Nostalgic recollections of wartime Britain often forget that when the
blackout was enforced at night in an attempt to foil Nazi bombers a
crime wave, cloaked by the inky black darkness, ensued on many of our
streets. There were petty crimes, robberies, sexual assaults and, as
The Blackout Murders reveals, some horrific murders took place on our
home front during the Second World War. Some of them still rank among
the most shocking crimes in modern British history.
Some of the murders recounted within the pages of this book remain
infamous, others are almost forgotten and some remain unsolved to this
day. Several cases have new light shed on them from recently released
archives and records uncovered by the author. Every case has been
carefully selected for its reflection of wartime conditions and each one
has a powerful, poignant and tragic story to tell.
Readers will gain insights into the darker narrative of our home front
and learn about some of the men and women who strove to maintain law and
order under the most challenging circumstances. Others innovated and
developed ground-breaking forensic techniques to identify bodies,
recognize if foul play had occurred and as a direct result brought
murderers to justice who may otherwise have gone undetected and
unpunished.
Anyone reading The Blackout Murders will never look at Britain's Home
Front during the Second World War in the same way again.
