Hull is best known for its thriving port. The industrial revolution which profited Hull so well, came a a higher cost than most would expect. In only 100 years the population rose from 22000 to 239000. Houses were built quickly and close together, public health suffered dramatically and disease was rife.The vast population meant a very high level of crime. With almost one murder every other week, assaults, suicides and other acts of violence were so frequent that newspapers only reported the most vile of crimes. Victorian Hull was a very dangerous place to live indeed!David Goodman has put together a number of murders suicides and unsolved murders from 1873 through to 1924. Stories include: 'Murder on the Farm 1903'—Annie Marshall a 15 year old farm worker was shot twice in the face and dumped into the river by a fellow worker. 'Horrific Child Murder 1873'—Sarah Alice, only 4 months old was beheaded by her own mother after she failed to 'bond' with the child, she was found not guilty on the grounds of insanity and detained at her majesty's pleasure.

We are all drawn to understand the circumstances that lead others to commit unforgivable acts of violence - the moment that turns a caring human being into a killer, the series of events that drive ordinary people to murderous acts of inhumanity, or the slow, premeditated steps of the callous criminal. And the circumstances - and the twisted motivation - behind such violent acts are the subject of Caroline Maxton's fascinating investigation of individuals whose misdeeds have tarnished the history of the Croydon area. She investigates a wide range of murders and unexplained deaths, some of which are truly stranger than fiction. The events cover a span of several centuries, and the locations will be chillingly familiar to the inhabitants of Croydon. Local crimes that hit the national headlines, like the Bentley case of 1952, are covered in fresh detail, but the author concentrates on less well-known but equally intriguing, and shocking, episodes - the bizarre 'mustard and cress' murder of 1870, the brutal murder of Eliza Osborne in 1877, the Kenley Stud Farm mystery of 1921, the Birdhurst Rise poisoning of the late 1920s, the notorious unsolved murder of 11-year-old Miles Vallint of 1959.

The criminal cases vividly described by Bernard Lewis in this gripping book take the reader on a journey into the dark secret side of Swanseas long history. The city has been the setting for a series of horrific, bloody, sometimes bizarre incidents over the centuries. From crimes of brutal premeditation to those born of rage or despair, the whole range of human weakness and wickedness is represented here. There are tales of secret passion and betrayal, robbery, murder and suicide, deadly fever and mutiny, executions, and instances of extraordinary domestic cruelty and malice that ended in death. The human dramas the author describes are often played out in the most commonplace of circumstances, but others are so odd as to be stranger than fiction. This grisly chronicle of the hidden history of Swansea will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the dark side of human nature.

In Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths In Hampstead, Holburn and St Pancras the chill of evil is brought close to home as 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 to opportunistic killings and coldly premeditated acts of murder, the full spectrum of criminality is recounted, bringing to life the sinister history of this part of the capital over the last 400 years.

London's West End is associated with fashion and glamour but for centuries it has had a far darker side. Geoffrey Howse has uncovered an astonishing catalogue of sinister deeds, some of them famous but others long forgotten. Read about spying, treason, embezzlement, regicide, robbery, forgery, religious persecution, suicide, murder and mutilation; and 'witness' horrendous punishments such as drawing, hanging, disemboweling, quartering, castration, beheading and burning. Earlier cases include the execution of Scottish patriots (1305/6) and three monks who dared to question the supremacy of Henry VIII in 1535. Such events attracted great public attention, as did the extraordinary execution of Charles I in 1649 and, in 1820, the hanging and mutilation of the Cato Street Conspiritors. The foul murder of the famous actor William Terriss, by a madman, in 1897, is featured as are several notable cases from the twentieth century including the horrific wartime murders of Gordon Cummins, the strange disappearances of the socialist MP Victor Grayson and Lord Lucan, the Charing Cross Trunk Murder as well as the mysterious death of boxer Freddie Mills.

In Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Staffordshire and the Potteries the chill is brought close to home as each chapter investigates the darker side of humanity in notorious cases of murder, deceit and pure malice that have marked the history of the area. For this journey into a bloody, neglected aspect of the past, Nicholas Corder has selected over 20 episodes that give a fascinating insight into criminal acts and the criminal mind. Recalled here are the Rugeley poisoner William Palmer, who disposed of his victims with strychnine, the vicious assaults on Issac Brooks and the miscarriage of justice that put George Edalji behind bars for three years and brought the creator of the world's greatest fictional detective to his rescue. The Canal boat killing of poor Christina Collins is described in graphic detail, as is the sad case of Thirza Tunstall's baby and the bizarre case of the headless corpse of Hednesford. The human dramas Nicholas Corder explores are often played out in the most commonplace of circumstances, but others are so odd as to be stranger than fiction. His grisly chronicle of the hidden history of staffordshire and the Potteries will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the darker side of human nature.

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths Around Portsmouth takes the reader on a sinister journey through centuries of local crime and conspiracy, meeting villains of all sorts along the way - cut-throats and poisoners, arsonists and assassins, mutineers, duellists and marauders, prostitutes and thieves, and the brawling seamen and common murderers who moved through the cruel underworld of this historic town. Sarah Quail has selected over 20 notorious episodes that give a fascinating insight into criminal acts and the criminal mind. She recalls intriguing and shocking cases dating from medieval times to the present day. In the process she uncovers an extraordinary variety of misdeeds, some motivated by brutal impulse or despair, others by malice, which taint the history of every age. Most of the cases she recounts involve ill-fated individuals who are only known to us because they were caught up in crime, but she also reconsiders more famous episodes like the murder of the Duke of Buckingham and the disappearance of the Cold War frogman Buster Crabb. The human dramas that are played out in these pages often take place in the most commonplace of circumstances, but others are so odd as to be stranger than fiction.