Bloody business: An anecdotal history of Scotland Yard [Hardcover]

H. Paul Jeffers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1992

A history of Scotland Yard presents dozens of cases, discussing the case of Jack the Ripper; Reg Christie, who murdered six women; and the henpecked Dr. Crippen, who murdered his wife.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers of British murder mysteries, from Arthur Conan Doyle's to P. D. James's, will devour this history of the world's most famous police agency. Jeffers ( Who Killed Precious? ) does a grand job of mingling facts about the Yard--its founding in 1829, the appointment of the first detectives in 1842 and the formation of the Special Branch in 1883--with the tales of Britain's most famous criminals: Jack the Ripper (the unsolved murders still rankle at the Yard); Dr. Neil Cream, a serial murderer of prostitutes; those behind the Moors Murders, the most horrible sadists in the Yards' records; Reginald Christie, who killed at least six women and set a moron up to be executed for some of them; trunk murderers, drug dealers and IRA terrorists. Lovers of crime writing both true and fictional won't want to miss this. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Readers will derive pleasure from this lively and entertaining history of the world's most famous police force. Although Jeffers focuses on the Yard's major cases--mostly murders--he also details changes in uniforms through the years and provides such trivia as the fact that 14,212 umbrellas languished in the Lost Property Department in 1890. Beginning with an early history showing how the Yard emerged despite natural British suspicion to uniformed police, Jeffers continues to the present day. He includes famous cases like Dr. Crippen and Jack the Ripper along with homey explanations of how the Yard expanded and evolved to include traffic control and bomb squads. Jeffers doesn't flinch from showing warts, such as the 1980s fiasco that allowed a deranged man to slip past palace security and into Queen Elizabeth's bedchamber. The most interesting sections of the book deal with the evolution of forensic science and are backed up with case studies showing how criminals were caught by then state-of-the-art technology. Recommended for all crime collections.
- Lois Walker, formerly with Winthrop Univ. Lib., Rock Hill, S.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 278 pages
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble; First edition (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760712174
• ISBN-13: 978-0760712177
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Educational History, June 4, 2005

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Acute Observer (By the Shore NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bloody Business: An Anecdotal History of Scotland Yard (Hardcover)

Bloody Business
This history of British crime has some of the most fascinating and sensational cases handled by Scotland Yard. Many works of fiction portray Scotland Yard detectives as slow plodders. Or is this a class-based outlook? This book is about the "sharp-eyed blokes" who solved intricate mysteries, daring crimes, and the bloodiest of murders. It is also the record of balancing law and order with Britain's "ancient and jealously guarded freedoms" (p.4). Chapter 1 tells of finding a body in a car parking lot at Gatwick. In a few hours the victim was identified, the main suspect determined, and an arrest order sent to Massachusetts (p.10). The English system of policing was first left to local authorities, and the constable. Edward I and the Statute of Winchester returned police power to the people who were obliged to carry arms. In 1748 Henry Fielding, the novelist and playwright, was appointed magistrate and began the professional police force known as the "Bow Street Runners" (p.16). In 1829 Robert Peel created the Metropolitan Police for London. It quickly reduced thefts and robberies. The end of the Bow Street Runners eliminated this detective force (p.31). This was followed by creating a detective force in 1842, a plain clothes force. Page 33 tells of the Great Train Robbery (not like the film). Charles Dickens wrote about true crimes, and created England's first fictional detective in "Bleak House"

The author explains Sherlock Holmes' comments in "Copper Beeches" as referring to the murder of Harriett Richardson (Chapter 4). The Victorian years were marked by the most hideous crimes. This chapter tells of the murder of Francis Kent. Detective Jonathan Whicher interviewed all the household, and concluded the murderer was Constance, the older step-sister. The court and the press did not agree. Later Constance confessed and was sent to prison. Willkie Collins' "The Moonstone" was inspired by this case, and his "Sergeant Cuff" had the physical description of Sergeant Jonathan Whicher. Another story "ripped from the headlines"? Chapter 5 tells of the first murder to be committed on a train. Detective Dick Tanner followed the clues, then caught a break from a cabman. The suspect, Franz Muller, had sailed to America. Tanner left on a steamship to arrive 2 to 3 weeks before Muller. Muller was arrested, extradited, tried, convicted, and hanged. Chapter 6 has the further developments of the detective force, and some famous murder case of that era. Chapter 7 tells of "Jack the Ripper", who was never caught. Jeffers suggests an immigrant from Eastern Europe, but could he have been literate enough to write the letters?

Chapter 10 notes that A. Conan Doyle started the style of a private consulting detective who outperforms the police. The police journal replied that Sherlock did not have to take on all cases, street brawls to knife fights, for workman's wages with a politician looking over his shoulder. But A. Conan Doyle did investigate and solve a jewelry theft, and others (p.99). In the case of Oscar Slater, Doyle wrote that once the police picked out a suspect, they avoided looking elsewhere. Another writer, Erle Stanley Gardner, often wrote of this human error. Juries are told to wait for all the testimony before they reach a verdict. Chapter 11 tells of other physicians, the Doctors William Palmer, Thomas Smethurst, Edward Pritchard, and Neill Cream; all murdered by poison. The murder of Dr. Harvey Crippen saw two innovations: using radio to catch him, and forensic pathology to identify his wife's body (the head was never found).

The remaining chapters contain a selection of various crimes and punishments, and the ongoing developments of the Metropolitan Police and Scotland Yard.