New Crime & Mystery Fiction Titles From Blake Pub 08 Oct-Dec

File Updated: 30/03/2009

New Crime & Mystery Fiction Titles From Blake Pub OCT-DEC 08

Roger Cook Roger Cook's Ten Greatest Conmen Published October 2008 by Blake Pub at Ł17.99 ISBN: 1844546462
Their stories are remarkable - from the tale of Gregor McGregor the man who invented a fictional South American country, raised international loans on behalf of its 'government' and sold much of its non-existent land to would be settlers in the 1820s, to Peter Foster, the king of bogus slimming 'cures' and friend of page 3 models and a certain Prime Minster's wife. Roger Cook and Tim Tate - television investigators who have spent a lifetime exposing crooks across the world - tell the extraordinary stories of men and women who invented the most extravagant scams of all time, including: Eric Hebborn, the master forger who conned the art world into buying thousands of his fakes;Arthur Ferguson, who 'sold' Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and even the White House to gullible American investors; Michael Jeffery, the man behind the greatest rock 'n' roll rip off ever; John 'Goldfinger' Palmer, the man who was almost single-handedly responsible for the largest-ever-timeshare fraud: 17,000 victims in a con worth GBP100 million; and Frank Abagnale Jr, the real-life 'Catch Me if You Can' conman who successfully impersonated a pilot, a teacher, a lawyer and a paediatrician...and swindled $2.5m across 26 countries.
Discover how they fooled countless individuals into handing over their cash, how their scams netted millions and how police battled to bring them to justice. This incredible book is the definitive guide to the world's most outrageous cons.

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Steven Fielding The Executioner's Bible Pbk published November 2008 by Blake Pub at Ł7.99 ISBN: 1844546489

It is a little over forty years since the gallows was last used in Great Britain, and the secrets behind the men who pulled the lever and dropped the condemned to their deaths are to this day shrouded in mystery. "The Executioner's Bible" tells the story of the working-class men who carried out this gruesome profession until its abolition in the late 1960s. The art of dispensing instant death at the end of a hangman's rope was an exact science, and the men who undertook these duties received special training at an executioner's training school. In their day and age many of these characters assumed the profile of infamous celebrities in their own right, their reputations often rivalling the notorious criminals they were charged with despatching. Despite often being unassuming and professionally quiet, men like Albert Pierrepoint, William Billington and many other Chief and Assistant Executioners made a name for themselves in a world hungry for salacious and gruesome news. This is the story of these men - the truth about how Britain hired and fired its hangmen - and their stock in trade: the hanging of convicted criminals. Beginning at the turn of the last century with the infamous Billington family, whose dynasty ended in tragedy in the execution chamber; through to the bungling hangmen sacked for incompetence; drunken executioners dismissed for brawling; one hangman driven to suicide and another who 'got out just in time', to the last men to pull the lever at the height of the swinging sixties - the secrets of over six controversial decades of capital punishment are finally revealed. They were the last of their kind: the hangmen of the 20th Century. And this is their fascinating, sometimes repugnant, always enthralling story.

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James Marrison The World's Most Bizarre Murders Published December 2008 by Blake Pub at Ł14.99 ISBN: 1844546675
Take, for example, Enriqueta Marti who had kidnapped children from the streets in Barcelona, then boiled away their flesh and crushed their bones for ingredients for her coveted 'magic potions'. Said to be prevent ageing, the potions were snapped up by the ranks of the wealthy until two children were found alive in Marti's house. Or take Randy Kraft, known as The Scorecard Killer, who was a computer genius by day and deranged psychopath by night. Finally arrested with a corpse slumped in the passenger seat of his car, it emerged that Kraft had spent over a decade cutting up and disposing of his 150 victims along the Californian highways.In this blood-curdling collection of twisted tales, true crime writer James Marrison draws upon the material that has featured in his hugely successful column, The murder file, in cult magazine "Bizarre". His research has taken him all around the world in order to disclose the kind of sickening deeds that are perpetrated more often than you might think, but which sometimes go largely unreported by the media. The stories in this fascinating collection range from high-profile cases to long-forgotten crimes buried in police archives all over the world. From real-life witches, to mad scientists and killer dwarves, all the stories have one thing in common- a uniquely bizarre twist. If you think you've got the stomach for the blood curdling, the deranged and the downright strange then look no further than these pages. You have been warned…

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Mark Brandon Read Chopper 9 Published November 2008 by Blake Pub at Ł17.99 ISBN: 1844546470
What is a certified fact is that these tales are sure to have you laughing and wincing in equal measure. Based on his extensive experience in the under world, Chopper has compiled a veritable feast of rogues and reprobates for your delectation, whose amusing and extreme criminal antics are guaranteed to have you hooked. Hot on the heels of his previous collection of stories, "Chopper 9" is a must-read for any self-respecting Chopper fan. So what are you waiting for? Chop, chop - get reading!

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