Scotland Yard's First Cases

by Joan Lock

When Scotland Yard’s first detective branch was set up in 1842 crime was very different from today.

The favoured murder weapon was the cut-throat razor; carrying a pocket watch was dangerous; the most significant clue at a murder scene could be the whereabouts of a candlestick or hat; large households (family, servants and lodgers) complicated many a case and servants sometimes murdered their masters.

Detectives had few aids and suffered many disadvantages. The bloody handprints found at two early murder scenes were of no help, there being no way of telling whether blood (or hair) was human or animal. Fingerprinting was fifty years away, DNA profiling another hundred and photography was too new to help with identification. All reports had to be handwritten with a dip pen and ink and the only means of keeping contact with colleagues and disseminating information was by post, horseback or foot.

In spite of these handicaps and severe press criticism, the detectives achieved some significant successes. Joan Lock includes such classic cases as the First Railway Murder, as well as many fascinating, fresh reports, weaving in new developments like the electric telegraph against a background of authentic Victorian police procedure.

Charles Dickens said that Scotland Yard detectives gave the impression of leading lives of strong mental excitement. Readers of this book will understand why.

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

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Ex-policewoman JOAN LOCK is the author of non-fiction books and crime novels. She has been a regular contributor to the police press and the journal of the Crime Writers' Association. She has also written short stories, radio plays and radio documentaries. She lives in London.

Reviews

[SheLove2Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars for content, 2 for presentation.

[Boadicea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd book. The stories themselves are quite interesting, but the writing style leaves something to be desired. There are abrupt changes in cases, some stories feel undone, and the further you get into the book, the more disjointed it becomes.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book received from NetGalley.

I enjoyed this book about the beginnings of Scotland Yard. The turf wars between them and the Bobbies, the lack of true investigative science, and the lack of communication between the police of London and those of the suburbs. I just wish it had been a bigger book. I highly suggest it to anyone who is interested in the history of London or a true crime aficionado.

[T.G. Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly informative and easy to read

As someone who writes crime fiction set in 1896 London, I've conducted a tremendous amount of research into the era to ensure my portrayals are as accurate as possible. Though my works are set after the period covered in Joan Lock's book, I still found Scotland Yard's First Cases highly informative. I'm a firm believer in knowing where something has been in the past in order to inform the portrayal of it in the future. Joan's book covers everything beyond the particular cases, from handcuffs to police expenses and even a passenger's experience of a dimly lit railway carriage.

Joan paints the world of the early Scotland Yard detectives in a way that's informative without being condescending. If you're writing about Victorian Era Scotland Yard this book is a must. Victorian London enthusiasts will also find something new between the covers.

[MaKensie Tully · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cool book that details the switch from local/village police forces to the birth of the Investigator. It also covers in detail how these detectives had to solve cases way back then. For instance, in one they use the knowledge of how servants only carry pewter candle sticks in the night to know how one servant was lying. Little details like that light up my inner historian. These detectives had to utilize a whole different skill set to solve these crimes

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historian, Maybe. Writer, No

While the subject matter is interesting, the writing is terrible! Run-on sentences, unrelated, desultory paragraphs, misuse of punctuation. Extremely difficult to follow. I found myself several times flipping back the pages, wondering "What the hell is he trying to say?"

[Trisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to DNF this book because it wasn't holding my attention. The subject itself has real potential but Lock's style of writing just isn't for me. I had a hard time figuring out what she was trying to portray and the book lacked any kind of cohesiveness.

[Richard Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this I was amazed the Yard ever solved any crimes. No fingerprints, no bloodwork, no DNA and only very basic autopsy work and yet the men of Scotland Yard solved burglaries, robberies, fraud cases and murder. The latter are, of course, the most interesting. What surprised me was how many descriptions of suspects paid particular attention to their clothing and how often this description was pivotal in their arrests. But then you realise how many people of the time, particularly the poorer, possessed only the one set of clothes.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive and insightful collection of the early cases of Scotland Yard that shows how it came in to being and how it grew and developed, gradually establishing itself and other detective groups across the country.

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure whether it was the lack of structure and editing in the Kindle version of this book, but I found this book difficult to read. There were no discernible paragraphs, which made the book seem to go on forever, I frequently found myself checking how many pages were left until the end of chapter before deciding if I wanted to carry on reading.

The story itself seem a bit rambling and unstructured, the timeline jumped around from one crime to another crime, previous crimes were brought back in and then gone again, again it made the book difficult to follow. The book had a lot of potential and I feel the author would have done better to structure each chapter around a crime that highlighted the advancements, and issues of the police force. The last chapter related back to the Bow Street Runners, who hadn't been mentioned for several chapters, while giving a very rushed and glib, then the police did this and then this and then this followed. The detectives names all become jumbled and again this could be because the author begins by referring to them as constable... , sergeant... and then later when they resurface they aren't given their title, just a surname, it became difficult at points to decide if the person was a police officer or a criminal.

I don't think the concept of the book was well used, it could have been much more interesting and engaging than it was.

[Yibbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a different world it was, and Lock pictures it so clearly for us. She has included numerous quotes from the original police reports, newspaper articles, and period accounts so it reads very authenticly. If you are interested in the background of some of Dickens’ and Collins’ most famous detectives, this book will introduce you to the real-life heroes they were patterned after.
It’s a very compact history with lots of cases and very little if any filler between them. Sometimes, it moved a bit too abruptly between cases. I would be thinking they were talking about the conclusion of one case and they had really started the next. The chapter divisions didn’t make much sense either. It covers some of the politics they had to deal with, but not much.
I greatly appreciated the delicate way she dealt with the most sordid details of many of the crimes. The language was also quite clean. So my thanks to the author for that. It will get a higher rating for that.
I received an advanced review copy for free through NetGalley and Endeavour Press. I’m assuming that the editing errors and missing sentences are corrected in the published version.

[Rik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't be bothered to finish, got seven chapters in and had enough. It's too light, and simply breezes through a tonne of cases, throwing names and dates at you and attempting to build a picture of how the detective squads were formed. Its just too much brief information thrown at you with no real depth or examination or citing of sources. It feels like wikipedia pages and trivia stiched into a vague narrative. Fails as good history or true crime. Not for me.

[Steven Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Scotland Yard’s first detective branch was set up in 1842 crime was very different from today.

The favoured murder weapon was the cut-throat razor; carrying a pocket watch was dangerous; the most significant clue at a murder scene could be the whereabouts of a candlestick or hat; large households (family, servants and lodgers) complicated many a case and servants sometimes murdered their masters.

Detectives had few aids and suffered many disadvantages.

The bloody handprints found at two early murder scenes were of no help, there being no way of telling whether blood (or hair) was human or animal.

Fingerprinting was fifty years away, DNA profiling another hundred and photography was too new to help with identification.

The detectives had no transport and were expected to walk the first three miles on any enquiry before catching an omnibus or cab and trying to recoup the fares.

All reports had to be handwritten with a dip pen and ink and the only means of keeping contact with colleagues and disseminating information was by post, horseback or foot.

In spite of these handicaps and severe press criticism, the detectives achieved some significant successes.

Joan Lock includes such classic cases as the First Railway Murder, as well as many fascinating, fresh reports, weaving in new developments like the electric telegraph against a background of authentic Victorian police procedure.

Charles Dickens said that Scotland Yard detectives gave the impression of leading lives of strong mental excitement. Readers of this book will understand why …

Praise for Joan Lock

‘Thorough account of important early cases dealt with by Scotland Yard.’ – Professor B. J. Rahn

‘a better picture of the development of the detectives and the CID in the 19th century Metropolitan Police than any other book I have read.' – Alan Moss

‘vivid detail’ – Historical Novel Society

Joan Lock is an ex-nurse and former policewoman. Joan has also written short stories, radio plays, radio documentaries and eight crime novels. She lives in London.

[Carrie Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting read! The only reason I've given it 4 stars is because it was sometimes confusing keeping all of the names and places straight, and because some of the sentence structuring was a little bit clunky (something I'm often guilty of myself, which is why I had such a critical eye on it). That being said, despite not being a Londoner myself, it was extremely informative and gave a clear picture of how British policing went from fumbling around in the dark, hoping for a stroke of fortune, to the beginnings of the very scientific methodologies we employ today. Additionally, it starkly and unashamedly illustrates the political attitudes of the era, most notably lack of representation and how the 'great unwashed' were blithely ignored by the ruling classes - only to be used for personal agenda and advancement. It also paints a picture of the excruciating damage inflicted on the service by the press, which is still very much in existence in the 21st century.

I obtained the book via Kindle Unlimited, but I'll be buying a physical copy very shortly. One of my dearest friends is the daughter of a former Eastend officer who became one of the six original (WWII trained) instructors whose job it was to form the basis for the armed response team, during the infamous gangland scenes of 1960's London. A decade later he did the same for the Toronto police, where he still lives today, a sprightly gentleman in his 90's. I'm sending it to his daughter, so that she might enjoy it and then send it on to her wonderful dad. I'm sure there'll be much he can relate to, and many of the Victorian tales he undoubtedly knows to reminisce over. Thank you for presenting me with a gift for two people whom I adore, and will definitely enjoy it immensely.

[Madelon · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I see laudatory statements about a book included, in bold print, in a book's blurb, it is disappointing to find that I can't really agree with any of them.

SCOTLAND YARD'S FIRST CASES seems to have different subtitles (on different covers) "The World of Detective Inspector Jack Whicher" and "A Window into the World of Mr. Whicher" that don't seem to make it to the title page of the book. If you are a fan of British television, you may be aware of the series "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher." The first episode, "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: The Murder at Road Hill House" is based on an actual crime. I had watched this program and felt the need to watch it again because the author felt that others had covered this sensational case in detail so she gave only a cursory summary. Although Jack Whicher is mentioned every now and again throughout the narrative, he does not seem to merit being the focus of the book.

I have read extensively on the Ripper case. I am comfortable with the language of the Victorian writers and journalists, yet I found SCOTLAND YARD'S FIRST CASES to be a rather disjointed (and hard to follow) telling. There are definitely too many parenthetical ramblings breaking up descriptions of crime and suspects that make it hard to follow the main point. The book is not well formatted for reading on Kindle. It lacks breaks to indicate that what follows is a new case. All of these faults make it a less than memorable reading experience.

There is a second book in the Scotland Yard series, SCOTLAND YARD CASEBOOK. Whether or not I read it is up for debate.

[Trick Wiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scotland Yard's First Cases how so interesting this book is!! Interesting to go so far back to read about how cases were solved way back in the day when you think of how the same cases would be solved today and how far advanced we are with technology than with what little the detectives had to use back then!! Follow each case and see if they got their man and how hard it was to do it but surely they had to have their doubts on for sure they had The right person or people unless they got confession .. some would call it good old detective work!!From 1865-1935 follow the case and see how it was done in England and how Scotland Yard got its reputation and the fantastic problem solvers in that day and time!!Follow these famous murders and see what you think how you would go about solving these crimes ..I love mystery crimes and these make you think!! No DNA ,just plain old problem solving common instincts !!Joan Lock pulls you into this story where just good old fashion reasoning counts and see why Scotland Yard holds the very best!!!

[Colin Garrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1842 Scotland Yard set up the first detective branch. With very little to help in their pursuit of villains, the group was faced with a difficult task. Fingerprinting and DNA didn’t exist and there was no efficient means of communicating between one officer and another – let alone between different police forces.

Joan Lock has written widely on the highs and lows of those early detectives, and in this book she relates dozens of cases that challenged their investigative powers, including the first railway murder and the work of Jonathan Whicher (who later went on to investigate the murder at Road Hill House).

Though meticulously researched and packed with authentic detail, the book is an easy read and as entertaining as it’s possible to be when describing robberies, assaults and murders. A great read for anyone interested in the work of detectives from the mid-1800s up to the time of Jack the Ripper.

[Petra Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was long debating with myself if I should give it 3 or 4 stars. I would go for 3 1/2 if this was possible. The content was certainly very interesting and well researched, but the narrative was a bit jumpy and could have been better structured. Plus, I felt rather overwhelmed by the avalanche of names, various police and detective forces and job titles. Phew. Maybe the problem being that it is really two books in one, the history of police and detective forces, and a collection of historic criminal cases and the way they were solved (or not) in times before the arrival of any kind of forensic sciences. And both books being intermixed makes it an interesting, but also a rather challenging and exhausting read.

[Cameron Turnbull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I thought the book was alright. It gave some interesting information on various crimes committed across the 19th century. It went over various aspects of the crimes and how they were either solved or unsolved.

In the beginning it felt like the writer was attempting to find her stride as a few of the chapters were a little difficult to follow. However by the midpoint of the book each chapter was a lot easier to understand.

I would recommend this book to people interested in history or true crime.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crimes of antiquity a basis for learning

Usually I have to wonder what rating to get a book this was a no brainer five stars. I love that I love finding out origin stories of actual things and events in this book does not disappoint all the way from the original London peacemakers to the new police to what forms today’s DC eyes in London. This is a great book I’m sure I’ll read it again.

[Susan B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting historical study in how much inter-agency rivalry there was back then. Not unlike some local police forces and the Feds, but much more blatant. The lack of education for some of the people hired - mostly because it wasn't even available at the time - made their work very challenging It's amazing they solved anything it seemed at times. Good read.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief look at the start of organised policing in the UK.....

I felt this account needed more explanations for some of the English and the way of speaking in the 1800’s. This would have made it easier to read and absorb without being bogged down with the structure. Still enjoyable though, and recommended for history buffs.

[Barry Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

I thoroughly enjoyed this book on Scotland Yard’s first cases, the public’s perception and the early failings which were not all their fault but mainly down to the system. It would appear as time moved forward that conditions greatly improved for the officers and therefore a better police force was born.

[Keith Withers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative

This appears to be an extremely well researched and accurate history of the birth, formation and development of the new police and detective force introduced so successfully in London and eventually many parts of the English countryside. A very interesting and informative read.

[Danielle Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A whistlestop tour through the early cases of these Victorian detectives, this is full of facts about the cases and techniques. However, the style (and it feels the editing?) are clumsy in places. I read it as a reference work for fiction based in the period, and for that it is a good source.

[cathy lanier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

This was a nice relaxing and informative book. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys crime and history books. This is the type of book that can be read several times.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting and informative account of the early years of Scotland Yard, including many case histories many of which remain unsolved.
For those interested in how crimes were investigated in the days before forensic science, this is a must read.

[Desley (Cat fosterer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tag line 'An insight into the World of Mr Whicher' is a bit misleading, as he isn't featured that much, but an interesting insight into life then, and the challenges such as not having easy ways of communicating, or identifying suspects.

[Marc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like newspaper crime reports, which is probably where the source material came from. I was expecting it to develop prominent characters from Scotland Yard history, or present cases that helped develop the agency into what it is, but nope.

[Alayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engrossing read about the setting up of Scotland Yard - the detective branch of the Metropolitan Police Force. Unfortunately it was badly laid out which made some of it a bit hard to follow. But still fascinating.