Review: Murder by the Book: A Sensational Chapter in Victorian Crime

Murder by the Book: A Sensational Chapter in Victorian Crime by Claire Harman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In exchange for a fair review I received a copy of this book from NetGalley

On the morning of the 6th May, 1840, Lord William Russell was found murdered in his bed in a seemingly safe, Mayfair street by his servants.

The author goes into great detail about the police investigation and the subtenant trial of Lord William Russell's Swiss valet ,which makes for interesting reading. As well as looking at the novel about Jack Sheppard which was popular at the time. It was also at one time the reason he give for killing his master saying in a statement it had influenced his decision to kill his master.

But I was sadly disappointed the book was well written towards the end I felt the book was padded out with paragraphs on the writer's Dickens and Thackeray which made fell like I was reading a different book.However this is only my opinion and someone other then myself my find this interesting.

Over all a well written and thoroughly researched book .

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Review: Renaissance: The Fall and Rise of a King

Renaissance: The Fall and Rise of a King by Marla Skidmore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This a historical fiction novel about Richard III the story begins with his death at the Battle of Bosworth , but this is only the beginning of the story.

The author made a intriguing an interesting decision to follow Richard into the afterlife from here the reader gets to see events from Richards life in a number of flashback's. We also get to see the struggles he might have gone through while coming trying to terms the decisions he made and the consequences they had. We also get to see him struggle with the reputation he gained and after his death due to Henry Tudor.

I'm no expert on Richard 111 but from what I do know I can say the historical details are accurate and it is clear that a lot of research has been done.

Well done to the author an excellent novel I was hooked from the first page and was sorry to see it come to end.

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Review: Zombie Complex: The Battle for Chattahoochee Run

Zombie Complex: The Battle for Chattahoochee Run by Alexander Pain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Now this book shows how a real zombie apocalypse would gone down , forget what Hollywood shows you 'Zombie Complex: The Battle for Chattahoochee Run' by Alexander Pain shows how real people try to stay alive.

The hero is not what you come to expect from heroes he is over 300 pounds lives with his wife and beloved dog in an an apartment complex with undesirable neighbours,he has credit card debt,and health problems but when the apocalypse starts, he takes a stand and rallies his neighbours together to stay alive.

I look forward to reading more of this series.

Highly recommended.

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Review: Move to Murder

Move to Murder by Antony M Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Move to Murder is the third book in the Cold Case Jury Collection .

This time the author invites the reader to be cold case jury member looking into the murder of Julia Wallace in Liverpool in 1931 which has to be one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of all time.

In brief, a telephone call was received at the Liverpool Central Chess Club asking for a message to be passed on to Mr William Wallace husband of the victim Julie Wallace . The caller, called himself R M Qualtrough, and he was eager to take out an endowment policy on his daughter, and wanted Wallace to visit him at his home, 25 Menlove Gardens East, the following evening to discuss it. After receiving the message and discussing it with his wife he travelled across the city using several trams. Only to discoverer that the address did not exist , disappointed I'm missing out on a commission he returned home to find his wife beaten to death and a small amount of money stolen.

William was treated as the main suspect by the police was soon arrested, tried and convicted of the murder of his wife, and given the death. However an appeal saw the conviction overturned, and nobody else was ever found guilty of the crime.


Move to Murder examines five possible theories as to what could have happened that fatal night including ,Could Wallace have been the perpetrator after all, did he arrange the murder or was he completely innocent? I liked how each of these theory's where backed up by evidence.The book also has an excellent selection of photographs, some of which show the actual crime scene itself. I found myself completely absorbed in this book and would go as far as to say it was even better then the first two in the series.

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Review: Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil

Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil by Steven A. McKay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The storyline is set around Christmas time in the small town of Barndesburton where a series of burglaries are being committed by the Devil and another fiend. Fortunately for the town Friar Tuck his taken refuge within each church and he decides to investigate the so-called Devio burglars. To find out what happens you will have to read or listen to this wonderful short story.

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Review: Frederick Bailey Deeming: Jack The Ripper Or Something Worse?

Frederick Bailey Deeming: Jack The Ripper Or Something Worse? by Mike Covell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The book is about the wife murderer Frederick Baily Deeming , who some people believe could also be a candidate for Jack the Ripper.

The author has an interesting way of writing instead of just telling you about the evidence he finds, he presents the whole document for you to examine for yourself. For example instead of using extract's from a newspaper report he will present the whole article. I dont think it will be  everyone's cup of tea but it is does make for some very interesting reading. The evidence the author presents shows that Deeming was a conman and a wife murderer but nothing more. I think the book would be a valuable resource to anybody wanting to or who is already researching the story of Frederick Bailey Deeming.

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Review: Mad or Bad: Crime and Insanity in Victorian Britain

Mad or Bad: Crime and Insanity in Victorian Britain by David J. Vaughan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book describes the background of various institutions, how mental health has been veiwed and how patients were treated in the past though a number of different cases a number of cases. These cases are mostly based around acts of violence or cases of murder where the perpetrator has been found incapable of making a plea to the charges against them therefore they have been declared insane and sent to various institutions to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure.



The book was written in a clear and uncomplicated manner I enjoyed it till the last few chapters when I found it started to become repetitive. This is only my opinion and does not mean to say that somebody else would not find in it interesting and enjoyable read.

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