Laid Bare: The Nude Murders and the Hunt for 'Jack the Stripper'

Biographies & Memoirs

Kirby, Dick

True Crime

The History Press

In their daily battle against a remorseless tide of crime, officers of London's Metropolitan Police routinely risk their lives protecting society.Veteran detective and crime author Dick Kirby has brought together a superb collection of inspiring stories of police gallantry over the last hundred years.All four officers to be honored with the George Cross, the highest civilian award have their stories told including Jim Beaton who saved Princess Anne from kidnap in The Mall.Three women officers have been awarded the George Medal, two for decoy work, the third for a heroic rooftop rescue.The book concludes with the astonishing story of a retired detective who tackled armed robbers at the cost of his eye. He may have left the Met behind him but not his courage.Every page of this gripping book is full of excitement and courage of the highest order.

The Brave Blue Line: 100 Years of Metropolitan Police Gallantry

History

Europe

Wharncliffe

In the late 1950s the reputation of Brighton as a popular seaside resort took a sinister and notorious turn.After a series of drunken disturbances, suspicions were raised that the owner of the Astor Club, which became known globally as 'The Bucket of Blood', was bribing members of the town's CID to ignore licensing hours.The situation escalated to the point where Scotland Yard's Flying Squad was called in. Their investigation soon revealed that these bribes were the tip of a police corruption iceberg. Criminality among crooked cops had been going on for years. Provided money was paid, charges were dropped, previous convictions overlooked and evidence disappeared. Others were 'fitted up' unless they paid up. Police were party to burglaries, assisting in the 'fencing' of stolen property and protection payments from bookmakers, clubs, and bars.During the scandal filled trial of the Chief Constable and CID ringleaders there was perjury, violent witness intimidation with one having his premises burnt to the ground. All this and more is described in this meticulously researched account of one of Britain's most publicized police corruption scandals written with insider knowledge.

The Brighton Police Scandal: A Story of Corruption, Intimidation & Violence

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Pen and Sword True Crime

Killers, Kidnappers, Gangsters and Grasses: On the Frontline with the Metropolitan Police

Product Description Murders in any form, and the more gruesome the better, hold a morbid fascination to the British public but never more so than when the bodies of the victims are never found. Aside from the lack of closure for relatives and friends, this factor creates problems for police and prosecutors and has macabre appeal for the public.Muriel McKay, wife of a senior News of the World Executive was kidnapped in 1969. Although her body, believed to have been fed to pigs, was never found, the perpetrators were convicted. The same fate was suffered by the business partner of a Polish farmer. James Camb murdered a glamorous actress feeding her to sharks but this did not stop women flocking to see him in court. John Haigh confessed to disposing of his nine victims in acid. Again, his trial was a sell-out.Dick Kirby, former Scotland Yard detective turned best-selling crime writer has ‘unearthed’ a fascinating collection of disappearances such as the dismemberment of a gay man’s wife who had threatened to expose him in the 1950s. Later, when a woman’s head was discovered near his home, he confessed only to find that it dated from Roman times. These and numerous other cases make Missing, Presumed Murdered a riveting, if grisly, read. About the Author Dick Kirby was born in the East End of London and joined the Metropolitan Police in 1967. Half of his twenty-six years’ service was spent with Scotland Yard’s Serious Crime Squad and the Flying Squad.Kirby contributes to newspapers and magazines on a regular basis, as well as appearing on television and radio. The Guv’nors, The Sweeney, Scotland Yard’s Ghost Squad, Brave Line Death on the Beat, Scourge of Soho, Crime and Corruption at The Yard and London Gangs at War are all published under the Wharncliffe True Crime imprint and he has further other published works to his credit. On retirement he lives near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Kirby can be visited at his website: www.dickkirby.com.

Missing Presumed Murdered: The McKay Case and Other Convictions without a Corpse

World

The 1950s and 1960s saw a changing of the guard in London's gangland. A new and even more ruthless breed of criminal emerged to replace the aging generation of likes of Sabini, Mullins and Hayes. Protection rackets on bookies, club owners and shops were commonplace. Prostitution and drugs offered rich pickings. Police corruption was all too commonplace. Thanks to media interest the names of Charlie Richardson, Mad Frankie Fraser, Scarface Smithson and the Nichols became as widely known as they were feared. And then there were the Kray Twins, whose notoriety and brutality became watchwords. But as this insider book reveals they did not have it all their own way. For a thrilling and shocking story London's Gangs at War is in a class of its own. What makes it so chilling is that the murders, torture and mayhem actually happened.

