists, spies, gangster, hit-men, political prisoners, and serial offenders—as well as some who were egregiously wronged. From headline-makers to long-forgotten villains, these stories make for a thrilling and harrowing look at life, death, and survival behind bars.
Deadly Derbyshire
Author: Scott Lomax
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1844687007
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 139
Book Description
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.
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1844687007
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 139
Book Description
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.
Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths in Shrewsbury and Around Shropshire
Author: David J. Cox
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783401206
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 162
Book Description
Sixteen true crime cases with a connection to two West Midlands English towns from the Middle Ages to the early decades of the twentieth century. Criminal cases give us a fascinating, often harrowing insight into crime and the criminal mind, into policing methods and the justice system. They also tell us much about social conditions and attitudes in the past. And such cases make absorbing reading. David Cox’s graphic account of 16 notorious cases in Shrewsbury and around Shropshire is a particularly strong and revealing study of this kind. Using newspaper reports, census returns, and court records, he reconstructs each case in vivid detail. At the same time, he looks into the background of the crimes and into the lives of the criminals, and he describes the methods of detection and the punishments that were imposed. The cases he’s chosen range in date from the medieval period to the twentieth century. Included are the case of the forger who had his ear nailed to a post, the father who killed his infant son with vitriol, the transportation of a seventy-year-old woman, the murder of an inmate in a lunatic asylum, a twentieth-century highway robber and a VC winner involved in bigamy. The personal dramas David Cox explores in this book will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the sinister side of human nature and human weakness.Criminal cases give us a fascinating, often harrowing insight into crime and the criminal mind, into policing methods and the justice system. They also tell us much about social conditions and attitudes in the past. And such cases make absorbing reading. David Cox's graphic account of 16 notorious cases in Shrewsbury and around Shropshire is a particularly strong and revealing study of this kind. Using newspaper reports, census returns and court records, he reconstructs each case in vivid detail. At the same time he looks into the background of the crimes and into the lives of the criminals, and he describes the methods of detection and the punishments that were imposed. The cases he's chosen range in date from the medieval period to the twentieth century. Included are the case of the forger who had his ear nailed to a post, the father who killed his infant son with vitriol, the transportation of a 70-year-old woman, the murder of an inmate in a lunatic asylum, a twentieth-century highway robber and a VC winner involved in bigamy. The personal dramas David Cox explores in this book will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the sinister side of human nature and human weakness.
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783401206
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 162
Book Description
Sixteen true crime cases with a connection to two West Midlands English towns from the Middle Ages to the early decades of the twentieth century. Criminal cases give us a fascinating, often harrowing insight into crime and the criminal mind, into policing methods and the justice system. They also tell us much about social conditions and attitudes in the past. And such cases make absorbing reading. David Cox’s graphic account of 16 notorious cases in Shrewsbury and around Shropshire is a particularly strong and revealing study of this kind. Using newspaper reports, census returns, and court records, he reconstructs each case in vivid detail. At the same time, he looks into the background of the crimes and into the lives of the criminals, and he describes the methods of detection and the punishments that were imposed. The cases he’s chosen range in date from the medieval period to the twentieth century. Included are the case of the forger who had his ear nailed to a post, the father who killed his infant son with vitriol, the transportation of a seventy-year-old woman, the murder of an inmate in a lunatic asylum, a twentieth-century highway robber and a VC winner involved in bigamy. The personal dramas David Cox explores in this book will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the sinister side of human nature and human weakness.Criminal cases give us a fascinating, often harrowing insight into crime and the criminal mind, into policing methods and the justice system. They also tell us much about social conditions and attitudes in the past. And such cases make absorbing reading. David Cox's graphic account of 16 notorious cases in Shrewsbury and around Shropshire is a particularly strong and revealing study of this kind. Using newspaper reports, census returns and court records, he reconstructs each case in vivid detail. At the same time he looks into the background of the crimes and into the lives of the criminals, and he describes the methods of detection and the punishments that were imposed. The cases he's chosen range in date from the medieval period to the twentieth century. Included are the case of the forger who had his ear nailed to a post, the father who killed his infant son with vitriol, the transportation of a 70-year-old woman, the murder of an inmate in a lunatic asylum, a twentieth-century highway robber and a VC winner involved in bigamy. The personal dramas David Cox explores in this book will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the sinister side of human nature and human weakness.
