FOUL DEEDS & SUSPICIOUS DEATHS IN & AROUND CARLISLE.

New softcover. The author has selected 32 shocking, spine-chilling and unforgettable episodes from the criminal history of the city and the area surrounding it, dating from medieval times to the 20th century. Included are the barbaric execution of Andrew de Harcla in 1323, and the truth behind the legend of the Croglin vampire some 362 years later, the frenzied murder of Mary Brown in St. Nicholas in 1826 and that of William Horsley in 1861, strangled by his possessive lady friend who also happened to be his mother-in-law. Other more familiar incidents are recalled - the Durranhill Murder of 1861, the shooting of PC Byrnes at Plumpton in 1865 - but most of the murders and misdeeds recorded here are less well known. All reflect the hardship and brutality of those distant times, when most forms of crime were dealt with ruthlessly. And yet sometimes there were merciful acquittals that reveal much about the attitudes of a remote age. Illus., Bibliog. and Index. 174pp. 8vo. New softcover.