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I’ve seen a few Ken Burns documentaries c.d. and every one has been brilliant especially the ones on The Civil War, Franklin and Roosevelt. The last series I watched was on Country Music and over Christmas the series on Jazz is being shown over here which I haven’t seen yet. Good stuff.
The one on Prohibition in America was also very good.
I’ve just finished reading A Desperate Business by Simon Farquhar - the story of the kidnapping and murder (although the body was never found) of Muriel McKay by Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein. This is an excellent presentation of the case which keeps you interested from beginning to end. The Hosein brothers weren’t the brightest of criminals but they were utterly impervious to the suffering of the family involved (and the victim who one of the brothers later claimed died of a heart attack when she was undoubtedly murdered) Arthur died in a secure unit in but Nizamodeen was released after 20 years and then deported back to Trinidad where he married and still lives as far as I’m aware. Well worth a read.
Regards
Sir Herlock Sholmes.
“A house of delusions is cheap to build but draughty to live in.”
To call this book a cracker would be an understatement. I really think that it’s destined to be considered a true crime classic. I bought it after reading a review from Jon Menges in Ripperologist #158 where he described the book as:”, a page-turner and probably the best true crime book I’ve read this year”.(2017)
Its called The Man From The Train by Bill James and his daughter Rachel McCarthy James.
I couldn’t agree more. Basically it’s the story of a monster. It’s written in a very down to earth, common sense way with a bit of humour here and there to lighten the load - and this is a dark story. It’s a story of a man who very possible could have killed 100+ people. James is very fair when looking at the various cases though; avoiding the leaps of faith that some writers can resort to. These are all cases where families are killed and he weighs up the ones that he’s certain about, the ones that he’s reasonably certain about and right down to one’s that he feels have an outside chance of being by the same man. I can’t fault his assessments because of the clear similarities in these crimes. 100 victims isn’t unreasonable imo but I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t more. He even finishes with a ‘possible’ in Germany (I won’t name the killer but he was possibly/probably German, and might have returned there)
Anyway, in short…….buy this book.
If you don’t like it Mr. Menges we refund the price.
"Silent Witnesses" by Nigel McCrery is a history of forensic science which is very readable.
He's the guy who came up with the tv shows "Silent Witness" and "New Tricks" too.
I just popped into the library Colin to keep me going while I’m waiting for a couple of books that I’ve ordered and I noticed that one on the shelf. I’ll make a note and grab it next time. Cheers.
Regards
Sir Herlock Sholmes.
“A house of delusions is cheap to build but draughty to live in.”
Yeah, I have had my eye on The Executioner's Song for some time. I do need to read it.
Have you seen the In Cold Blood movie? Filmed in black and white to make it even more chilling. Excellent acting.
c.d.
Hi c.d.
Yeah, I saw the film back when I was reading the book for A Level.
I recall liking it, but that was thirty years ago now, so it's probably worth another viewing!
In more recent years I've watched the Philip Seymour Hoffman film "Capote" and also "Infamous" with Toby Jones as Truman Capote and Daniel Craig as Perry Smith.
They're both worth a look too if you haven't already seen them.
I would absolutely recommend The Executioner's Song.
It's a seriously impressive piece of work, and really compelling reading.
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