Damn His Blood: Being a True and Detailed History of the Most Barbarous and Inhumane Murder at Oddingley and the Quick and Awful Retribution by Peter Moore
In 1806 the Reverend George Parker was Rector of Oddingley, a quiet little Worcestershire village. Married with a small daughter, he was also a part-time farmer and kept a herd of four dairy cows which were taken by a servant to graze in a meadow in the north of his parish every morning. This gave him the chance to enjoy a gentle stroll along the peaceful lanes when he went to fetch them home in the afternoon for milking. Full review...
Straight Flush by Ben Mezrich
Ben Mezrich's latest book tells the story of six college kids - frat brothers from the University of Montana - who built up AbsolutePoker.com, one of the world's largest poker sites - only for it to come crashing down as the legality of online poker became more and more of an issue, with the Department of Justice getting involved. We find out in the first chapter, as one of the six prepares to return to the USA from Central America to face prosecution, that things have gone horribly wrong. Just how horribly wrong, we have to wait to find out... Full review...
Jack the Ripper: CSI: Whitechapel by John Bennett and Paul Begg
He was an avenging doctor, he was a foreign madman, he was royalty, he was a she – he was even Sherlock bleeding Holmes. Whoever the actual Jack the Ripper was I doubt will ever be known. What is for sure is that new books that cover the subject with any conviction have to fall into one of two camps – those positing a new suspect, or those presenting the known facts about the crimes and their victims in a new fashion. This book is definitely in the latter category. Full review...
Capital Crimes: Seven centuries of London life and murder by Max Decharne
True crime has been one of the great growth areas of publishing in the last few years. As more than one author in the field as observed, everyone loves a good murder in a manner of speaking, and anybody who is looking for books on murders in London will find no lack of choice. Full review...
Murders of London: In the steps of the capital's killers by David Long
While the true crime specialist reader may prefer books which deal in one case in depth, there's always room for another title at the other end of the spectrum, dealing in brief with a variety of murders over the years. Full review...