DC Gary Goodhew is intelligent, intuitive and the youngest detective at Cambridge's Parkside Station. He is the first on the scene when the body of a young woman is discovered on Midsummer Common and for the first time in his career is given the chance to work on a murder investigation. Soon there is an identity for the victim: Lorna Spence. Richard Moran, her boyfriend and employer, has reported her missing and is distraught to discover that she has been killed. He claims she was loved by his staff and his sisters, reserved Alice and vulnerable Jackie. He says she had no enemies but it isn't long before Goodhew discovers plenty, including her high maintenance colleague Victoria and Goodhew's reckless former classmate Bryn. They both swear that they have nothing to do with Lorna's death but Goodhew knows someone is lying. Then there is another brutal murder and Goodhew knows it is time to use his own initiative to flush out the killer, even though it means risking his job and discovering the truth about the one person he hopes will be innocent.
All it took was one small item on the regional news for Kimberly Guyver and Rachel Golinski to know that their old life was catching up with them. They wondered how they'd been naive enough to think it wouldn't. They hoped they still had a chance to leave it behind - just one more time - but within hours, Rachel's home is burning and Kimberly's young son, Riley, is missing. DC Gary Goodhew begins to sift through their lives, and starts to uncover an unsettling picture of deceit, murder and accelerating danger. Kimberly seems distraught but also defensive and uncooperative. Is it fear and mistrust of the police which are putting her son at risk, or darker motivations? With Riley's life in peril, Goodhew needs Kimberly to make choices, but she has to understand, the one thing she cannot afford is another mistake.
James Billington, formerly a pub entertainer and then a barber, had been single-minded in his determination to secure the post of executioner for London and the Home Counties. But did he really feel he was primarily a benefit to society and justice, or were his reasons for wanting the position more personal? Three of his sons, Thomas, William and John, followed in his footsteps and together the family were responsible for 235 executions in Great Britain between 1884 and 1905. "Billington: Victorian Executioner" provides a complete account of the stories behind James Billington's 151 executions, as well as introducing the reader to the real man behind the rope. This fascinating biography is an exciting addition to any true crime bookshelf.
Contained within the pages of this book are the stories behind some of the most notorious murders in Cambridgeshire's history. The cases covered here record the county's most fascinating but least known crimes, as well as famous murders that gripped not just Cambridgeshire but the whole nation. From the mysterious barn fire at Burwell that killed 76 people to the unsolved murder of Cambridge shopkeeper Alice Lawton; from poisoning in St Neots the murder of a 15-year-old drummer boy whose ghost haunted the killer and drove him to confess, this is a collection of the county's most dramatic and interesting criminal cases. Alison Bruce has gone back to original records and documents to uncover the truth about these extraordinary crimes. Using contemporary illustrations and tracing the stories through the words of those who were actually there on the ground, she re-creates the drama of case and courtroom. Cambridgeshire Murders is a unique re-examination of the darker side of the county's past.
Praise for Cambridge Blue:
'You are pulled relentlessly in as Bruce racks up the tension.
Menacing and insidious, this is a great novel'
- R J Ellory.
'An exciting debut from a very promising new talent'
- Paul Johnston.
'A fast-paced gritty tale guaranteed to have you hooked from beginning to end'
- Cambridgeshire Pride.
'Meaty and deeply plotted' - Morning Star.
'DC Gary Goodhew could just develop into
a worthy succesor to those venerables of the police procedural
now drawing their pensions' - Tribune.
'A gripping tale of murder and mystery' - Cambridge Style.
A Review of Cambridge Blue
Cambridge Blue is due to be published in paperback on 22 July 2010. My proof copy has a front-cover endorsement from R J Ellory, he says 'Menacing and insiduous, this is a great novel', with such a positive comment from one of my favourite crime authors, I was really looking forward to getting stuck into this one. Roger was spot-on, this is a thrilling and well-written page turner of a story.
Cambridge Blue is the first in a new police detective series featuring DC Gary Goodhew; Goodhew is new to the Cambridge force, newly promoted and still only 25 years old.. DC Goodhew is assigned to a murder case; Lorna Spence has been found murdered and at first it seems that she was well-liked and admired by everyone that knew her - it doesnt take Goodhew long to uncover some startling skeletons in her cupboard. What is refreshing about Goodhew's character is that he is a bit of a loose cannon - he is unconventional in his methods and his inexperience, eagerness and a little bit of naivity gives him something of an edge. He is not afraid to upset his superiors and he is not afraid to take risks. It certainly makes a nice change to read of a Detective who is not an 'almost alcoholic' or troubled by failed relationships.
