Perfect murder: A century of unsolved homicides

by Bernard Taylor, Stephen Knight

From the mysterious death of William Saunders, whose beaten body was discovered in a pond near Penge cricket club, south-east London in 1877, to the spooky demise of Charles Walton whose death is believed to have been linked to witchcraft, unsolved murders litter British history.

Authors Bernard Taylor and Stephen Knight, experts in the unravelling of unsolved crimes, re-investigate seven classic cases from the last hundred years. Creating in lively detail the background to each crime and the course of the police investigation, they reveal clues, interpret evidence and describe, where possible, the characters and motives of the alleged killers.

In many instances the authors have unearthed previously undiscovered facts—none more startling than in the case of the lurid Brighton trunk murder of 1934, where Tony Mancini, initially cleared of the time, confesses his guilt to Stephen Knight.

Rediscovered and republished in a new paperback edition, Perfect Murder is an eye-opening and gripping read, serving as a stark reminder that justice does not always prevail...

Genres: Nonfiction, Crime, True Crime

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Bernard Taylor was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, and now lives in London. Following active service in Egypt in the Royal Air Force, he studied Fine Arts in Swindon, then at Chelsea School of Art and Birmingham University. On graduation he worked as a teacher, painter and book illustrator before going as a teacher to the United States. While there, he took up acting and writing and continued with both after his return to England. He has published ten novels under his own name, including The Godsend (1976), which was adapted for a major film, and Sweetheart, Sweetheart (1977), which Charles L. Grant has hailed as one of the finest ghost stories ever written. He has also written novels under the pseudonym Jess Foley, as well as several works of nonfiction. He has won awards for his true crime writing and also for his work as a playwright. It was during his year as resident playwright at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch that he wrote The Godsend. There Must Be Evil, his latest true crime study, is to be published in England in September.

Reviews

[Deanne]

Interesting accounts of unsolved murders, some I hadn't heard of. Combines my love of history with that of true crime.

[Adam Thomas]

An exploration of seven "unsolved" murder cases, re-examining evidence and court proceedings to consider the true solution. The premise was promising, but the cases weren't as mysterious as I had hoped, or indeed as engagingly presented. The main conclusion was that "it was the obvious suspect at the time who did it." Perhaps the main lesson of this book is how you can get away with murder even when you leave lots of evidence behind and produce contradictory statements to account for your movements.

[Emma]

By definition a book about unsolved murders is always going to be a little unsatisfying, although I did think the authors did a good job of theorising who the killer was or at least what the likely motive/cause was, on the basis of the evidence available. All up, this book was an intriguing read and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in crime (reading about it, that is).

[Sam Arnold]

This book is perfect for a true crime fan like me. I had never heard of any of the cases and as coincidence had it many of them were near me. The storytelling is brilliant with every Murder and kept you reading.

I have read Stephen Knight before but not Bernard Taylor I will definitely look for more of his books.

[Zoe Radley]

I couldn’t finish this book as I just couldn’t get into it. I found it a bit odd and not really engaging.

[nadine]

ill finish this later, it got too boring and i feel like i need to read it in a narrow time range, like a readathon or something.

[Ruth]

c1987: The book I read was the paperback version which does not appear to have been added to the database. I was adding but then had some issues with loading the cover and lost all energy. There are seven cases discussed and extensive use is made of police and court records. He has also made use of books/memoirs written by some of the major players in the original investigation. The most interesting feature to me was that the author would go back to the scene of the crime and describe what is was like now. Several of the cases have been used by modern authors as a basis for some of their books eg the murder discussed in the Tragedy of the Luards was turned into a novella by Minette Walters titled, A Dreadful Murder (2013). Recommended to the crime buffs within the normal crew. 'If Dickman had killed Mrs Luard he would surely have destroyed any incriminating evidence, not carried it about with him to be found by anyone who chose to look in his pocket.'

[Michael Ritchie]

Interesting, but a little dry.