Somerset Murders

by Nicola Sly, John van der Kiste (Contributor)

Somerset Murders brings together numerous murderous tales that shocked not only the county but also made headlines throughout the country. They include the cases of Elizabeth and Betty Branch, a mother and daughter who beat a young servant girl to death in Hemington in 1740; 13-year-old Betty Trump, whose throat was cut while walking home at Buckland St Mary in 1823; factory worker Joan Turner, battered to death in Chard in 1829; George Watkins, killed in a bare knuckle fight outside the Running Horse pub in Yeovil in 1843; Constance Kent, who confessed in 1865 to killing her half-brother at Rode in 1860, nearly five years earlier; and elderly landlay, Mrs Emily Bowers, strangled in her bed in Middlezoy in 1947. Nicola Sly and John van der Kiste, co-authors of Cornish Murders in this series, have an encyclopedic knowledge of their subject. Their carefully researched, well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to anyone interested in the shady side of Somerset's history.

Genres: True Crime

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2008

About the author

Nicola Sly has a Masters Degree in forensic and legal psychology and currently teaches criminology to adult learners. She lives in South Wales.

Reviews

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice)]

Who would have thought that my home county would have some very scary and shocking true crime tales? I certainly didn't until I read this! Not for the faint-hearted.

[Kat]

Good Stories

This is an interesting book on historical crimes and the way they were investigated and carried out. It is interesting to find how justice was delivered in foreign countries over the years and how it helped to shape the legal system today.

[Rebecca Hill]

A good review of cases from the Somerset area. This covers about three hundred years of true crime and punishment!