ECHOES IN THE DARKNESS

Hardback. The Main Line, west of Philadelphia, was studded with estates and mansions, prep schools, academies, and famous universities. It was also steeped in colonial history, with a strong flavour of the Gothic. And nothing could be more Gothic than The Main Line Murder Case. At the core of the case were respected academics and upright citizens. Bill Bradfield was considered an outstanding teacher, a self-styled expert in Greek and in the poetry and life of his special hero, Ezra Pound. But as well as his penchant for poetry, he had an obsessive bent for collecting plain and unloved women, who one by one fell captive to his mesmeric charm. Dr. Jay Smith was the principal of Bradfield's school, but his extra-curricular activities included robbing department stores and maintaining an impressive range of hard pornography in his cellar. In fact his nocturnal habits and sinister ways were so strange that colleagues dubbed him 'Prince of Darkness'. What brought both men to public attention was the baffling murder in 1979 of a teaching colleague, Susan Reinert, whose nude body was found in her car. Her two young children, Michael and Karen, had vanished. Seven years of investigation by the FBI and state police - one of the most massive homicide investigations in American history - resulted in an unforgettable and fascinating murder trial. With Epilogue. 415pp. lge. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg,m with his personal b/plate. V. sl. sunned cover o/w Vg+ in Vg+ dw. A fairly heavy book which may require additional postage.