Book picks similar to
Warrington Murders and Misdemeanours by Julia Joyce


crime
dark-britain-challenge
17th-century
18th-century

Hubbub: Filth, Noise, and Stench in England, 1600-1770


Emily Cockayne - 2007
    Focusing on offenses to the eyes, ears, noses, taste buds, and skin of inhabitants of England’s pre-Industrial Revolution cities, Hubbub transports us to a world in which residents were scarred by smallpox, refuse rotted in the streets, pigs and dogs roamed free, and food hygiene consisted of little more than spit and polish. Through the stories of a large cast of characters from varied walks of life, the book compares what daily life was like in different cities across England from 1600 to 1770.Using a vast array of sources, from novels to records of urban administration to diaries, Emily Cockayne populates her book with anecdotes from the quirky lives of the famous and the obscure—all of whom confronted urban nuisances and physical ailments. Each chapter addresses an unpleasant aspect of city life (noise, violence, moldy food, smelly streets, poor air quality), and the volume is enhanced with a rich array of illustrations. Awakening both our senses and our imaginations, Cockayne creates a nuanced portrait of early modern English city life, unparalleled in breadth and unforgettable in detail.

Crossing the Line: Losing Your Mind as an Undercover Cop


Christian Plowman - 2013
    When he finally achieved his ambition, becoming one of only a dozen full-time undercover officers, the reality of covert work turned his life into a nightmare.To catch criminals, Christian bought and sold drugs with taxpayers' money, was beaten up, arrested at gunpoint and barricaded in a pub by a gang of marauding travellers - all in a day's work. At one stage, he was running almost a dozen mobile phones to keep track of his different identities and had so many aliases that he nearly forgot who he was. He put his life on the line for the job but was to find that being the 'best of the best' wasn't all it was cracked up to be. The pressure became so intense that he even contemplated suicide.Crossing the Line is a visceral, gripping account of what it really takes to be an undercover cop, going behind the scenes to reveal the harsh realities of modern covert police work.

Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculations


Simon Schama - 1991
    But Dead Certainties goes beyond these more conventional histories to address the deeper enigmas that confront a student of the past. In order to do so, Schama reconstructs -- and at times reinvents -- two ambiguous deaths: the first, that of General James Wolfe at the battle of Quebec in 1759; the second, in 1849, that of George Parkman, an eccentric Boston brahmin whose murder by an impecunious Harvard professor in 1849 was a grisly reproach to the moral sanctity of his society. Out of these stories -- with all of their bizarre coincidences and contradictions -- Schama creates a dazzling and supremely vital work of historical imagination.

The Duke's Agent


Rebecca Jenkins - 1997
    Justice Raistrick.When a young woman dies in tragic and mysterious circumstances, Jarrett is accused of her murder and has to fight for his life as he desperately seeks to uncover the truth.Is there a serial killer on the loose? Can Jarrett solve the case in time to clear his name?And what about the whispering rumours of the sinister figure calling himself The Tallyman…?THE DUKE’S AGENT is the first book in the Raif Jarrett Regency Mystery series: historical murder mysteries with a traditional British detective embarking on a private investigation in nineteenth-century England.

Daughters of Britannia: The Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives


Katie Hickman - 1999
    Unstuffy it is. Hickman, whose writing is graceful and sprightly, describes the unusual and often difficult lives of Foreign Service spouses. Tracking these feisty transplants from the 17th century to the present, she shows how these very significant others coped with everything from tropical epidemics to kidnappings to small household budgets. Warm-weather reading.

London Lore: The Legends and Traditions of the World's Most Vibrant City


Steve Roud - 2008
    In the process, it shows how the story of Dick Whittington and his cat has connections with the ancient Middle East, explains why lions rather than ravens at the Tower of London were once felt to be inextricably bound up with the city’s fate, and pinpoints precisely where the story of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, was first recorded. Exploring everything from local superstitions, to ghost stories, to annual customs, this is an enchanting guide to the ancient legends and deep-rooted beliefs that can be found the length and breadth of the city.

Dirty


Robert White - 2013
    He is the enemy.Stewart hatches a plan to destroy the evidence against him, but what he finds inside those files, is evidence of a vile paedophile ring operating under McCauley’s nose.Now three people are dead and Dave Stewart is the prime suspect.

The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Kings & Queens of Britain: A Magnificent and Authoritative History of the Royalty of Britain - The Rulers, Their Consorts and Families, and the Pretenders to the Throne


Charles Phillips - 2006
    Illustrated history ofroyalty in Britain

The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer


Kate Summerscale - 2016
    Their father had gone to sea the previous Friday, the boys told their neighbours, and their mother was visiting her family in Liverpool. Over the next ten days Robert and Nattie spent extravagantly, pawning their parents' valuables to fund trips to the theatre and the seaside. But as the sun beat down on the Coombes house, a strange smell began to emanate from the building. When the police were finally called to investigate, the discovery they made sent the press into a frenzy of horror and alarm, and Robert and Nattie were swept up in a criminal trial that echoed the outrageous plots of the 'penny dreadful' novels that Robert loved to read. In The Wicked Boy, Kate Summerscale has uncovered a fascinating true story of murder and morality - it is not just a meticulous examination of a shocking Victorian case, but also a compelling account of its aftermath, and of man's capacity to overcome the past.

The People Traders


Keith Hoare - 2008
    The People Traders follows the young girls abduction and preparation for her new life. However, not all is going well for the trafficker, when a bizarre set of events gives the girl her freedom. Now she's on the run in a hostile country and her new owner wants her back, no matter what the cost! Will she give up, accept her new life or fight for the most converted of all human possessions - her freedom?

White Heron


J.J. Marsh - 2021
    All she wants is a place to run and hide. Where better than a tiny shack between the Brazilian jungle and the Atlantic Ocean to appreciate the natural world and obliterate her memories?Hermit-style living goes well until a local is murdered in shocking circumstances. Violence has followed her 5,000 miles to a remote fishing village? Against her will, Ann is drawn into a murder investigation, in close proximity to the last thing she needs: a smart cop.Erasing history is a challenge but unlearning experience is impossible. Ann knows trouble when she sees it. Surfers are dealing drugs and the man in snakeskin boots is their supplier. She tells herself it's not her problem. But when drug wars come to the beach, it's everyone's problem.She knows it will end in blood and tears.Must she take flight again?

Cold Land: A Mystery Thriller


John Oakes - 2017
    The agency has fallen on hard times and jumps at the chance to have a Texas Ranger in its ranks. Jake soon realizes the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is staffed with a collection of undesirables dumped from other state and local agencies, but he has no choice but to help chase down leads on a fraud investigation. An investigation that turns up a freshly murdered corpse. Partnering out of necessity with one of the BCA's odd ducks, Jake doggedly pursues answers in the stabbing death of a local fraudster. His search for truth takes him into rural Minnesota where nothing he encounters is as it first seems. After navigating newly released convicts, illicit affairs and a secretive family pretending to be Native Americans, Jake gets closer to the murderer than he even realizes. After infiltrating a heist teeming with potential suspects, Jake fits the pieces of the puzzle together. But just as he identifies the killer, one last under cover role has his mental state unraveling before his eyes. Cold Land is a slow-burning mystery with a thrilling conclusion, but is also a tale of loss, identity and the will to survive. Its gripping turns and vivid characters will leave you thinking long after the tale is told.

Married to the Assassin Boss


Coco Shawnde - 2020
    

The Assassin's Gift, Book Two


Ian C.P. Irvine - 2018
     For Salvador, killing is an art-form and a way of life, until during an accidental meeting with a mysterious monk on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland, Salvador is given a rare, unwanted gift: the ability to heal people. Cursed and burdened with a 'gift' he cannot give back, Salvador must evaluate his life afresh, being able to kill with one hand, and cure with the other. Denying his Gift, he takes on his toughest assignments yet: to achieve the impossible by killing a top Scottish crime lord, Tommy McNunn, whilst locked up - and protected - inside Scotland's impenetrable and most secure prison, nestled amidst the Scottish Highlands. And then to kill DCI Campbell McKenzie, the man responsible for McNunn's imprisonment. Now also hunted by Russia's top agent who is ordered to kill Salvador at all costs, Salvador discovers that everything in life happens for a reason, and that life and death are two sides of the same coin. A coin which he now owns. But who is Salvador? What is the secret that protects his life? Why has he been given The Gift? And 'how' does he manage to pull off the crime of the century? If you're looking for a new author to fall in love with and the Thriller of the Year!, look no further. Treat yourself to The Assassin's Gift. Download and read it NOW! The Assassin's Gift is a fully independent novel, but may be read in a series following 'Say You're Sorry' and ' I Spy, I Saw Her Die'. Please note: This is BOOK TWO of a Two Part Series. Book One is currently free on most ebook retailer sites, so please download and read Book One first, for free. Alternatively, readers are always recommended to purchase the full Omnibus edition containing both Book One and Book Two.

A Deadly Compulsion


Michael Kerr - 2016
    Following the accidental death of her daughter, Kara, she has transferred from the Met up to Yorkshire. The slower pace of life and change of scene proves beneficial, up until three young women are brutally murdered. Laura has to face the fact that a serial killer is operating on her patch, and the case file has landed on her desk. With no forensic evidence or apparent motive, Laura soon – and unofficially – contacts an old friend who had also been her lover; Jim Elliott, an ex-FBI profiler now living in the UK and running a successful PR company in London. Jim reluctantly agrees to consult on the case, to bring his ‘mind hunting’ skills to the aid of Laura and her team, to hopefully identify and apprehend the homicidal maniac known as the Tacker.