KENT MURDERS

Softcover. The author looks at a series of 'horrid crimes' committed in the county over the previous 200yrs. He has searched deep into the records of murder in Kent and has produced a remarkable collection of unusual cases. Violent death is what they all have in common. In 1838, Mad Thom's attempts to improve the lot of agricultural labourers in Canterbury escalated into murder and mayhem. In 1843 a gifted artist's psychotic delusions ended in horror, and in 1912, bigamist George Smith and his bride furnished their home with a new bath - the very instrument of her death. Here too are the men who spent their lives fighting crime, from early police officers recruited for their 'brawn' to the first detective branch set up in 1896 - early beginnings of one of the largest and best equipped police forces in the country. Illus. + Index. 128pp. trade size softcover. From the library of true-crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F. with no creasing to covers.