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Good Books to Read!

Look out for our own book, The Scotland Yard Files. Milestones in Crime Detection, published by The National Archives in August 2006

This book tells the story of how Scotland Yard's detective branch was formed, the first cases involving identification parades, fingerprints, ballistics evidence, Identikit, as well as the inside story of Dr Crippen, Jack the Ripper and many other crimes, all based on the authentic accounts from The National Archives where Scotland Yard's files are stored. ISBN 1-903365-88-0. Available through conventional or on-line bookshops, such as Amazon.

True Crime Booksellers

If you are searching for a particular book title, you might try:

Loretta Lay Books True Crime Book Dealer and London's only Jack the Ripper Specialist Dealer

*The Road to Balcombe Street* by Steven P Moysey (285 pages) is a thorough description and analysis of the events leading up to the Balcombe Street siege in London in December 1975. It features a Foreword by Lord Imbert, who as a Detective Superintendent, acted as a hostage negotiator. The book has clearly benefitted from personal interviews given to the author by Lord Imbert, John Purnell, and other police officers involved in the event. The author also deals with the hostage negotiation from a specialist, psychological interest in this aspect of sharp-end police work. Published by the Haworth Press and available on-line through its own website at www.theroadtobalcombestreet.com
DNA Crime Investigations, by Stephen Wade (187 pages) is a good account of interesting cases in which DNA has been involved. It starts with an explanation about DNA and its more recent developments, the historic cases such as Robert Melias and Colin Pitchfork, and then runs through 18 other cases, some of which were concluded in 2009. ISBN 978 1 84563 105 5 £19.99 Published by Pen and Sword
Unsolved London Murders - The 1940s and 1950s by Jonathan Oates (168 pages) contains 19 chapters, firstly dealing with the police and criminal underworld of London in the 1940s and 1950s, and then one case per chapter of an unsolved murder. Some of these are contentious for other reasons (eg Who killed Beryl and Geraldine Evans at Rillington Place in 1949?), and the last chapter deals with whether the murder of Elizabeth Figg in 1959 might have been the work of 'Jack the Stripper'. Includes a good number of street scenes photographed by the author. ISBN 978 1 84563 102 4 £16.99 Published by Pen and Sword
Great Hoaxers, Artful Fakers & Cheating Charlatans by Nigel Blundell & Sue Blackhall (222 pages), recounts, in 32 chapters, various hoaxers, including the false tale of survival of the attack in New York on 9 September 1901, through to forgeries such as the Adolf Hitler diaries. ISBN 978 1 844680 63 4 £19.99 Published by Pen and Sword
Miscarriages of Justice - Famous London Cases by John J Eddleston (153 pages) sets out the details of nine cases, involving 12 people, eight of whom were executed. Five of the 12 have since been pardoned. Cases such as Arthur Devereux, Steinie Morrison, Frederick Henry Seddon, Timothy Evans and Derek Bentley are included. Some of these have consumed many volumes of written material arguing for or against the verdict reached on the day, and readers will no doubt experience a range of opinions about each chapter in this heroically concise book. ISBN 978 1 84563 096 6 £12.99 (paperback) Published by Pen and Sword
And for Jack the Ripper enthusiasts, Jack the Ripper - Scotland Yard Investigates by Stewart P Evans and Donald Rumbelow is a collaboration between two ex-police officers who have studied the case since 1960, including a photograph of the police officer who came closest to catching the Whitechapel Murderer red-handed, an analysis of important evidence, an analysis of whether there was a police solution to the murders, and a history of the London police including the social unrest of the time. Published by Sutton ISBN 9 7807 5094 4228 7. Through bookshops, or on-line
The first of the National Archives Crime Archive series was published in June 2007 with the title Jack the Ripper by Val Horsler, a writer on historical and heritage themes. The book's 108 pages contain extracts from the original police reports, illustrations, an account of the Whitechapel murders and some of the theories, past and present about the killings. ISBN 978-1-905615-14-8 priced £7.99 from publisher's The National Archives - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/bookshop/ More titles in the Crime Archive series include - Burke & Hare by Alanna Knight; Dr Crippen by Katherine Watson; John Christie by Edward Marston; Mrs Maybrick by Victoria Blake; and Ruth Ellis, also by Victoria Blake.

Villains is a page-turning no-holds-barred account of underworld deals, blaggings, fit-ups and hair-raising stories from policing London in the 60s and 70s, written by Dick Kirby in a style that is not for the faint-hearted. Published by Robinson, 2008 ISBN 978-1-84529-569-1 or on-line. You're Nicked is an insider view of the operations of the Flying Squad from the 1960s on to the 1990s, including details of an operation with the Serious Crime Squad told for the first time, a fraudster who had it in his power to bankrupt a small European country, and some frank, amusing and hairy incidents in the colourful career of former Detective Sergeant Dick Kirby. The book is well-structured, has a very thoughtful Foreword by John O'Connor and good continuity between the chapters. Many of the stories have nice introductions, and then, as you read the stories themselves, you can really hear Dick Kirby the raconteur relating what happened, complete with punch lines, and feel yourself in the same room with the people in the story. Published by Robinson ISBN 978-1-84529-463-2 or on-line

Crime Scene Investigator - Gripping True Stories of Forensic Detection by Paul Millen. Paul Millen started his career in the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory, and then became a well-respected Scenes of Crime Officer working in London's East End and later on the Flying Squad where at one stage he worked with Dick Kirby (above). There are some excellent stories of forensic crime investigation, but also an account of how he left the Met and developed a forensic crime facility for Surrey Police. Publisher: Robinson ISBN 978-1-84529-663-6 or on-line

Truly a Great Victorian - The Biography of Sir Edward Bradford.

The Real Sweeney -Stories of the Flying Squad by Dick Kirby

Behind the Blue Lamp - The history of police stations in North and East London

Police Gallantry - The Story of the King's Police Medal

The Missing Museum - The story of the Bow Street museum project