London's Gangs at War

In the summer of 1978, rumors emerged from the underworld that huge sums of money had been paid to the City of London Police to water-down evidence and arrange bail in cases of armed robbery. Then it was suggested that Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad was also involved. The Home Secretary appointed the Dorset Police to investigate but it became clear to the criminals upon whom they relied to provide evidence that they were completely out of their depth. One line of inquiry after another became hopelessly compromised. While the investigation was known officially as Operation COUNTRYMAN, things were so bad that the team were variously nicknamed ‘The Swedey’ and ‘Malice in Blunderland’. Despite a four year inquiry costing £4,000,000, eight Metropolitan police officers were acquitted and just two City of London officers were imprisoned. Operation COUNTRYMAN had little to do with that success; the convictions resulted from the fearlessness of a City of London policeman. The Author, a former Metropolitan police officer has used his knowledge and contacts to lift the lid on the shambolic COUNTRYMAN inquiry. He pulls no punches.

Operation Countryman: The Flawed Enquiry into London Police Corruption

It is a little known fact that one immigrant Italian family ran London’s thriving vice trade unchecked from the mid-1930s for some twenty years. The five Messina brothers imported prostitutes from the Continent on an industrial scale, acquiring the women British citizenship by phony marriages. Demanding 80% of earnings, the Messina family became fabulously wealthy, purchasing expensive properties, cars and influence. As this revealing and absorbing account describes, the brothers ruled with a ruthless combination of charm, blackmail and all too credible threats of disfigurement and death. It took a sensational Sunday newspaper exposé to get the authorities to act. A series of dramatic arrests and trials followed and one by one the brothers were imprisoned and deported for crimes including immoral earnings, attempted bribery and firearms offenses. Such was their fortune that numerous potential beneficiaries came forward, most recently in 2012. The author, a much published former Metropolitan police officer, has researched the remarkable criminal careers of the five Messina’s and the result is a riveting and shocking read.

The Mayfair Mafia: The Lives and Crimes of the Messina Brothers

Historical

Scotland Yard's Flying Squad: 100 Years of Crime Fighting

Since 1919, Scotland Yard's Flying Squad has been in the forefront of the war against crime. From patrolling London's streets in horse-drawn wagons, it has progressed to the use of the most sophisticated surveillance and crime-fighting equipment.Between the Wars, the Squad targeted protection gangs who infested British racecourses and greyhound tracks. The highly effective Ghost Squad was formed to tackle black-marketeering in the aftermath of the Second World War.As crime figures soared in the 1950s and '60s the Flying Squad, as C8 Department was now known became involved in the most serious cases nationwide - The Great Train Robbery, Brink's Mat, The Millennium Dome and Hatton Garden heists. As always, the Squad concentrated on ambushing and arresting armed robbers in the act as, in police parlance, they 'went across the pavement'.Despite many high-profile successes, allegations of corruption have haunted the Flying Squad and after the conviction of officers in 2001 there was a very real possibility of disbandment.Yet this most famous of police units survived and today continues to fight and be feared by the hardest of criminals.Drawing on first-hand accounts, Dick Kirby has put together a thrilling book that proves that fact is way better than fiction.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kirby, Dick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Kirby, Dick

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kirby, Dick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Laid Bare: The Nude Murders and the Hunt for 'Jack the Stripper'

The Brave Blue Line: 100 Years of Metropolitan Police Gallantry

The Brighton Police Scandal: A Story of Corruption, Intimidation & Violence

Killers, Kidnappers, Gangsters and Grasses: On the Frontline with the Metropolitan Police

Missing Presumed Murdered: The McKay Case and Other Convictions without a Corpse

London's Gangs at War

Operation Countryman: The Flawed Enquiry into London Police Corruption

The Mayfair Mafia: The Lives and Crimes of the Messina Brothers

Scotland Yard's Flying Squad: 100 Years of Crime Fighting

Scotland Yard's Flying Squad: 100 Years of Crime Fighting