Before I was published I wrote a number of articles on true crime, which I included on my website. Over the years, some of these have been revised and published.
My article on the murder of Sandra Rivett and the disappearance of Lord Lucan appears under the title "Blood in the Basement" in "The Mammoth Book of CSI" edited by Roger Wilkes, published by Robinson in London.
"How to get away with Murder" is included in "Getting Away With It" edited by Steve Shipside (The Infinite ideas Company 2006).
A Frances Doughty Christmas Story
Linda Stratmann's eponymous Victorian detective solves a festive crime case... or does she?
In 1915, there was an assassination attempt on Hussain Pasha of Egypt, and several cigarette ends were found in the room from which the bomb was thrown. Investigators traced the tobacconist who made the cigarettes, and he told them that the tobacco was a special mixture made up to order. Microscopic analysis of the tobacco showed that it was identical to that in cigarettes found in the possession of the accused man, and confirmed his presence at the scene of the crime.
There are numerous theories about the assassination of President Kennedy, and this one, I think, deserves to be better known. I shall make few judgements, only observations.
I don’t know if this extraordinary tale is true or not. It is supposed to have taken place in 1723, and was originally published in a book called “Olde Tayles Newlye Relayted” in 1883, and later in pamphlet form. If it is true, I know of no other case like it.
This is an unusual sort of quiz, because the "right" answers are a matter for debate. I am going to give the facts of a number of true crimes, and you are invited to guess what you believe the verdict was in each case, and, if you consider that the verdict was "guilty", what the sentence was. You could also consider what you think the verdict and sentence should have been if you think they ought to have been different from what actually happened.
If a close friend or relative, suffering from depression, or in severe financial trouble, came to me asking for assistance in committing suicide, then I would do my best to persuade him or her that there are other, better ways out of these difficulties, and try to make sure that he/she seeks professional help. It seems like the obvious thing to do, but there have been a number of cases where would-be suicides in perfect physical health have been killed by friends or family at their own request.
The Murder of Charlotte Dymond
In 1978 I saw a televised reconstruction of the murder of Charlotte Dymond, which took place in Cornwall in 1844. I knew that a book was planned, and waited with interest for it to appear. The details faded with time, but the name remained fresh in my memory. I began to wonder if the book had ever been published, however, in a moment of serendipity in 1999 I spotted it in a Surrey bookshop, and bought it at once.