Tales from Bow Street

Lock, Joan

R. Hale

In 1878 the Criminal Investigation Department replaced Scotland Yard's corrupt and discredited Detective Branch. In this book, the author tells the story behind this change, the scandal which preceded it and the successes and failures of the new organisation. These include early cases such the four murders of Ernest Southey, the ferocious outbreak of dockland killings in 1869 and the more familiar Bravo, Neill Cream and Jack the Ripper crimes.    We witness Scotland Yard's gradual, if sometimes tardy, acceptance of identification and communication aids such as photography, the telegraph, the telephone, Bertillon's anthropometric measurements and the fingerprint system.    First World War spy and Dear John jealousy murders were followed by the Roaring Twenties' swindles and the arrival of motor car bandits which in turn led to the formation of the Flying Squad and the adoption of mobile wireless telegraphy.  The introduction of women detectives is also discussed and the difficulties they experienced in establishing their role.    Joan Lock closes the gap between the academic police historian and the writer of popular true crime, making this book a fascinating read for the crime experts and the general reader alike.  

Scotland Yard Casebook the Making of The

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Robert Hale, Ltd.

The explosion was heard 20 miles away. It killed canal boatmen and wrecked the exotic Pompeian villa of Lawrence Alma-Tadema, the fashionable St John's Wood artist. But what caused the 1874 Regent's Park Explosion? Fenian bombs or sabotage by rival railways or other firms? Or was it something personal? And whose was the woman's body found in the canal? An artist's model? The missing King's Cross barmaid? Or another victim of the so-called Thames murderer? As he struggles to find the answers, Scotland Yard's Sergeant Ernest Best straddles the conflicting worlds of art, wealth and privilege and that of the poverty-stricken canal boatmen in an intriguing mystery that will change his life forever.

Dead Image

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

When the bodies of a number of babies are found scattered around Islington, the volatile Detective Sergeant Best is sent undercover to lodge next door to a suspected baby farm. He shadows an alleged 'child dropper' onto a Thames pleasure steamer and finds himself caught up in Britain's worst civilian tragedy - the 1878 sinking of the Princess Alice - a ghastly experience which will haunt Best forever. His determination to avenge the death of a young pregnant girl he had befriended and save the life of another becomes a crusade. Meanwhile, his beloved Helen returns from Paris with the promise of a decision as to their future. Dead Born is an exciting sequel to Best's adventure's in Dead Image and is again based on historical fact.

Dead Born

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

The collision of the Princess Alice pleasure steamer with the Tyne collier Bywell Castle in the Thames in September 1878 resulted in Britain’s worst-ever inland waterway accident. Almost 650 Princess Alice passengers and crew died. Whole families were wiped out; many children were left orphans; parents childless. The nation wept. Joan Lock describes vividly the lead up to the accident, the disaster itself, and its aftermath. She then delves into the quarrels that the tragedy devolved into, as each side blamed the other during the extended inquiries to discover just how the accident happened and why so many people drowned. In the process, the author makes a startling discovery.

The Princess Alice Disaster

History

Europe

Robert_Hale

Marlborough Street: The story of a London court

Hale

A compelling crime novel full of wonderful period detail of Victorian London and featuring the charismatic Inspector Ernest Best featured in Dead Image and Dead Born It is a beautiful warm August day in 1880: perfect weather for the Metropolitan and City Police Annual Fete held at Alexandra Palace. Inspector Best is summoned to uncover the identity of 'Quicksilver' who has sent an anonymous note threatening to cause an horrific explosion at the event. When a second note is received and its threats become increasingly confusing with their literary allusions, Best seeks out the help of Helen Franks, a close friend from the past. However, is Quicksilver really intent on causing mass injury on this fine day, or is his desire of a more personal nature?

Dead Letters

Severn House

Dead End

Featuring the popular Detective Best When Phoebe Threapleton is found dead on a four-poster bed in Bainbridge's department store with six long-stemmed white roses next to her, Inspector Best is baffled. His initial investigations point him towards the shadowy world of spiritualism, but this proves as difficult to penetrate as the potential motives of the dozens of suspects from Phoebe's maid to the Bainbridges themselves.

Short Stories & Anthologies

A new Victorian mystery featuring the popular Detective Best A real murder occurs on the stage of the London theatre where Detective Inspector Best and his wife are enjoying a night out. Victorian theatre is only just emerging into respectability, which is threatened when another death follows a murder which could be a reaction against one of the Victorian theatres' most traditional practices. The evocative array of suspects includes an all powerful actor-manager; the resentful Super and Property Masters; a crusading journalist turned playwright, a disgruntled dresser, the family of a ballerina who died in a theatre fire and, not least, members of the audience, who indulge in a curious form of blackmail.

Dead Fall

A new Victorian mystery featuring the popular Detective Best After bombs explode in London, Best is sent to Paris, where Irish Americans are plotting their next ?outrage?. There, he encounters a gentleman who says he is helping the French save their plague-ridden vines. But is he who he claims to be? What happened in the blood-soaked railway compartment? And how does it connect with the fate of a young man who may have been lured by a heartrending advertisement in a daily newspaper?

Dead Loss (Detective Ernest Best)

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Books by Lock, Joan