The Hunt for Dr and Cora Crippen

by | | Crime history, Victorian detectives

I first read about the infamous Dr Crippen when I was researching the work of the Scotland Yard detective, Walter Dew, who wrote about his investigation into this notorious homicide in his memoirs. Since then, I’ve given talks on this fascinating case, which includes...

On the Trail of Florence Maybrick

by | | Crime history

The intriguing case of convicted Liverpool poisoner Florence Maybrick was the first historical murder that drew my attention, after watching a documentary on her story some 20 years ago. I was so fascinated that I started researching Victorian murder for the very...

The Liverpool Poisoners

by | | Crime history

While I was leafing through the Liverpool Watch Committee minutes for my doctoral research, I came across a rather intriguing handbill about the death of Thomas Higgins due to arsenic poisoning. It was tucked away in between the pages of the ledger with no reference...

The Murder that Created Scotland Yard

by | | Victorian detectives

One of my most exciting moments whilst researching detective history for my PhD at the National Archives was holding the list of the first Scotland Yard detectives in my hand. Although it is a rather unprepossessing handwritten document, seeing the names of some of...

L’Affaire Lafarge

by | | French crime history

Forensic toxicology is one of the most intriguing areas of crime history, and the detection of arsenic poisoning holds a grim fascination to this day. I’ve combined my interest in historical poisoning cases (I do have a small collection of poison bottles in my...

Vidocq, the Criminal Detective

by | | French crime history

Dubbed the father of crime detection, and the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, French criminal-turned-thief-taker, Eugène-François Vidocq established the world’s first police detective department in Paris, in 1812. He is alleged to have pioneered many investigative...

John Tawell and The Electric Constable

by | | Crime history

When Sarah Hart was murdered on New Year’s Day, the pursuit of the prime suspect became the first ever case in which the electric telegraph was used to capture a killer. On 1 January 1845, Mary Ann Ashley of Bath Place, Salt Hill, a suburb of Slough, spotted a man...

Manchester’s Sherlock Holmes

by | | Victorian detectives

Detective Jerome Caminada, of the Manchester City police force, was a true Victorian super sleuth and a real-life Sherlock Holmes. A master of disguise and an expert in deduction, he tracked shady characters and nefarious criminals through his city’s dark underworld,...