What do you think?
Rate this book
Murder by Numbers: Fascinating Figures behind the World’s Worst Crimes
What’s the connection between the number 13 and Jack the Ripper? Why is the number 23 of note in the assassination of Julius Caesar? And what is so puzzling about the number 340 in the chilling case of the Zodiac killer? The answers to all these questions and many more are revealed in this unique, number crunching history of the ultimate crime.Packed with 100 entries ranging from 1 to 1 billion, Murder by Numbers tells the story of murder in an entirely new way – through the key digits involved. Discover why the length of a bath was critical to convicting a killer, how the weight of a trunk helped police crack a case and why a fake house number was central to a seemingly unfathomable murder mystery. Full of astonishing figures, from fatal doses of poison to grizzly death tolls, this gripping armchair guide also covers scores of famous cases such as the Black Dahlia, Acid Bath Murderer and Yorkshire Ripper. Featuring murders involving Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, Neville Heath, Lord Lucan, Ted Bundy, Harold Shipman and even Adolf Hitler, it’s a must for true crime addicts, history buffs or anyone who has ever longed to solve a classic ‘whodunit’.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published January 31, 2018
7 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 12, 2020
Read via Kindle Unlimited!
This non-fiction true crime read explores the numbers and statistics behind some of the world's truly horrific crimes throughout history and how important they are when it came to solving them. It was an OK read. Slow pacing. Most of these cases I had read about before, some in detail, so some of the notes and knowledge weren't new to me. If you are new to reading true crime, you may like this book!
This non-fiction true crime read explores the numbers and statistics behind some of the world's truly horrific crimes throughout history and how important they are when it came to solving them. It was an OK read. Slow pacing. Most of these cases I had read about before, some in detail, so some of the notes and knowledge weren't new to me. If you are new to reading true crime, you may like this book!
April 25, 2023
James Moore loves numbers. In the first page he points out that about 108 billion people have lived and died and that the WHO estimates that a person is murdered every sixty seconds; just more proof of my chaos theory, or, it is all just a roll of the dice. Over 400,000 homicides are committed worldwide every year.
The first known victim was from over 400,000 years ago. A skull found in Spain revealed head wounds as the cause of death. We have been killing one another for a long time. Documents dating back 2,000 years show trials and executions of murderers.
In the twelfth century, Thomas Becket had the top of his head cut off on the orders of the king but was later canonized by the pope. Another martyr for the One True Church.
Public hangings in Victorian England drew crowds of up to 50,000 who would party like it was 1999(apologies to Prince). Charles Dickens was disgusted by the spectacle.
William Burke and William Hare are two of the most entertaining killers profiled. The Irish born pair killed fifteen people and sold their corpses to medical doctors to be used as educational tools. The shortage of freshly dead bodies launched a lucrative industry.
Chapter eleven focuses on bite mark evidence and my man, Ted Bundy is one of those done in by his teeth. His choppers matched those of a bite on one his victims. Bye bye Teddy boy.
Cain and Abel, Rasputin and the Romanov's, Jack the Ripper, Dr. Crippen, Leopold and Loeb, Lizzie Borden, The Black Dahlia, Charles Whitman, Wayne Williams and Adolf Hitler are all included in this volume. The Austrian may have killed his first lover shortly before his rise to power. Dozens of other lesser known cases are also here.
The book is a good read for any truly crime addict.
The first known victim was from over 400,000 years ago. A skull found in Spain revealed head wounds as the cause of death. We have been killing one another for a long time. Documents dating back 2,000 years show trials and executions of murderers.
In the twelfth century, Thomas Becket had the top of his head cut off on the orders of the king but was later canonized by the pope. Another martyr for the One True Church.
Public hangings in Victorian England drew crowds of up to 50,000 who would party like it was 1999(apologies to Prince). Charles Dickens was disgusted by the spectacle.
William Burke and William Hare are two of the most entertaining killers profiled. The Irish born pair killed fifteen people and sold their corpses to medical doctors to be used as educational tools. The shortage of freshly dead bodies launched a lucrative industry.
Chapter eleven focuses on bite mark evidence and my man, Ted Bundy is one of those done in by his teeth. His choppers matched those of a bite on one his victims. Bye bye Teddy boy.
Cain and Abel, Rasputin and the Romanov's, Jack the Ripper, Dr. Crippen, Leopold and Loeb, Lizzie Borden, The Black Dahlia, Charles Whitman, Wayne Williams and Adolf Hitler are all included in this volume. The Austrian may have killed his first lover shortly before his rise to power. Dozens of other lesser known cases are also here.
The book is a good read for any truly crime addict.
August 28, 2018
4.5*
I really enjoyed this as it is different to any crime book that I have read before as this connects crimes to numbers, it also included some cases that I'd never heard of before, of course it did include more high profile cases, but I still found them interesting as it was more number focused than just details on the cases which you may have heard/ read before.
If you're a fan of true crime I would definitely read this.
I really enjoyed this as it is different to any crime book that I have read before as this connects crimes to numbers, it also included some cases that I'd never heard of before, of course it did include more high profile cases, but I still found them interesting as it was more number focused than just details on the cases which you may have heard/ read before.
If you're a fan of true crime I would definitely read this.
October 7, 2020
Could not finish due to horrible
December 3, 2024
Interesting read.
The author was quite keen on Jack the Ripper, he did get a lot of airplay
The author was quite keen on Jack the Ripper, he did get a lot of airplay
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews