CRIMINAL SENTENCES True Crime in Fiction and Drama

Hardback. Why have novelists and dramatists been so fascinated with true crime for over 4 centuries? How did an 18th-century housebreaker's fictional exploits affect a 19th-century murderer and lead to stage censorship? Which early 19th-century American murder case inspired Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Penn Warren? What connects sadistic killer Neville Heath and Patrick Hamilton's fictional villain, Ralpg Gorse? In this, the first full-length study of true crime's influence on fiction and drama, the author sets out to answer these questions and many others. Beginning with an investigation into the ways in which authors adapt criminal facts to their needs, the book gives a brief history of this genre. The genre continued into the 19th-century, when best-selling authors such as Sir Walter Scott and Edward Bulwer Lytton used real crime to spice their historical fiction. With detective fiction in the 20th century, solutions to unsolved murders became a popular fictional pastime, with Jack the Ripper and the William Wallace murder case heading the list. Bringing the genre up to date, the author looks at the recent more brutal and realistic crime novels based on crime fact. The main body of the book, however, is an A to Z of crimes and criminals, giving basic details of the facts of almost 200 cases or lives. Each entry also considers the fiction works - whether play, novel or short story - that are based on these facts, covering over 400 publications in all. Famous criminals such as Jack Sheppard, Jack the Ripper and Lizzie Borden rub shoulders with lesser-known characters - Mary Frith, James Achew, Robert Nixon. Miscarriages of justice, such as the Sacco and Vanzetti case are also included, as are a few fringe cases like the Tichbourne trials and the Thomas Wise forgeries. A thought-provoking and detailed survey of a forgotten literary genre. Includes Crime Faction Collections, Crime Faction Bibliog. and Index. 305pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F. in Nr. F. dw.