Saying that, Alison Bruce has definitely left it wide open to develop Goodhew's character throughout the series - there are hints of mystery about Goodhew - vague references to his sister and parents and he is unusual that he spends most of his spare time with his Grandmother - a wonderful character who appears to know him better than anything.
The plot of this novel is fabulous, starting with Lorna's murder and quickly unravelling to implicate more and more very well-drawn characters. The tension builds throughout the story to an almost unbearable level at times, there are red-herrings, surprises, shocks and mysteries along the way, and I was certainly left guessing right up to the last page.
This is a superbly crafted thriller, a perfect beginning to what I hope will continue to be an excellent series. DC Goodhew is only twenty-five, Alison Bruce has paved the way for a long-running crime series.
Review of Billington: Victorian Executioner
The History Press, 2009. ISBN 978 0 7509 4774 9. 224 pages.
James Billington was fascinated with executions. At age 11, in an activity that today would have frightened the neighbors and seen him investigated and possibly incarcerated, he built a replica of a gallows in his backyard and practiced hanging dummies. In 1884, when he was 37, his fascination became reality when he performed his first hanging. He had not previously assisted in an execution which is a testament to his self-preparation. He then convinced the authorities to employ him as the official executioner for Yorkshire. In 1891, he became England's principle executioner. Between executions he was a barber. At the time of his death in 1901, he had hanged 151 men and women.
His sons Thomas, William, and John were also involved in executions though only William and John acted as executioners. Thomas assisted with the preparation of the condemned. With William officiating at 70 hangings and John at 14, the family total is 235. The last execution by a Billington was in 1905.
If you've read much Victorian literature, particularly crime fiction, you know of the threat of the gallows. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes said that he had handled over 500 cases of capital importance meaning that an execution that resulted from many of those cases could have been carried out by a Billington.
The author chose to present a cross-section of the executions handled by the Billingtons rather than feature only high profile cases. Fueled by alcohol, rage, desperation, and desire, women and children were too often the victims in the crimes. But there are also cases of incredibly callous taking of a life. There are the baby farmers Amelia Elizabeth Dyer, Amelia Sach, and Annie Walters, for example. A baby farmer took advantage of economic hardship in families by adopting children for payment. It seems more like what we call foster care today. They were to care for the child or place it with another family. Instead, some pocketed the money and murdered the babies.
James Billington handled the high-profile execution of Dr. Thomas Cream, who poisoned prostitutes in England and Canada. We think of Victorian England as stuffy and prudish but prostitution was widespread and Bruce describes just how widespread it was and how pathetic the lives of the prostitutes. The profile of Cream is fascinating, a sociopath and serial killer who couldn't help drawing attention to himself. There has been speculation that Cream might have been Jack the Ripper. Indeed, just as he was dropped he is reported to have said 'I'm Jack the ...'. Billington wanted to be known as "The Man who Hanged Jack the Ripper" and probably embellished the story in reports to further his reputation.
Alison's book is satisfying in several ways. Historically, she presents a side of Victorian England that might be unfamiliar to many of us. Putting the events into the context of the times, post-industrial revolution Britain, makes it more than a catalog of executions. Where Bruce goes into detail, we also see some of police procedures of the time. Investigations were better handled than I thought.
Perhaps more important to readers of crime fiction, Alison's shows the reader what happened after the trial. Unlike the present, there was no long delay between sentencing. The execution could not, by law, exceed one calendar month but the condemned was only guaranteed three clear Sundays. The Home Office - at the time responsible for the prison system - was very concerned that executions be properly handled, quickly and efficiently. And, by no means morbidly, Alison gives the reader a description of the procedures followed in conducting an execution.
Supplementing the test are illustrations (including trial sketches), appendices describing execution ropes, a newspaper account of the school for hangmen, and an index of executions. The author was also able to interview Nigel Preston, James Billington's great, great, grandson and William Billington's great grandson. His present day reflections on his notorious relatives nicely rounds out the book.
I highly recommend Alison's book to anyone interested in the history of capital punishment, history of Victorian England, and Victorian crime fiction.
