This book brings to life a selection of the most notorious, and
grimmest, murders and other crimes in and around Liverpool from the
eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. The tales include
'Fire in the Menagerie', 'Murderous Propaganda Against Prostitution',
'HMS Thetis - A Floating Tomb', and 'The Mass Graves of Old Swan'.
Alongside these the author examines lesser-known cases such as 'The Hope
Street Bodysnatchers', 'The Telltale Brooch' (the Liverpool pub landlady
who was the main catalyst for the capture of Dr Crippen) and 'The Prime
Minister's Assassin' - when Spencer Percival was murdered in the House
of Commons by a disgruntled Liverpudlian civil servant. Unusual crimes
also feature including 'The Man in the Iron Coffin', 'The Cheapside
Vampire', and the family of extremely violent Victorian muggers, 'The
Murderous Mulveys'. The story continues into the early twentieth century
with the Edwardian gangs of Liverpool (the original Teddy boys) and the
'Tithebarn Street Outrage'. The author also describes methods of
punishing criminals in Liverpool through the ages and the role of the
grisly Castle and Tower of Liverpool, where public hangings took place
outside its walls and which became the disease-ridden town gaol in the
nineteenth century. When the last hangings took place in Britain in the
1960s, one of them was carried out in Liverpool prison. This book will
fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime, as well as
those who want to know more about the story of Liverpool.