The Executioners Bible
Author: Steve Fielding
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
ISBN: 1844546489
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
It has been just over 40 years since a gallows was last used in Great Britain, and the secrets behind the men who pulled the lever and dropped the condemned to their deaths are still shrouded in mystery. This account tells the story of the working-class men who carried out this profession until its abolition in the late 1960s. The hangman's rope was part of an exact science, and in their day, the men who undertook the job assumed the profiles of infamous celebrities, their reputations often rivaling the notorious criminals they were charged with dispatching. From the bungling hangmen sacked for incompetence and those driven to guilt-ridden suicide to the last to pull the lever at the height of the swinging sixties, the secrets of this form of capital punishment are finally revealed. They were the last of their kind, the hangmen of the 20th century; and this is their fascinating, sometimes repugnant, always enthralling story.
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
ISBN: 1844546489
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
It has been just over 40 years since a gallows was last used in Great Britain, and the secrets behind the men who pulled the lever and dropped the condemned to their deaths are still shrouded in mystery. This account tells the story of the working-class men who carried out this profession until its abolition in the late 1960s. The hangman's rope was part of an exact science, and in their day, the men who undertook the job assumed the profiles of infamous celebrities, their reputations often rivaling the notorious criminals they were charged with dispatching. From the bungling hangmen sacked for incompetence and those driven to guilt-ridden suicide to the last to pull the lever at the height of the swinging sixties, the secrets of this form of capital punishment are finally revealed. They were the last of their kind, the hangmen of the 20th century; and this is their fascinating, sometimes repugnant, always enthralling story.
The Cater Street Hangman
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1453219080
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 395
Book Description
In the debut of the New York Times–bestselling Victorian crime series, Inspector Thomas Pitt seeks an elusive strangler among upper-class British society. Panic and fear strike the Ellison household when one of their own falls prey to the Cater Street murderer. While Mrs. Ellison and her three daughters are out, their maid becomes the third victim of a killer who strangles young women with cheese wire, leaving their swollen-faced bodies on the dark streets of this genteel neighborhood. Inspector Pitt, assigned to the case, must break through the walls of upper-class society to get at the truth. His in-depth investigation gradually peels away the proper veneer of the elite world, exposing secrets and desires until suspicion becomes more frightening than truth. Outspoken Charlotte Ellison, struggling to remain within the confining boundaries of Victorian manners, has no trouble expressing herself to the irritating policeman. As their relationship shifts from antagonistic sparring to a romantic connection, the socially mismatched pair must solve the mystery before the hangman strikes again. Rich with authentic period details and blending suspenseful mystery with a budding romance between Inspector Pitt and Charlotte Ellison, The Cater Street Hangman launched the long-running series by Edgar Award–winning author Anne Perry, with recent titles including The Angel Court Affair and Treachery at Lancaster Gate. Also the creator of the William Monk Novels, Perry has become one of the great names in detective fiction. As the Philadelphia Inquirer says, “Pitt’s compassion and Charlotte’s cleverness make them compatible sleuths, as well as extremely congenial characters. . . . Perry has the gift of making [the Victorian era] seem immediate and very much alive.”
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1453219080
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 395
Book Description
In the debut of the New York Times–bestselling Victorian crime series, Inspector Thomas Pitt seeks an elusive strangler among upper-class British society. Panic and fear strike the Ellison household when one of their own falls prey to the Cater Street murderer. While Mrs. Ellison and her three daughters are out, their maid becomes the third victim of a killer who strangles young women with cheese wire, leaving their swollen-faced bodies on the dark streets of this genteel neighborhood. Inspector Pitt, assigned to the case, must break through the walls of upper-class society to get at the truth. His in-depth investigation gradually peels away the proper veneer of the elite world, exposing secrets and desires until suspicion becomes more frightening than truth. Outspoken Charlotte Ellison, struggling to remain within the confining boundaries of Victorian manners, has no trouble expressing herself to the irritating policeman. As their relationship shifts from antagonistic sparring to a romantic connection, the socially mismatched pair must solve the mystery before the hangman strikes again. Rich with authentic period details and blending suspenseful mystery with a budding romance between Inspector Pitt and Charlotte Ellison, The Cater Street Hangman launched the long-running series by Edgar Award–winning author Anne Perry, with recent titles including The Angel Court Affair and Treachery at Lancaster Gate. Also the creator of the William Monk Novels, Perry has become one of the great names in detective fiction. As the Philadelphia Inquirer says, “Pitt’s compassion and Charlotte’s cleverness make them compatible sleuths, as well as extremely congenial characters. . . . Perry has the gift of making [the Victorian era] seem immediate and very much alive.”