"Murder by poison alarmed, enthralled, and in many ways encapsulated the Victorian age. Linda Stratmann's dark and splendid social history reveals the nineteenth century as a gruesome battleground where poisoners went head-to-head with authorities who strove to detect poisons, control their availability, and bring the guilty to justice. She corrects many misconceptions about particular poisons and documents how the evolution of issues such as marital rights and the legal protection of children impacted poisonings. Combining archival research with a novelist's eye, Stratmann charts the era's inexorable rise of poison cases both shocking and sad"--

Right up until the 19th century, physicians and philosophers regarded sleep as a state of near-oblivion in which there was no mental activity, a kind of halfway stage between wakefulness and death. For the Victorians, therefore, when anaesthesia was first practised, it was commonly seen as traumatic—for doctors were being asked to induce a condition looked upon as partial death. Viewed with suspicion, many feared that they would never wake again, or that they would lose their faculties on a permanent basis, even become insane. Yet, especially after Queen Victoria allowed its administration to her during childbirth, its use to block out pain became widespread. This engaging and entertaining book traces the social, medical and criminal history of chloroform, from early medical practices to create oblivion through the discovery of chloroform and its discovery, its use and misuse in the 19th century, to the present. Today chloroform is no longer used as an anaesthetic, but has a multitude of uses in industry and medical research, including a role in DNA profiling. A by-product of the chlorination of water, we inhale infinitesimal amounts of chloroform every time we have a shower.

The first book in an exciting new Victorian murder mystery series featuring a young female detective In 19th century Brighton, England spirit mediums are all the fashion--especially Miss Eustace, a psychic who claims to produce apparitions of the dead, and oleaginous Mr. Bradley, a self-proclaimed spirit healer. Diminutive Mina Scarletti, a writer of horror stories, is sure that her widowed mother and friends are in the hands of cheats and extortionists so she enlists the help of Daniel Hamid, an Anglo-Indian doctor, her charming but disreputable brother, Richard, and Richard's mistress, Nellie, to expose the frauds. But the scheming criminals have spread their nets wide, and dramatic s�ances easily convince and captivate the vulnerable, including Daniel's disabled sister Eliza. When Mina's determined campaign backfires she only succeeds in adding to Miss Eustace's fame. With chaos reigning in the Scarletti house, Mina and Richard must turn to desperate methods to outwit the illusionists and reveal the truth.

Fraudsters & Charlatans

The sudden death of overweight 49-year-old Thomas Whibley sparks off an acrimonious furore in Bayswater, and sparks fly between rival diet doctors, vegetarians and the extremist Pure Food Society. Young sleuth Frances Doughty is engaged to discover the author of anonymous libels, when a former colleague of Whibley's, Hubert Sweetman, who has served fourteen years in prison for a violent robbery he claims he did not commit, asks her to trace his estranged family. Before she can start, however, the police arrive and arrest her client for the murder of his wife. There will be more murders and a vicious attack on Frances before she finally resolves a number of knotty questions. Is Hubert Sweetman really innocent? Where are his missing children? And who wielded the poisoned pen? The fourth book in the popular Frances Doughty Mystery series .

The fifth in a series of Victorian murder mysteries set in London with a clever and determined female sleuth London 1881: When a body is found in the Paddington canal basin, a woman with a hearing impairment claims that the remains are those of her missing husband, who disappeared three years ago. Unable to prove her case, she appeals to Frances Doughty, the lady detective, to investigate. In this, her fifth case, Frances soon learns that the missing man has secrets of his own, and, when another body is discovered and a witness is viciously attacked, it becomes clear that she must choose her allies wisely.

LONDON 1882: In this, her most demanding case, Frances Doughty goes undercover for Her Majesty's Government to investigate some disturbing information regarding the apparently innocuous Bayswater Bicycle Club. Before long, she is plunged into a murky world of deadly secrets, a suspicious disappearance and a brutal murder, and the Lady Detective is forced to do the unthinkable to avoid becoming the next victim.With a new and exciting future before her, is there anything the dauntless Miss Doughty cannot do?

The year is 1880. In West London, a dedicated doctor has set up a waiting mortuary on the borders of Kensal Green Cemetery, where corpses are left to decompose before burial to reassure clients that no one can be buried alive. When he collapses and dies on the same night that one of his most reliable employees disappears, Frances Doughty, a young sleuth with a reputation for solving knotty cases, is engaged to find the missing man, but nothing is as it seems. In this, her third case, Frances Doughty must rely on her wit, courage and determination - as well as some loyal friends - to solve the case. Suspicions of blackmail, fraud and murder lead to a gruesome exhumation in the catacombs, with shocking results. The third book in the popular Frances Doughty Mystery series .

