FOUL DEEDS & SUSPICIOUS DEATHS AROUND BEDFORD

Softcover. A fascinating study of the cases that once dominated both local and national newspapers relating to Bedford. Spanning just over 100yrs, the book examines in detail both motive and consequence, the known facts, the social factors prevalent at the time, and the situations and circumstances surrounding those involved. Each chapter is a truthful retelling of events, sometimes uncertain, sometimes baffling, but always intriguing. From a time when murder was a capital offence and a guilty verdict led straight to the gallows, these are the true stories behind the headlines. Not all these stories, however, are straightforward. For a number of the guilty the verdicts were never in doubt and to them came a kind of notoriety, like William Worsley who met his end on a public scaffold in 1868. Others, like James Hanratty, who shot his victims in a lay-by on the aptly named Deadman's Hill, involved a different response and for many his guilt remains unproven. Such diverse public response is not necessarily unusual and possibly many of the characters populating this book would claim to have elicited similar responses from those who studied their individual case. That is for the reader to decide. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F.