Wharncliffe imprint: 191 books

Martyn Johnson continues his wonderful stories about policing during the 1960s and 1970s. As with his previous two volumes the book is written from the heart, not so much nostalgia as a genuine feeling for the people, animals, places and history of Sheffield.

From Oscar Wilde to the Kray brothers—a unique history of the lives and crimes of the United Kingdom’s most famous, and infamous, inmates.   Their names can chill the blood of true-crime aficionados: Peter Sutcliffe, aka The Yorkshire Ripper; child-torturer Ian Brady; cannibal Dennis Nilsen;...

Who was Inspector Frederick Abberline, the lead detective in the Jack the Ripper case? Why did he and his fellow policemen fail to catch the most notorious serial killer of Victorian England? What was he like as a man, as a professional policeman, one of the best detectives of his generation? And...

The disturbing, criminal history of Britain’s “World Capital City of Pop”—home of murderers, thieves, bodysnatchers . . . and The Beatles.   The city of Liverpool, England, was like every other city energized by the Victorian boon in industry and trade. It is best known today as the home...

Historical true crime stories from a town in South Yorkshire, England, with photos included.   Ranging from Victorian times to the World War II era, this is a collection of true crime stories from a coal town in England. Whether motivated by passion, greed, or something else, these cases come from...

In the middle of Great Britain sits a historic city—with a long history of horror. These are the true crime stories from Coventry’s past.   Now a thriving, modern metropolis, Coventry has been an established center of trade and culture for nearly a thousand years. But as with any site where mankind...

Charles Manson, Aileen Wuornos, Burke & Hare, the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer, and other remorseless serial murderers whose crimes made history.   From Victorian era graveyards to a rented room in Paris to an isolated Indian farm and the California hills, the shocking murders collected...

The body snatcher who inspired Psycho, the noblewoman known as Countess Dracula, Jack the Ripper, and other killers for whom murder was just the beginning.   From Gilles de Rais’ castle in fifteenth-century France to “the Bloody Benders’” eighteenth-century Kansas farm to Jeffrey Dahmer’s...

One hundred years of the most depraved criminal minds—from H. H. Holmes and Ted Bundy to John Wayne Gacy, Ian Brady, and Myra Hindley.   Their monikers have become part of the true crime lexicon: among them, the Moors Murders; the Hillside Strangler; Killer Clown; Son of Sam; the Love Slave Killers;...

A crime historian explores groundbreaking cold-case investigations, the advent of DNA evidence, and its role in long-delayed convictions and exonerations.   When geneticist, Professor Alec Jeffreys worked with Leicestershire police on the 1986 case against Colin Pitchfork—the first person convicted...

Tory gangs, madmen, war criminals, frauds, anarchists, duelists, kidnappers, and more scandal-makers throughout four centuries of Irish history.   Dublin is a wonderful, energetic cultural center—the pride of Irish achievements in architecture, arts, and literature. But it is also a city of paradoxes...

Read about crimes over the centuries in this historic area of London—includes photos and illustrations.   In this collection of true crime stories, each chapter investigates the darker side of humanity in cases of murder, deceit, and pure malice in this corner of London. From crimes of passion...

The charming English town of Guildford is built upon centuries of mayhem and madness—from a Game of Thrones–style massacre to mysterious murders.   The twin fascinations of death and villainy will always hold us in their grim but thrilling grip. In Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths in Guildford,...

The real-life murder mysteries that rocked London between two world wars—from the author of Unsolved Murders of Victorian and Edwardian London. Unsolved crimes have a special fascination, none more so than unsolved murders. The shock of the crime itself and the mystery surrounding it, the...