Book recommendations.

[FISHY1118]

So in this case all the victims including the 8 year old girl are mistaken or lying that it was rolf harris that abused them ?, and he is completley innocent ?

Is that the case in your opinion after reading the book?

[Herlock Sholmes]

A few years ago I went out for a drink with an old mate and a few others. One of the others was his brother who was a Solicitor and we got talking about crime. Someone mentioned Jimmy Savile and someone else mentioned the celebrities who had been arrested and found not guilty after lengthy periods (Cliff Richard, Paul Gambaccini, Jim Davidson, Jonathan King, Dave Lee Travis [apart from one trumped up charge]). Then the conversation got around to Rolf Harris. A couple of those present were quite vocal in their opinion which was the opinion expressed in all of the media. The solicitor though said “I wouldn’t be so quick to judge if I were you.” He then starting talking about ‘witch hunts’ after Savile and pointed out about the Carl Beech who spoke about being abused by a huge government level paedophile ring (which included murder) involving well known names like Leon Brittany and others. The guy was found to be a liar and he’s now serving a lengthy sentence. Anyway the solicitor said that he knew of quite a few people, intelligent, educated, legally-minded people, who had very serious doubts about Harris’s conviction after a virtual trial by media; especially in the wake of the undoubtedly guilty Savile.

After this I did a bit of checking up online, there’s a group campaigning for him, and found some extremely alarming facts. Not conspiracy stuff or wild imaginings or just a desperate family trying to salvage a reputation either. Proper, provable facts. Then a few days ago I saw an Ebook written by a former NZ police officer who was brought in for as an investigator on Harris’s 2nd and 3rd trial. It’s called Rolf Harris: The Defence teams Special Investigator reveals the truth behind the trials by William Merritt.

Miscarriage of justice cases get plenty of interest and traction but less so when alleged crimes of this type are involved because of our very natural revulsion but this book is worth reading. It might not be a ‘popular’ opinion but I do think that that Harris was probably the victim of a miscarriage of justice and was part of this witch hunt. A combination action of the ‘no win no fee’ offers and the guarantees of anonymity are real temptations and while all potential victims should be listened to with sympathy and fairness (something that certainly hasn’t always happened in the past especially in rape and sexual assault cases) it was made public at the time that possible victims “will be believed.” So an assumption of honesty?

He had three trials. In the first there were 4 complainants, Harris had no investigator working for him and so was completely reliant on police evidence and he was found guilty on all. In the second and third there were a total of 7 complainants, by this time he had his own investigators to look into the evidence thoroughly and he was found either not guilty or the jury could convict on all complaints. To add to this, at the first trial the very first complainant was the most serious because she was very young at the time of the alleged offence (8 years old rather than a teenager) so this set the tone for people’s opinion of Harris. They took this one to the Appeal Court and it was shown categorically that Harris had never met her and it was 100% proven that he’d never been at the venue that was claimed. The charge was thrown out on appeal. The doubts about the 3 remaining complainants just mount up.

With Savile you had so many people claiming over the years that everyone knew that he was ‘creepy.’ It was common knowledge. There’s just none of that with Harris. He had 2 affairs but one of the girls claimed that it began before she was 18 but the evidence doesn’t back this up. This is a worrying case and a book worth reading imo.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I’ve just finished a real cracker of a true crime book. It’s the Dublin Railways Murders by Thomas Morris. It’s about the bloody murder of a railway cashier in Dublin 1856 called George Little. One man was tried for the murder but found innocent although many believed him guilty. This is a really well written book which keeps you interested all the way through. Some books imo tend to add pointlessly irrelevant detail simply as padding but there’s none of that here. Definitely recommended.

Curiously the last two books that I’ve got from Amazon are both signed copies despite not being advertised as such. I might order The Pickwick Papers next

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hello Herlock,

Beau Brummel reminds me of a colorful character in American History, Diamond Jim Brady. He lived in a time when the motto was if you've got it, flaunt it. If you are not familiar with him here is a little introduction:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Jim_Brady

By the way, I know the American Civil War is on your reading list? When are you going to get around to that? Just wondering.

c.d.

Hi c.d.

Being a Bob Dylan fan I was wondering if he was the figure behind a character in the Dylan’s song Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts? Apparently he might have been.

Ive currently got around 12 books on my ‘to read’ pile but like an idiot I keep buying them! I really should stay out of charity shops for a while. One of them is Battle Cry Of Freedom by James McPherson which is very highly rated so I’m hoping to get onto that one pretty soon. I did read The Hour of Peril by Daniel Stashower which is about the plot to kill Lincoln as he travelled to Washington to take office. Excellent book.

