My Review (5 stars out of 5) In West Auckland, County Durham, in 1872, Mary Ann Cotton was arrested and charged with the murder of her stepson. Married four times and supposedly having borne twelve children, she was found guilty and hanged in Durham Goal. Charting the details of the trials and claims she may…
Category: serial killers
‘The Shadow of Death’ by Philip E Ginsburg
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) During the 1980s, a killer stabbed six women in the Connecticut River Valley, between New Hampshire and Vermont. Despite rigorous investigations, the murderer has never been caught. Author Philip E. Ginsburg reveals the pioneering forensic methods police and FBI agents used to track the killer. The only…
‘The Raven’s Mark’ by Christie J Newport
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) A brutal murder heralds the start of a cat-and-mouse game for Detective Chief Inspector Beth Fellows as she faces a case that could change her career – or bring it to a crashing end. Realising the killing could be linked to an earlier attack, gives Beth a…
‘The Devil’s Defender’ by John Henry Browne
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) For forty years, lawyer John Henry Browne has defended people who some might think were undefendable. From Facebook folk hero Colton Moore to Kandahar massacre perpetrator Sergeant Robert Bales, Browne has often taken cases that appear unwinnable. His most famous client, however, is one of America’s most…
‘When Darkness Falls’ by Kathleen Harryman
My Review (4 stars out of 5) In the historic city of York, a dangerous and blood-thirsty serial killer is on the loose. Unfortunately for the police, evidence is thin on the ground, the killer’s modus operandi often varies, and the choice of victims refuses to conform to any logical pattern. However, it seems one…
‘Now You See Me’ by Sharon Bolton
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Finding herself on the scene of a savage murder, DC Lacey Flint is keen to be involved in the hunt for the suspect. When another body is found, police quickly realise they have a serial killer on the loose. Hoping to use her as bait, Flint is pushed…
‘A Passion for Poison’ by Carol Ann Lee
My Review (5 stars out of 5) In post-war Britain, teenager Graham Young developed an interest in poisons. Reading and researching everything he could about his soon-to-be obsession, the fourteen-year-old landed himself in court after trying out his experiments on people. Charged with poisoning a schoolfriend and members of his own family, he was diagnosed…
‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ by Stieg Larsson
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) When sixteen-year-old Harriet Vanger disappears from a family gathering, the very fact of her living on an island owned by her family – the powerful Vanger clan – has huge implications for the police investigation. Forty years later, the girl’s body has never been found, but her…
‘Pretty Evil New England’ by Sue Coletta
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Exploring murder in nineteenth century New England, crime writer Sue Coletta tells the stories of five female serial killers – Jane Toppan, Lydia Sherman, Nellie Webb, Harriet E. Nason and Sarah Jane Robinson. Delving into their individual backgrounds, she looks at the events that drove these women to…
‘Fred and Rose’ by Howard Sounes
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) Over a period of several years, Fred and Rose West murdered a series of young women, burying many of the bodies under their own house at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester – their victims including one of their own daughters. Other bodies were discovered buried at the Wests’…
Colin Garrow 