Bloody Business: An Anecdotal History of Scotland Yard

"From Jack the Ripper to the Yorkshire Ripper, the annals of British crime are home to some of the most fascinating and sensational cases in history. Weaving together dozens of cases from the history of Scotland Yard, Bloody Business is an engrossing account of the world's most famous and admired police force. You'll meet real detectives wrestling with the most dramatic crimes in British history - daring robberies, intricate true-life mysteries, and some of the bloodiest murders ever committed - in their quest to bring the culprits to the bar of justice, and frequently to the gallows." "Among the dastardly villains you will encounter are serial killer Reg Christie, who hid the remains of his victims beneath the floorboards and behind the walls of his house at 10 Rillington Place; the henpecked Dr. Crippen, who poisoned his wife to abscond with his young mistress; and the poisonous Dr. Cream, who pursued a personal vendetta against prostitutes. There are also notorious sex scandals (from the Cleveland Street male brothel that ensnared the high and mighty in Victorian London to the Profumo Affair that toppled the British government), some of the greatest capers in criminal history (including the world's first train robbery in 1855), and riveting investigations of international terrorism." "The image of Scotland Yard inspector familiar to most Americans from detective novels, movies, and TV is often that of an ineffectual bungler who needs help from the outside - from Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes. Bloody Business debunks that stereotype. Mystery fans will enjoy this depiction of the real-life figures behind the fictional detectives. True crime fans will relish these enthralling and blood-curdling tales all the more because they are true."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved