Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #812357 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Synopsis
We are all drawn to understand the circumstances that lead others to commit unforgivable acts of violence - the moment that turns a caring human being into a killer, the series of events that drive ordinary people to murderous acts of inhumanity, or the slow, premeditated steps of the callous criminal. And the circumstances - and the twisted motivation - behind such violent acts are the subject of Caroline Maxton's fascinating investigation of individuals whose misdeeds have tarnished the history of the Croydon area. She investigates a wide range of murders and unexplained deaths, some of which are truly stranger than fiction. The events cover a span of several centuries, and the locations will be chillingly familiar to the inhabitants of Croydon.

Local crimes that hit the national headlines, like the Bentley case of 1952, are covered in fresh detail, but the author concentrates on less well-known but equally intriguing, and shocking, episodes - the bizarre 'mustard and cress' murder of 1870, the brutal murder of Eliza Osborne in 1877, the Kenley Stud Farm mystery of 1921, the Birdhurst Rise poisoning of the late 1920s, the notorious unsolved murder of 11-year-old Miles Vallint of 1959. For this journey into Croydon's bloody, neglected past, the author has selected over 20 notorious episodes that give a sharp insight into criminal acts and the criminal mind. Her grisly chronicle of Croydon's hidden history - the history the town would perhaps prefer to forget - will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the dark side of human nature.