Criminology, Law and legal books.
Also true crime including serial killers, Jack the Ripper, criminal biographies, famous trials etc.
Jack the Ripper and pre 20th century true crime books here.
A study of thirteen infamous villains throughout the ages including Judge Jeffreys; Marquis de Sade; G.J. Smith; Titus Oates; Richard III; Matthew Hopkins; Rasputin, Marquis de Sade.
VG cloth hardback with no dust jacket.
$15 C/B
Collins 1950 first edition, 256pp.
[TRC6 ]
VG- VG- small watermark bottom edge of DW and pages, just to the margin, light wear to DW, name to fep.
$20 C/C [TRC 16]
Heinemann 1959 first edition hardcover, ix 246pp + plates. The memoirs of the man who rose from bobby to Commander of Scotland Yard, full of information on his varied and interesting cases, including William Joyce 'Lord Haw Haw'; various spies; the IRA and Palestinian extremists, murderers etc.
VG G DW edge worn, small paint splash to cover, foxed closed edges
$15 C/B [TRC 8]
Naldrett 1956 hardcover, xi 180pp + plates, deals with the gamut of crime from petty thieves to murderers, as seen from the police of Scotland Yard.
G+ light insect damage to cloth surface.
$15 C/C [TRC 17]
Harrap 1954 cloth, 248pp + plates. Autobiography of the Ex-Chief Superintendent of the Fingerprint Bureau of New Scotland Yard.
The True Story of the nanny they called a Witch.
Nanny Carole Compton was arrested for arson and attempted murder and was suspected of malefica and casting the evil eye by her Italian employers.
The Italian police kept her in custody for 17 months before she was freed
Has good insights into the nature of superstition and the belief in magic still current in many rural European areas.
An appendix discusses the possibiliy of poltergeist activity as an explanation of the events that aroused suspicions Carole was a malefic witch.
ISBN 0852238029
true crime, arson, pyromania
VG hardback in VG dust jacket.
$15 C/C
Ebury Press 1990 first edition, 214pp.
[#4886 ]
Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, who study crimes to build a profile of suspects.
The basis for the Netflix true crime series of the same name.
This copy is the US first edition by Scribner, but it has the UK dust jacket of the Heinemann edition.
ISBN0684803763
true crime, serial killers, criminology, behavioural science, mind hunter
VG hardback in VG dust jacket.
$15 C/C
Scribner 1995 first US edition, 384pp + plates.
[#4073 ]
To free his father and himself from his mother's tyranny, Pierre decided to kill her.
In June 1835, he cut to death his mother, his sister, and his seven-year-old brother.
In jail, he wrote a memoir to justify the whole gruesome tale.
Foucault collected the relevant documents, and his reconstruction of the case is an exploration of the roots of our contemporary views of madness, justice, and crime.
ISBN0803268572
french, france, murder, sociology
VG softback with light wear, sunned spine
$20 C/B
Bison / Univ Nebraska 1982, 288pp
[TRC1 ]
G date to half title, names to title page, no wrapper, corners bumped, tail of upper joint split $10 C/C Cape 1967 first edition hard cover, 352pp [# 1396]
VG- hardback with no jacket, pen name and some pencil erasure to half title, $15 C/C Cape 1967 first edition hard cover, 352pp [# 1532]
VG- hardback with VG- dust jacket, one page has tape repair to lower margin, $20 C/C Jonathan Cape 1967 first edition hard cover, 352pp. [#1945]
VG VG
$20 C/B [TRC 9]
Peter Owen 1973 first edition hardcover, 192pp + plates. Includes Haigh, Heath and Christie. ISBN 0720603226
The notorious crime that shocked Regency London. P. D. James joins forces with historian T. A. Critchley to re-create the Radcliffe Highway murders, a series of vicious crimes committed in 1811. The scene is the London Docks near Wapping Old Stairs, a sinister neighborhood where pirates were often hanged. The first victims were two hardworking shopkeepers, along with their baby and shop boy. Twelve days later and only a few blocks away, an equally blameless pub owner was found together with his wife and servant, victims of equal cruelty and apparent absence of motive. The serial killings provoked nationwide notoriety and panic. With the atmosphere and pacing of her best novels, James reveals the rudimentary police system of Regency London coping with a major murder investigation, and crimes that rank up there with Jack the Ripper.
