Blood on the Cobbles: A Victorian True-Murder Casebook

by Grahame Farrell

As a follow-up to his first two successful books, A Mix of Murders and Gaslight Villainy, Grahame Farrell’s Blood on the Cobbles is a true gem. If you liked Gaslight Villainy, you will love Farrell’s third work in which he treats us to another broad-spectrum helping of factual Victorian homicide. Here we are party to in-depth and detailed accounts of murder most foul in the form of thirteen superbly researched and written chapters, with Farrell’s ever clear, readable and articulate style portraying Victorian times vividly. This book is one for all true-crime readers seeking a taste of murders from times gone by, and is available for just the price of a coffee. Blood on the Cobbles comprises an even balance of famous and lesser-known cases. In An Error of Judgement – titled most aptly – the focus lies not so much on the murder, but more on the fool who thought he could manipulate his way to exoneration. A Matter of Honour takes a different tack, and considers the fascinating world of Victorian duelling. Exploring a quite different theme, Farrell presents in A Vocation to Kill separate and deeply contrasting accounts of two men who put their professional knowledge to the darkest of purposes - their means identical, their personalities and motives radically different. One was an outwardly upstanding and accomplished man of deep mystery, in contrast the other’s path to the farther hinterlands of malice and immorality was manifest and, frankly, astonishing. This is a striking portrayal of a man who escaped detection for a protracted period, where the origin of his profligate behaviour can be seen to stem clearly from his relationship with his parents. The Trouble with Trains – an education in itself – presents the problems of personal safety on the Victorian railway system, and the sometimes risible solutions that were proposed; and here we see again one of Farrell’s great strengths – his ability to catalogue, compare and contrast the times and crimes of Victoriana, and to profile the people who committed dastardly acts of murder. In a cracking final chapter, Farrell explores prostitution in Victorian times, laying out the various ‘grades’ of working girl that analysts of the time identified, and thus rendering the backdrop against which a mysterious death took place. Here we learn of a young and inexperienced counsel for the defence, who rose admirably to a considerable challenge. He cut methodically and relentlessly through the prosecution’s case, but what was the outcome? Was it really murder, and what was the epilogue to the events depicted in this fascinating account? Given the clear popularity of his first two works, Blood on the Cobbles cements Grahame Farrell’s status as an author of note – one to watch, a writer who is going clearly from strength to strength – and with its excellent depictions and rattling-good prose, this book is yet another for true-crime readers seeking a taste of murders from times gone by. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter The Burning Bank An Error of Judgement A Matter of Honour A Vocation to Kill A Stain on the Veneer A Note to Mrs. Reville Cobb’s Law Adventures in Murder Burden of Proof Family Business The Trouble with Trains The Last Scolding The Whereabouts of Charles Stephens

Genres: True Crime, History, Nonfiction

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2014

Reviews

[C.A. A. Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book about some outrageous crimes of the Victorian age. With death sentences hanging over many of these murderers, one might think the deterrent would thwart such crimes. When we remember our grandparents saying, "It would not have happened in my day." You will be able to respond; "What a load of tosh!"

Some of these murders were diabolical beyond extreme. Especially one of a serial killing doctor who used poisons and life insurance. Each chapter is a story of a different murder. Much of this is shocking and certainly opens one's eyes to the way Victorian Britain was. It was not the ordered and proud society many of us like to think of. It was an absolute den of iniquity.

Because each chapter was of a different murder, the cases seemed to be rushed through. Interesting though they all were, one could have devoted a full-length documentary book to each foul act.

I found the book compelling. A collection of articles to make the book. But I wanted to know more detail about each case. Perhaps that is just me. For this reason, I drop the score from four stars to three. I recommend it but some cases could have had more depth.

[brian pendergest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fine book by Grahame

Read all four of Mr Farrell books, couldn't put them down, started the fifth, should be good, hope there's more in the pipeline.

[Sue Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a history graduate and former history teacher I love to read history books, but the advantage of no longer teaching or studying it is that I am free to read whichever book I fancy regardless of how academic or not it may be. This is certainly not an academic book, it’s more of an interest book. In fact what attracted me to this book was the front cover and then the title which greatly appealed to the geek in me however I wasn’t expecting it to be great, just a bit of mindless Victorian gossip.

It turns out I was quite wrong, and it was a series of rather interesting stories of Victorian murder. The stories are given in chronological order and for obvious reasons some of them have only limited information either due to the procedures in use at the time or due to information being lost over the years. What I found particularly interesting was the development of investigative procedures and punishments. From a point of view of simply reading about interesting murders I found the chapter about doctors particularly fascinating but will refrain from giving anything away.

This was definitely an interesting book, ideal for everyone and light enough to appeal to those who would not usually read a history book and does not require any particular knowledge of the Victorian era or legal issues. Simply a nice little light interest book.

[Bettye McKee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covered some interesting crimes from the Victorian era. The book didn't have many chapters, so several crimes are discussed in a single chapter. Personally, I questioned whether the chapter on poisons qualified for "blood on the cobbles" but most of the cases discussed were ones I had not read about before.

I wasn't too wild about the "summing up" at the end of each chapter. Judges used to give the jury a "summing up" which was essentially telling them what verdict they should find. I think (and hope) that this practice has fallen by the wayside, as juries should make their decisions based on witnesses and exhibits, the evidence presented in the courtroom. Juries should be cautioned that anything said by the judge or the attorneys is not evidence and should not be considered.

All in all, this was a decent read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Victorian-age crimes.

[A.L. Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection.