The Challenge

Book Synopses

Unsolved Victorian Murders by Jonathan Sutherland (Breedon Books, September 2002) £14.99
Victorian criminals got away with murder. The police often made mistakes, forensic science was in its infancy and juries sent people to the gallows on the flimsiest of evidence. In this fresh look at 12 unsolved murder cases, the author reviews the stories, evidence and trials to shed new light on the verdicts passed by the judges and juries of the 19th century.

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper case closed by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam, November 2002) £16.99
Using the first-hand expertise she has gained through writing the best-selling Dr Kay Scarpetta novels, Patricia Cornwell uses the demanding methods of modern forensic investigation to re-examine the evidence in the Jack the Ripper murders of Victorian England.

Women who Shocked the Nation by Diane Canwell (Breedon Books, September 2002) £14.99
Chronicles the crimes of the most infamous and notorious British women of all time from as early as 1551 up to the present day. These women have been accused and convicted of offences that include a Victorian baby-farmer with a taste for strangling her infant victims.

The Casebook of Forensic Detection by Colin Evans (John Wiley & Sons, 1998) £13.50
More than two centuries in the development of modern forensic procedures come to vivid life as everything from handwriting analyses and voiceprints to ballistics, DNA testing, and psychological profiles reveal whodunnit.

Adam and Eve and Pinch Me by Ruth Rendell (Random House, 2001) £8.99
Ruth Rendell once again tackles the dark and dangerous side of human psychology. This book continues a trend initiated in earlier work by Rendell: the grafting of supernatural elements into a typical Rendellian tale of menace.

Burke and Hare: The year of the ghouls by Brian Bailey (Mainstream Publishing, August 2002) £9.99
One of the world's most gruesome and notorious criminal partnerships ran its horrific course in Edinburgh during the year 1828. Many myths surround the case of Burke and Hare, and several important questions remain unanswered. In this re-investigation the author seeks to set the record straight on the activities of the two ruthless serial killers and their culpable associates.

Acid Row by Minette Walters (Pan, August 2002) £6.99
Acid Row is a beleaguered estate, where angry, alienated youth control the streets. Into this battleground comes a young doctor visiting a patient, unaware that she is entering the home of a known paedophile and with reports circulating that a tormented child called Amy has disappeared, the vigilantes are out in force.

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