The Havant Boy Ripper: The Murder Of Percy Knight Searle

[AdamNeilWood]

New book announcement:

THE HAVANT BOY RIPPER:
THE MURDER OF PERCY KNIGHT SEARLE
by David Green

On this day 138 years ago - 11th April 1880 - Percy Knight Searle was born in Havant, near Portsmouth.

Eight years later, at just after six o'clock on the evening of 26 November, he was brutally stabbed to death in the centre of the town.

The crime provoked hysteria in the town, igniting fears that Jack the Ripper had switched hunting grounds from London’s East End to the Hampshire coast. But as the murder investigation unfolded, evidence increasingly pointed to another young boy as the culprit ‒ 11-year-old Robert Husband, the son of a coal yard keeper. He was duly arrested and sent for trial at Winchester.

Yet the murder of Percy Searle is a complex and ambiguous case, and the truth is not easily discerned, even when the facts seem clear. Havant was full of secrets, and several witnesses were obviously lying. What really happened on that dark, dismal evening all those years ago?

THE HAVANT BOY RIPPER is the first full-length study of the Percy Searle murder case. Meticulously researched, it contains all the ingredients of a classic Victorian whodunit: a dead body, a blood-stained knife, a floundering police chief, and a cast of enigmatic and fallible characters caught up in tragic events. But importantly, it is also a book about the aftershocks of child murder, and the damage caused by blame, punishment and loss.

PRE-ORDER NOW TO RECEIVE A LIMITED EDITION SIGNED AND NUMBERED COPY.
http://www.mangobooks.co.uk/book.php?b=32

[Harry D]

I was raised in Havant and still live there. Surprised I've never heard more about this to be honest.

[Pcdunn]

Originally Posted by Harry D

I was raised in Havant and still live there. Surprised I've never heard more about this to be honest.

Maybe local memory of bad things fades over time? Surprised they pinned it on another child, though I know such things happened. The youngest murderer in Colorado was ten during the wild west years, and was imprisoned rather than hanged, I think.

[ChrisGeorge]

Originally Posted by AdamNeilWood

New book announcement:

THE HAVANT BOY RIPPER:
THE MURDER OF PERCY KNIGHT SEARLE
by David Green

On this day 138 years ago - 11th April 1880 - Percy Knight Searle was born in Havant, near Portsmouth.

Eight years later, at just after six o'clock on the evening of 26 November, he was brutally stabbed to death in the centre of the town.

The crime provoked hysteria in the town, igniting fears that Jack the Ripper had switched hunting grounds from London’s East End to the Hampshire coast. But as the murder investigation unfolded, evidence increasingly pointed to another young boy as the culprit ‒ 11-year-old Robert Husband, the son of a coal yard keeper. He was duly arrested and sent for trial at Winchester.

Yet the murder of Percy Searle is a complex and ambiguous case, and the truth is not easily discerned, even when the facts seem clear. Havant was full of secrets, and several witnesses were obviously lying. What really happened on that dark, dismal evening all those years ago?

THE HAVANT BOY RIPPER is the first full-length study of the Percy Searle murder case. Meticulously researched, it contains all the ingredients of a classic Victorian whodunit: a dead body, a blood-stained knife, a floundering police chief, and a cast of enigmatic and fallible characters caught up in tragic events. But importantly, it is also a book about the aftershocks of child murder, and the damage caused by blame, punishment and loss.

PRE-ORDER NOW TO RECEIVE A LIMITED EDITION SIGNED AND NUMBERED COPY.
http://www.mangobooks.co.uk/book.php?b=32

Hi Adam

The book looks great and I look forward to reading it. If you wish, I would be willing to review the book if that would help the cause. As you might expect, I will bring critical judgement to such a review and will not stint if criticism is in order... although I suspect the project will be high class all the way. The best of luck, Adam, with this exciting book on a case that has long fascinated me.

Best regards

Chris