ISBN089296152X
VG hardback in VG dust jacket. Top edge remainder striped
$15 C/C
Mysterious Press 1986 first US edition in quarter cloth, 234pp, illustrated. [TRC 15 ]
VG hardback in VG dust jacket with faintly faded spine.
$20 C/C
Mysterious Press 1986 first US edition in quarter cloth, 234pp, illustrated. [#2851]
A biography of O.Henry by one of his prison cell mates from before he made his mark as an author.
Jennings was a small-time Oklahoma outlaw and friend of William S. Porter, aka O. Henry.
author, writer, prison diary
Good hardback with rubbed edges.
Rear hinge cracked and loosened, minor foxing, one plate loose, minor pencil notation, one page messy tear repaired with archival tape.
$15 C/C
H K Fly 1921 first edition decorated cloth, 320pp.
[#4294 ]
In 1977 Dick Lee, of the Thames Valley Drug Squad, uncovered six million tablets of LSD and 120 people were arrested in regard to an estimated 100,000,000 pounds sterling worth of LSD.
This was the cumulation of two years of investigations in England, Wales and France.
ISBN 0491021763
illicit drugs, drug cartel, european crime, Richard Kemp
VG hardback in VG dust jacket.
$50 C/C
Hutchinson (Auckland) 1978 First Edition, 382pp + plates
[#4659 ]
The true story of the war between Steve Tene and his father Carranza over the leadership of the Bimbo gypsy crime family.
ISBN 0224012525
gipsies, romany, roma, USA, crime, mafia, Chicago
VG hardback in VG dust jacket, inscription to first page.
$10 C/B
Cape 1976 first edition, 171pp.
[#5060 ]
Libby Holman was the first of the torch singers, a Broadway star whose sultry, honeyed voice was likened to a 'purple flame' when she sang the blues.
Not remarkably beautiful, she possessed an allure irresistible to both men and women, and numbered among her lovers Tallulah Bankhead, Jeanne Eagels and Montgomery Cliff.
Her marriage to millionaire playboy Smith Reynolds was front-page news.
Scant months later, a bullet ended Reynold's life on his fabulous thousand-acre estate in North Carolina.
Though Libby was accused of Reynold's murder, no conclusion was ever reached. Even her closest friends were divided as to her innocence or guilt.
That uncertainty was to shadow the rest of her tragedy-haunted life, as violent death claimed many of those closest to her, including her only child.
Award-winning author Milt Machlin's intensive research has unearthed startling evidence that sheds new light on the most sensational murder case of the 1930s, and on the character of the dazzling, erratic woman who, almost fifty years later, still occupies center stage!
ISBN 0505515334275
broadway, celebrity, blues singer, Tower 51533
VG- paperback, remainder stripe.
$8 A/B
Tower 1980 first edition paperback, 384pp.
[PB1681 ]
In the summer of 1969, a set of grisly murders shocked the population of Los Angeles and the rest of the US. Seven people lay senselessly butchered, among them actress Sharon Tait, the beautiful young wife of Roman Polanski, just a month away from the birth of their first child.
Thin strands of evidence pointed to a hippyish cult set up in an abandoned ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles, and its delusional, Messianic leader, Charles Manson.
Little was known about this would-be rock star and his peculiar 'family' of young acolytes. It was only later, after the sensational court case that ended with six of the cult members being sentenced to death, that the full, horrifying story would emerge: one in which drugs, sex, murder, mind-control, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Mafia, and even the President of America all played their part.
Atkins relates her childhood, time with the Charles Manson clan at Spahn Ranch, the 'Helter Skelter' killing spree, and her conversion to Born Again Christianity while on Death Row.
ISBN0882702297
VG hardback in G+ price clipped dust jacket with rubbing and edge wear. Inscription to front end paper.
$55 C/C
Logos International 1977 first edition, 290 pages.
[#3328 ]
Atkins relates her childhood, time with the Charles Manson clan at Spahn Ranch, the 'Helter Skelter' killing spree, and her conversion to Born Again Christianity while on Death Row.
G paperback with rubbed edges
$25 A/B
Hodder 1978 reprint, 287pp.
[PB705 ]
An account of the Manson Family, Spahn Ranch commune and Helter Skelter murder spree.
Bugliosi was the criminal prosecutor during the trial.
Cover image is still of shaven headed Robert Hendrickson as Manson from the film Helter Skelter.
ISBN0140042962
spahn ranch, counter culture, serial killer
G+ paperback with short splits at spine ends, reading curl to edges.