“Jack the Ripper Arrested with Victim Alice MacKenzie in Whitechapel.” “Boys Murder Their Mother. Revolting Crime at Plaistow—Shocking Details.” “Horrible Discovery of Human Remains at Rainham.” These are just some of the captions for the true crimes depicted in the Illustrated Police News. Best known for its meticulous coverage of the murders of Jack the Ripper, the weekly newspaper, published from 1864 until 1938, reported murders, hangings, and other dramatic crimes of the time alongside images packed with gruesome detail. Unapologetic about its sensationalism, the Illustrated Police News has been often dismissed as of little value, merely a crude publication that aimed to thrill the undiscerning reader with prurient pictures. But in Cruel Deeds and Dreadful Calamities, Linda Stratmann sets the record straight, arguing that it was actually a promoter of social change. Stratmann examines its social and political agenda and reveals the power and compassion in its images. She argues that the publication campaigned against the evils of cruelty, poverty, drink, and crime. As well, it anticipated by many years the features of today’s journalism, in the rapidity with which it provided pictures of current news events, its appeal to the emotions, and the way it involved its readers in the reporting process. A highly illustrated and comprehensive look at the Illustrated Police News,this book offers substantial new research into how the paper was produced, the men who made it a success, and the stories behind the pictures. This look into the dark underbelly of Victorian culture will appeal to both crime and history readers alike.

This compendium brings together thirty-three murderous tales -- one from each of the capital's boroughs -- that not only shocked the City but made headline news across the country. Throughout its history the great urban sprawl of Greater London has been home to some of the most shocking murders in England, many of which have made legal history. Contained within the pages of this book are the stories behind these heinous crimes. They include George Chapman, who was hanged in 1903 for poisoning three women, and whom is widely suspected of having been the notorious serial killer "Jack the Ripper"; lovers Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters, executed for stabbing to death Thompson's husband Percy in 1922; and Donald Hume, who was found not guilty of the murder of wealthy businessman Stanley Setty in 1949, but later confessed to killing him, chopping up his body and disposing of it by aeroplane. Linda Stratmann also reveals previously unpublished information that sheds a whole new light on the infamous Craig and Bentley case. This carefully researched, well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to those interested in the history of Greater London's history and true-crime fans alike.

A True and Faithful Brother: A Frances Doughy Mystery.

Brighton, 1871: a book by two respectable spinsters claiming to have seen the ghost of the Prince Regent in Brighton Pavilion shocks the town and attracts the attention of spiritualist Arthur Wallace Hope. Young Mina Scarletti, a writer of horror stories and investigator of psychic phenomena, suspects fraud. As the summer heat rises and hearts flutter dangerously, Mina and her associates delve into the mystery and, in doing so, they soon discover that nothing is as it seems.

Middlesex Murders brings together numerous murderous tales, some of which were little known outside the county, and others which made national headlines. Contained within the pages of this book are the stories behind some of the most heinous crimes ever committed in Middlesex. They include the murder of John Draper, whose body was found in a well at Enfield Chase in 1816; 15-year-old John Brill, found beaten to death in a wood in 1837 after giving evidence against two poachers; and Claire Paul, killed with an axe at her home in Ruislip in 1938. Linda Stratmann's carefully researched and enthralling text includes much previously unpublished information and will appeal to everyone interested in the shady side of Middlesex's history.

Examining the stories behind some of the most notorious murders in Kent’s history, Linda Stratmann re-examines some of the historic crimes that shocked not only the county but Britain as a whole. Among the gruesome cases featured here are the doctor who was poisoned with morphine in Faversham; the couple who were brutally battered to death in their beds in Chislehurst; and the strange death of a young German man whose body was discovered with one hand missing on Ramsgate beach. All manner of murder and mystery are included here, making Kent Murders a must-read for true crime enthusiasts everywhere.

The county of Essex has rolling arable farmland, Epping Forest, sleepy villages and busy market towns - a wide variety of settings for murder. This compilation includes not only the more celebrated cases, but dramatic and tragic stories. Cases are included from Colchester, Dagenham, Clavering, Buckhurst Hill and Witham, among others.

Contained within the pages of this book are the stories behind some of the most notorious murders in Gloucestershire's history. The cases covered here record the county's most fascinating but least known crimes, as well as famous murders that gripped not just Gloucestershire but the whole nation. From the Cheltenham torso murder to William Harrision, the Campden Wonder (who walked back into Chipping Campden two years after three men were executed for killing him); from poaching near Stroud to poisoning in the Forest of Dean, this is a collection of the county's most dramatic and interesting criminal cases. the truth about these extraordinary crimes. Using contemporary illustrations and tracing the stories through the words of those who were actually there on the ground, she re-creates the drama of case and courtroom. Gloucestershire Murders is a unique re-examination of the darker side of the county's past.

The county of Essex has rolling arable farmland, Epping Forest, sleepy villages, busy market towns and secluded backwaters - a wide variety of settings for murder. This selection of crimes uncovers not only famous cases, but also previously unpublished dramatic and tragic tales. The accounts included here come from a time when murder was a capital offence, carrying the ultimate penalty for the perpetrator, and when the difference between a verdict of innocence or guilt rested on a single piece of evidence, or the skill of the barrister in defence. Linda Stratmann has used original trial transcripts, material from local and national archives, contemporary accounts and the memoirs of pathologists, police and those in the legal profession in the course of her extensive research into crimes that have shocked the county. The killings explored date from as far back as the eighteenth century when the smuggler 'Colchester Jack' shot a confederate in the stomach in a row over stolen goods. They also include the case of a nineteenth-century female poisoner from Clavering and the brutal murder of a taxi driver in 1943 by two US servicemen at Birch. Supported by contemporary illustrations, "Essex Murders" reveals that behind the county's peaceful facade lies a murky criminal heritage.