The Last Days of Newgate


Book Description

'A story of high intrigue and low politics, brutal murder and cunning conspiracies . . . tangy and rambunctious stuff!' Observer 'Gripping and atmospheric' Daily Express 'Enjoyably disturbing . . . likely to leave the reader clamouring for more' TLS St Giles, London, 1829: three people have been brutally murdered and the city simmers with anger and political unrest. Pyke, sometime Bow Street Runner, sometime crook, finds himself accidentally embroiled in the murder investigation but quickly realises that he has stumbled into something more sinister and far-reaching. In his pursuit of the murderer, Pyke ruffles the feathers of some powerful people and, falsely accused of murder himself, he soon faces a death sentence and the gallows. Imprisoned, and with only his uncle and the headstrong, aristocratic daughter of his greatest enemy to help, Pyke must engineer his escape, find the real killer and untangle the web of intrigue that has been spun around him. A story of intrigue, conspiracy and murder set in 19th-century Britain for fans of Antonia Hodgson, Ripper Street and Patrick Easter. 'The novel drips with all the atmospheric details of a pre-Victorian murder mystery - "pea-soupers", dingy lanterns and laudanum' The Times 'Pyke ia an intriguingly unfathomable character' Financial Times 'Pyke is violent, vengeful and conflicted in the best tradition of detectives. His story takes in grisly murder and torture, and uses 1800s London in the same way that hard-boiled fiction uses Los Angeles as a mirror of a corrupt society' Time Out




The Last Days of Newgate


Book Description




The History of Newgate Prison


Book Description

A history of the iconic London prison, featuring insights on daily life, the evolution of prison systems, and famous inmates. As the place where prisoners, male and female, awaited trial, execution, or transportation Newgate was Britain’s most feared gaol for over 700 years. It probably best known today from the novels of Charles Dickens including Barnaby Rudge and Great Expectations. But there is much is more to Newgate than nineteenth century notoriety. In the seventeenth century it saw the exploits of legendary escaper and thief Jack Sheppard. Among its most famous inmates were author Daniel Defoe who was imprisoned there for seditious libel, playwright Ben Jonson for murder, and the Captain Kidd for piracy. This book takes you from the gaol’s 12th century beginnings to its final closure in 1904 and looks at daily life, developments in the treatment of prisoners from the use of torture to penal reform as well as major events in its history. Praise for The History of Newgate Prison “An amazing, entertaining and informative book!” —Books Monthly “This is a highly readable and accessible account, not only of the iconic institution, but also of the history of crime and punishment. It is packed full of evocative detail and is essential reading for all those interested in crime history.” —Who Do You Think You Are? magazine




Newgate


Book Description

There have been more prisons in London than in any other European city. Of these, Newgate was the largest, most notorious and worst. Built during the twelfth century, it became a legendary place - the inspiration of more poems, plays and novels than any other building in London. It was a place of cruelty and wretchedness, at various times holding Dick Turpin, Titus Oates, Daniel Defoe, Jack Sheppard and Casanova. Because prisons were privately run, any time spent in prison had to be paid for by the prisoner. Housing varied from a private cell with a cleaning woman and a visiting prostitute, to simply lying on the floor with no cover. Those who died inside - and only a quarter of prisoners survived until their execution day - had to stay in Newgate as a rotting corpse until relatives found the money for the body to be released. Stephen Halliday tells the story of Newgate's origins, the criminals it held, the punishments meted out and its rebuilding and reform. This is a compelling slice of London's social and criminal history.




