From Publishers Weekly
In 1811, London's East End was the scene of a series of murders so brutal and irrational that they caused panic throughout the city, which lacked a central police force. This engrossing account, marking the American nonfiction debut of British mystery novelist James, details the seven vicious ("brains battered out and throats butchered"), apparently motiveless slayings (which occurred first in a linen shop, then, days later, in a nearby pub); the confused efforts of local "police" groups; and the cases' suspiciously abrupt closing after suspect John Williams, a seaman and lodger at the Pear Tree public house, committed suicide in jail, thereby sealing his "guilt" and prompting a bizarre parade of his corpse (together with a murderous maul) throughout the city. James and police historian Critchley use documents and contemporary news accounts splendidly, pointing up the incompetence of the investigators and offering an intriguing view of what really happened. First published in Britain in 1971, this will certainly please James's following here.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
Ingram
With the fascination of a true-life detective story, this account of the Ratcliffe Highway murders describes crimes that were to the nineteenth century the very symbol of murderous and unthinking brutality. HC: Mysterious Press.
--This text refers to the
Mass Market Paperback
edition.