[c.d.]

Hello Herlock,

Beau Brummel reminds me of a colorful character in American History, Diamond Jim Brady. He lived in a time when the motto was if you've got it, flaunt it. If you are not familiar with him here is a little introduction:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Jim_Brady

By the way, I know the American Civil War is on your reading list? When are you going to get around to that? Just wondering.

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I didn’t even know there was a band called The Beau Brummels until they were mentioned in this book Scott.

[Scott Nelson]

Weren't there 4 or 5 of them? They broke up in the mid 1960s.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Just finished a cracking biography that I recommend. It’s called Beau Brummell: The Ultimate Dandy by Ian Kelly. I bought it just because I passed Brummell’s statue in Jermyn Street about 10 days ago and I was undecided what to book to order but I’m glad that I did. It really evokes the era well and makes you wish that you could have seen and heard him. His decline and eventual death in a French asylum was such a sad end. Excellent book.

[Herlock Sholmes]

The Baddeley & Woods book is a republication of their 2009 book Saucy Jack: The Elusive Ripper.
Inspired by the 2008 Docklands Exhibition, they give a boilerplate overview of the crimes, the main suspects, the Ripper in popular culture, and other “Rippers” throughout history. With contributions from psychologist Jon Ogan and a few members of the Whitechapel Society. Not bad. Not essential.

JM

Thanks for that Jon. I thought that the authors names were vaguely familiar but I hadn’t got around to checking. I just looked at my shelves though and I do have Saucy Jack.

[jmenges]

The Baddeley & Woods book is a republication of their 2009 book Saucy Jack: The Elusive Ripper.
Inspired by the 2008 Docklands Exhibition, they give a boilerplate overview of the crimes, the main suspects, the Ripper in popular culture, and other “Rippers” throughout history. With contributions from psychologist Jon Ogan and a few members of the Whitechapel Society. Not bad. Not essential.

JM

[Herlock Sholmes]

I was in The Works today (which for non-UK posters is a shop that sells, amongst other things, remaindered books.)

I saw Jack the Ripper: The Murders and The Myths by Baddely and Woods for £3. It’s a sign of the times with books but I didn’t bother. If anyone tells me that they’ve read it and that it’s not the pile of crap that I assumed it to be then I’ll go back and pick up a copy.

A better find though was A Passion For Pouson by Carol Ann Lee also for £3. A book about Graham Young the poisoned which I’m looking forward to getting on to. I’ve read a couple of her books in the past. It’s a little sad for her though that her book should now be on sale in the cheap shop for £3 when it only came out last year!

[Herlock Sholmes]

Just read Kingfish: The Reign Of Huey P. Long after seeing a brilliant 2 part Ken Burns documentary (every KB documentary I’ve seen so far has been brilliant) Brilliant book. Long was an amazing person. He achieved a lot of good things for the poor but he was corrupt, a bully and a merciless in ruining the lives and reputations of his opponents. I can recommend the book and the doc.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I just finished looking through Jack The Ripper Suspects by CJ Morley. It’s almost 700 pages long but you can buy the book split into 2 volumes. It lists 443 suspects, many of them of course were either ‘confessors’ and many were of brief interest after committing other crimes but this book is certainly worth getting imo. So many names that I’d never heard before and many names I hadn’t heard mentioned for years. Weirdest suspect mention? Constance Kent……Gladstone…….MacNaghten!

An added bonus was the entry on Van Gogh. There were a few exchanges on here a few years ago with Dale Lerner who was proposing Vincent as a suspect. He didn’t take criticism too well. Like having it pointed out that Van Gogh was in France at the time of the murders. In fact he got quite snotty. CJ Morley informs us though that Larner’s efforts to raise the $8000 required for publishing by crowdfunding only failed by $7456. What a surprise.

Dale……where are you?

[Enigma]

The Wodehouse "Golf omnibus" is a bit of a hoot. One does not need to be a golfer to appreciate the humour.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I've just got "The World Of Jeeves" omnibus.

Funny to think Wodehouse could have been hung for treason.

I missed this post for some reason Al. Yeah, old Plum was a bit naive to have made those broadcasts. They were innocent and non-political of course but he admitted that he’d been stupid. Could have been an nasty outcome though. When I get back from holiday I’m thinking of getting a Wodehouse biography but as you’d expect there are a few to choose from. Looks like Amazon reviews might have to be the deciding factor.