A Spectacle of Corruption


Book Description

Benjamin Weaver, the quick-witted pugilist turned private investigator, returns in David Liss’s sequel to the Edgar Award–winning novel, A Conspiracy of Paper. “[A] wonderful book . . . every bit as good as [Liss’s] remarkable debut . . . easily one of the year’s best.”—The Boston Globe Moments after his conviction for a murder he did not commit, at a trial presided over by a judge determined to find him guilty, Benjamin Weaver is accosted by a stranger who cunningly slips a lockpick and a file into his hands. In an instant he understands two things: Someone wants him to hang—and another equally mysterious agent is determined to see him free. After a daring escape from eighteenth-century London’s most notorious prison, Weaver must face another challenge: to prove himself innocent when the corrupt courts have shown they care nothing for justice. Unable to show his face in public, Weaver pursues his inquiry disguised as a wealthy merchant seeking to involve himself in the contentious world of politics. Desperately navigating a labyrinth of schemers, crime lords, assassins, and spies, Weaver learns that in an election year, little is what it seems and the truth comes at a staggeringly high cost. Praise for A Spectacle of Corruption “[A] rousing sequel of historical, intellectual suspense. ”—San Antonio Express-News “Liss is a superb writer who evokes the squalor of London with Hogarthian gusto.”—People “In Benjamin Weaver, Mr. Liss has created a multifaceted character and a wonderful narrator.”—The New York Sun




The Detective Branch


Book Description

Pyke joins the newly formed Detective Branch of the Metropolitan police in a tale of corruption and murder set in the dangerous backstreets of 19th-century London... Drury Lane, 1844. A robbery has been committed at a pawnbroker's, leaving three people dead. The man called in to investigate is Pyke, head of the Metropolitan Police's newly formed Detective Branch at Scotland Yard. Pyke must find the culprit and quickly, especially as the identity of one of the victims threatens to expose his own criminal past. A valuable religious artefact appears to have motivated the robbery but when the main suspect commits suicide in police custody, the investigation falters. Then the rector of a wealthy parish is brutally murdered and Pyke spots a connection. His suspicions lead him to a dissolute former Catholic priest, rumours of devil worship, and an old case that no one wants him to investigate. With time running out and the murderer threatening to kill again, Pyke must face up to forces within the police and the church who would prefer the secrets of the past to remain buried for ever ...




The Unseeing


Book Description

A shocking murder. A woman sentenced to hang. And the young lawyer determined to discover the truth. Award-winning debut author Anna Mazzola brings London alive in her haunting and enthralling novel of human frailty and fear—and of the terrible consequences of jealousy and misunderstanding. Sentenced to hang for her alleged role in a shocking murder, Sarah confronts the young lawyer asked to examine her guilty verdict. She says she is innocent, but she refuses to explain the evidence given in court—the evidence that convicted her. Battling his own demons, Edmund Fleetwood is determined to find the truth—and to uncover why Sarah won't talk. As the day of execution draws closer, Edmund struggles to discover whether she is the victim of a wrongful conviction, or a dangerous and devious criminal. Based on the real case of Sarah Gale—fans of Alias Grace and The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher won't want to miss this Edgar Award-winning novel of gothic suspense and murder.




Bloody Winter


Book Description

The troubled head of the Detective Branch returns, in an intriguing case of kidnap, rebellion and murder... The body of a vagrant is discovered in a ditch in County Tipperary. Knox, a young Irish policeman with divided loyalties is told that the landowner wants the case dealt with swiftly and quietly. However, when Knox examines the corpse, he realises that this supposed vagrant was wearing a Savile Row suit . . . Three months earlier, Detective Inspector Pyke was investigating a kidnapping in Wales. The crime seems to be linked to a group of rebels, but Pyke soon suspects the case is not as clear cut as it seems. What are the links between the rebellion in Wales and the unrest in Ireland - and has Pyke finally bitten off more than he can chew?







The Revenge Of Captain Paine


Book Description

Terrific second novel set in the criminal underworld of pre-Victorian England from the author of THE LAST DAYS OF NEWGATE It is 1835, and with the birth of the Industrial Revolution, railway fever sweeps the country. Pyke is uneasy with the luxury his aristocratic marriage has brought him, and when he is unofficially asked to investigate a decapitation, he can not resist the chance to resuscitate the old skills he learned on the streets. But with the industrial world comes a new and faceless enemy: men who have money and power, and who will stop at nothing in their pursuit of both. For Pyke, with his young wife and child and an elevated place in society to protect, the stakes have suddenly become alarmingly high. From the sweat shops of the east end to the palace of the Queen-in-waiting; from the elegant drawing rooms of the newly rich, to the blood-spattered backrooms of London's taverns, Pyke's investigation stirs up a hornets' nest of trouble. As the death toll rises, an alluring woman from his past returns, and Pyke must draw on all of his resources if he is to protect his family, and survive.