Mr. Briggs' Hat (The First British Railway Murder)

[louisa]

I have just finished reading the excellent book "Mr. Briggs' Hat" by Kate Colquhoun.

It's a very well written account of the famous Victorian railway murder of Mr. Briggs. Does anyone here think that the accused person was innocent?

I bought this book on the strength of reading about this murder, which was being discussed on another of these threads.

I was wondering if there are any other 'interesting' murders that I have missed. I already have quite a library but I am always on the lookout for books that I would enjoy reading. If anyone can suggest one I would be grateful.

[kidtwist]

Hi Louisa,

I haven't read Mr. Briggs Hat yet, but I expect I'll get around to it.

If you haven't read Swift Justice or A Shallow Grave in Trinity County by Harry Farrell, they're worth a read. The first one is about the kidnapping and murder of department store heir Brooke Hart (and the subsequent double-lynching) in San Jose, California in the 1933. The other is about another northern California kidnapping and murder, that of Stephanie Bryan by Burton Abbott in the 1955.

Another good book is Forty Years of Murder by Keith Simpson. Simpson was a Home Office pathologist and he was involved in many interesting cases.

Mark

[louisa]

Thanks for your reply Mark, and the info - I'll certainly be searching out those cases.

The Keith Simpson book sounds interesting. I've read many references to him in my many crime books. I've read a couple of books on the life and works of Sir Bernard Spilsbury and they were very good too.

I probably prefer reading about British crimes, committed no earlier than the 19th century.

[Mayerling]

Hi Louisa,

I haven't read Mr. Briggs Hat yet, but I expect I'll get around to it.

If you haven't read Swift Justice or A Shallow Grave in Trinity County by Harry Farrell, they're worth a read. The first one is about the kidnapping and murder of department store heir Brooke Hart (and the subsequent double-lynching) in San Jose, California in the 1933. The other is about another northern California kidnapping and murder, that of Stephanie Bryan by Burton Abbott in the 1955.

Another good book is Forty Years of Murder by Keith Simpson. Simpson was a Home Office pathologist and he was involved in many interesting cases.

Mark

Hi Louisa and Mark,

I read both of Mr. Farrell's books about twelve years back. They are very good, and the one on Burton Abbott manages at the end to make one question his guilt (not that it helped him - he died in the gas chamber).

Recently I read a 2004 book about a 1775-76 forgery case, THE PERREAUS AND MRS RUDD, in which the twin brothers Perreau and Daniel Perreaus mistress Mrs. Catherine Rudd were caught trying to pass forged commercial notes on Drummond's bank. The two brothers were tried first, Mrs Rudd not tried because she was to be a witness. But the action of granting her this protection (done by noted Bow Street Justice Sir John Fielding - brother of the novelist and justice Henry Fielding) was disliked by Lord Chancellor Mansfield, who demandd Mrs Rudd be put on trial. She would be acquitted. The brothers hanged. Now is it not a normal murder, but due to current treatment of forgers it is a kind of "legalized judicial murder" because in that period the state of Britain's economy was ferociously protected. The authors re Donnt T. Andrew and Randal McGowen. The publisher is the University of California Press. It is well worth reading.

[louisa]

Hi Mayerling

Thank you for that recommendation. I'm sure I'll be able to find the book, it sounds interesting.

I usually prefer to read about more up to date murders, say after the 1850's, where I can relate better to the people involved and to the justice system, which wasn't so slapdash or barbaric by then.

[Mayerling]

Hi Louisa,

Recently I have not read of any 19th Century cases, but if you want an interesting mystery (not very well known outside of Scotland) there is Christianna Brand's study of the 1862 Jessie M'Lachlan case from Glasgow that split Scottish society into two camps. The book is called HEAVEN KNOW WHO, because the case came down to believing the defenant Jessie, or the chief witness against her, an elderly man (father of Jessie's employer) who was an overly sexually active septugenarian. One of them killed the victim, Jessie's fellow servant, when the three were alone in the Glasgow townhouse one July weekend.

Jeff

[louisa]

Hi Jeff

That book sounds just like my kind of thing. I'm off to have a look on Amazon!

Thanks so much for that recommendation.

[louisa]

Update to my above post:

I've just bought a used hardback copy from Amazon.

[Mayerling]

Hi Louisa,

I finished (about two weeks back) the book about the Muller Case, MR. BRIGG'S HAT, which is called MURDER IN THE FIRST CLASS COACH in the U.S. I liked it. I like the fact the author accepts the verdict, but feels that not enough real issue and problem solving was made by the police (for example, how did Franz Muller get to the train station so quickly from where he was half an hour earlier (and how did he flee the scene of the crime) while wearing a special "slipper" for his injured foot?). It is a rather odd little murder case that does not quite fit somehow.

Jeff