Scottish Murders

by Judy Hamilton

1st trade edition paperback, fine (as new)

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Crime, Mystery, Historical, Scotland

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Robin Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scotland, you had a lot of historical murders and most of them were terrible! This book is a grim but useful primer, but I did struggle with the author's perspective at times - there are a lot of cases where the victims, especially the female ones, essentially get blamed for being murdered. (14+)

*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. If you use it in any marketing material, online or anywhere on a published book without asking permission from me first, I will ask you to remove that use immediately. Thank you!*

[Tanya Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of them really felt like they dragged on, but going into this I knew my favourite one was going to be the first one, The Bean Family, because I learned about them in Scottish History. Overall it was a fun read, and a good way to get introduced to some Scottish murders you might not have heard of.

[Sam Eiffel · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Scottish Murders' was a book with an eerie premise. I liked how each of the murders was presented like a documentary with enough suspense to hold interest and so many of the cases had me stunned to the bone, contemplating man's cruelty.
The creepiest one in the book was definitely Bible John, a Jack the Ripper kinda character who still remains in the wind and John Donald Merret. It gives me literal chills to think that Bible John could literally be anyone and could still be alive, albeit very old. It could be any sweet grandpa whom you help cross the road and honestly if anyone brags to me about their religious upbringing and their prim and proper manners, I'm sure Bible John will cross my mind.
The case of John Donald Merret shocks me because of the man's audacity. He had no problem living a criminal life and had the madness to return to his "pleasure trail" the moment he got out of prison. Besides, his end isn't even at the hands of the law which shows that he won the whole game of crime and he couldn't be captured alive.
Some of the cases made me real sad, like the trials of Oscar Slater and the case of Sheila Garvie. In case of the former, I literally felt like being on the seen and demanding justice for the poor fellow and as for Sheila Garvie, I so wished she lived in modern times so that she could have a proper life.
One of my favourite characters was John Trench, the detective responsible for bringing justice to Oscar Slater, even though he lost his job for it. He stood for justice as every policeman should and I feel he was the true hero in the books.
The story of the Bean family is something that I'm going to use for horror story nights because they seem literal myths to me but it's all true. I couldn't believe people like that existed outside of fiction.
All in all, I'm glad I read this book. Scotland has always intrigued me with its history and its gothic tales and this book was right up my alley.

[Shahrun · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels odd to say I enjoyed reading a book on murder, but this book was well written. I had read about some of the cases before, but this book was written more recently and so had better information. I also had a quick look online to update myself on some of the unsolved cases too. Reading books like this does get my blood boiling for several reasons:
1. That known scum can keep on commiting horrendus crimes against innocents,
2. That the death penalty is no longer an option. Now it is possible to prove things with advance is science and forensics. Why should we let people live who can do such things!
3. That he police/public think it is a better option for somebody, anybody, to go down for a crime. That means people that a murderer is walking the streets and (usually) reoffend!!! I do often worry with high profile cases if the right person is being convicted.

Mad Rant over.

[John Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has some interesting details about murders in Scotland that happened from the fifteenth century to modern times. From solved ones with confessions to those that remain unsolved.

There is a lot of detail on nearly every murder and it is mostly factual without much speculation. The tone does feel like it is victim blaming at times which could have been avoided.

Not an enjoyable read due to the content but an informative one. I would recommend it to fans of true crime.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to claim this was 'enjoyable, cataloguing murder after murder which took place in Scotland, but each - more than twenty-four - was described with sufficient clarity to comprehend the awfulness of the deed, along with the police efforts to identify and evidence the perpetrators. Recent advances, such as DNA are much to be thankful for (but how to prevent man's inhumanity to his fellow men and women?)

[Sieglinde · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting series of reports about murders that took place in Scotland over the past few hundred years, some of them solved cases (most of which resulted in the death penalty), some that remain unsolved to this day, and the occasional miscarriage of justice.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Factual, doesn't go into much detail but doesn't try and sensationalise the murders either.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I've been spoiled by John Stark Bellamy III's fantastic true-crime books, but this one seemed awfully dry and (forgive me) lifeless, given the subject. Not that I'm a fan of sensationalizing crime stories, but these were little more than brief recounting of facts. The very last item in the book was a history of the end of Great Britain's and Scotland's capital punishment policy, with lots and lots of numbers and data on the number of people hanged.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed in this book. When I picked it up, I thought it would be a series of murder mysteries along the gothic lines usually associated with the Scottish moors.

But it was no more than a catalog of documented murder cases. It read like a police station's log book.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very varied in regards to the period in which the murders occurred and the 'types' of murders that were discussed. This made it for an interesting read. However, I've given it 3 stars because it was quite dense and I wasn't up for reading something so condensed.

[Amanda R · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book spanning murders from the fifteenth to the twentieth century. What drives people to murder, how do they try to get away with it and what happens when they get caught? There are also a few unsolved cases.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be fair this book isn't for the literary lovers. It's basic, factual and at times boring. However it did teach me Manuel commited murders in Uddingston, my hometown! How did I not know this! (Or I have probably forgot.)

[A.L. Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting anthology covering several centuries.

[Rohan Uddin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very intriguing and bloody premise, ruined by dry and lifeless writing. Could have been so much better.