The Four Marks Murders
Chattaway and Spottiswood (Verlag)
978-1-9161944-2-7 (ISBN)
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This book is about a large number of deliberate or untimely deaths in what was thought to be one of the quiet backwaters of Hampshire.
In this true-life thriller, Chris Heal investigates twenty local murders beginning in Roman times, over half of them since 1900 and three within the last few years. They are all here: drug runners, people traffickers, robbers and smugglers; killers of animals, of babies, young children and the senile; those who planned revenge and sought the righting of wrongs; battle slaughter, corruption in the legal processes and mob rule.
'I don't hold a magic magnet for attracting this sort of information but you will understand that once you start asking, once you start looking, then people start talking. Odd facts jump out from unrelated pages and take new meanings. People brood for a month or two, then make contact. Collecting murders is like rolling a snowball.'
In the conclusion, Heal asks why Four Marks is the murder capital of Southern England.
Using careful research, the history of the village is revealed. From prehistoric times, Four Marks was an empty squeeze point on the road north. Formed in 1932, it lacked the heart of a medieval village. Its scrub wasteland was only lately filled by a population with far-flung roots. As well as exploding cherished myths, Heal uncovers a surprising secret that links local development to both a great political movement and one of the UK's largest corporations.
Most of the author's biography, including his many names, is explained within his book 'Disappearing'. 'Heal' went to grammar school in the West Midlands, supporting himself through a window cleaning business and by digging ditches for Britain's new motorways. He was a leading rock climber and, later, a SCUBA diving instructor. He travelled extensively in his younger years, usually by hitchhiking, through much of Europe, North Africa and the Near and Middle East, reaching India. He briefly joined the RAF and then trained as an airline pilot. He quit and was off the radar for a year. He resurfaced as a journalist and then joined IBM for twenty years, five of them in Africa, and later led the multi-million pound buy-out of their UK marketing department. He was chairman of the regional theatre In Basingstoke, worked as an oak furniture designer and maker, and advised and funded internet start-ups and small businesses. He received a doctorate in history from Bristol University, aged sixty-five. Aspects of his thesis - academically reviewed as 'first-rate, well-written with immensely impressive scholarship' - were turned into a variety of publications with over 5,000 sales. In 2018, he wrote Sound of Hunger, a well-received social history of the lives of two German brothers, u-boat captains in the First World War.
1. Battle of the Shant 1863 - Racism and the coming of the railway
2. The Elf and the Archbishop 1960 - The village's only mass murder
3. Pathways to Heaven 1919 - Pilgrims at the Observatory
4. Smugglers and the Vicar 1825 - Turning one's back in Ropley
5. Roman Remains 407 - The coming of the Saxons
6. Debris 2020 - Calling in at Four Marks
7. Sending a Message 1830 - The loneliness of the semaphore station
8. Fanny and the Wolf 1867 - Fanny Adams and the Hangman
9. Knowing One's Place 1833 -Transportation and the Swing Riots
10. Drugs at the Bus Stop 2019 - Looking after the youngsters
11. Honey and the Blackberries 1644 - Aftermath of the Battle of Cheriton
12. Trolls are Bad People 2018 - Internet justice
13. Murder on the King's Highway 1248 - Trouble with the Common Market
14. Care of the Innocents 1950s - Birth, death and ethics
15. The Phaeton, the Boy, and Fake and Dream Canals 1798
16. The Pub With No Body 1962
17. First Catch Your Low-life 1993 - Horse mutilation
18. Bunny Mayhem 1998 - Porton Down and myxomatosis
19. Gradwell's Nursery Tale 1902 - Explosives, grenade launchers and a shovel
20. The Mad Woman at Belford House 1908
| Erscheinungsdatum | 09.10.2020 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 78 B&w halftones, 2 maps |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 156 x 234 mm |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte |
| Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror ► Historische Kriminalromane | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-9161944-2-7 / 1916194427 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-9161944-2-7 / 9781916194427 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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