$20 A/B
Penguin 1977 paperback, 623pp+ plates.
[PB1637 ]
A journalist's twenty-year obsession with the Manson murders leads to new theories about the FBI's involvement in one of the most infamous cases in American history.
When assigned a magazine piece about the thirtieth anniversary of the Manson murders, O'Neill found holes in the prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's narrative, long enshrined in the bestselling Helter Skelter.
During his twenty-year effort to rebut the 'official' story behind Manson, O'Neill finds law enforcement inaction and ties to the CIA's mind-control experiments, MKULTRA.
ISBN9781785152085
Spahn Ranch, conspiracy, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, Bobby Beausoleil, COINTELPRO, hippies
VG+ trade paperback, top cm of first page trimmed off.
$20 C/C
Heinemann 2019 first edition,
[#5501 ]
The story of Charles Manson's dune buggy attack battalion.
In August of 1969, during two bloody evenings of paranoid, psychedelic savagery, Charles Manson and his dystopic communal family helped to wreck the dreams of the Love Generation. At least nine people were murdered, among them Sharon Tate, the young, beautiful, pregnant, actress and wife of Roman Polanski.
This detailed look at the Manson cult is a classic of the true-crime genre, and remains the most meticulously researched account of the most notorious murders of the 1960s.
Using firsthand accounts from some of the Family's infamous members, including Manson. References the Solar Lodge of the O.T.O. and the tenuous Crowley connection, as well as the symbolism of Helter Skelter.
ISBN 0586037179
G+ paperback with some cover wear and some old staining to bottom edges of a few pages. Pen name at head of title page.
$10 A/B
Panther 1976, 348pp.
[PB1524 ]
VG paperback with some printing error to cover losing a few millimetres of 'ED SANDERS' at top, otherwise a clean copy.
$20 A/B
Panther 1976, 348pp.
[PB1721 ]
Poor paperback with worn covers, light water soiling to some pages at front and rear
$15 A/B
Panther 1973 FIRST EDITION THUS, 348pp.
[PB1686 ]
The Sharon Tate Family's Account of Stardom, Murder and a Crusade for Justice.
Statman and Tate tell the Tate family's story in this rare glimpse at the post-trauma survival of a family, and how they have struggled to ensure the perpetrators are neither glorified or released from prison.
ISBN 9780062131867
manson murders, helter skelter, polanski,
VG softback
$12 C/C
HarperCollins 2012 first edition, 380pp + plates
[#5534 ]
Collecting testimony from previous members of the Manson family alongside new evidence linking a cult member to a murder in London, and including never-before-published crime scene photographs, this book charts Manson's terrifying rise from petty-criminal drifter to one of the most recognisable icons in criminal history, and explores the long reach of his crimes that to this day, capture the public imagination.
ISBN 9780340977019
VG+ softback
$20 C/C
Hodder and Stoughton 2009 First Edition, 440pp + plates.
[#5737 ]
The true story of 'The Girl in the Box'.
Colleen Stan was a twenty-year-old when she set out to hitchhike from her home in Washington to Southern California.
Seven years later she emerged from hell, the victim of a bizarre and chilling crime.
Cameron and Janice Hooker had literally made her their slave, forced her to endure twisted sexual perversions.
During these seven years the Hookers had two children, entertained their friends at home and held down jobs, all while Colleen was held captive in a coffin-like box under their bed.
Christine McGuire, the young, inexperienced deputy district attorney who prosecuted Cameron Hooker for kidnapping, explains why Colleen, waiving numerous chances to escape, stayed captive for so many years.
G+ paperback with reading wear, name at front.
$10 A/B
Star/ W H Allen 1990 first UK edition, 404pp + plates.
[PB1725 ]
VG G+ DW small chips and tears to edges at corners and spine ends, fore edges rubbed, unclipped
$20 C/D [TRC 13]
MacMillan 1980 first edition hardcover, 533pp.
The author writes about the A division of the Merseyside Police of Liverpool. British Metropolitan Police Force. ISBN 0333234782
On the morning of Friday 21st June 1946 a maid in the Pembridge Court hotel in Notting Hill found a woman naked and dead.
Her ankles were tied, and there were slash marks and bruising all across her body, with other signs of a violent sexual assault.
It was clear the woman was dead, and it was ascertained that she had spent the night in the company of a man named Neville Heath, an accomplished liar who had used his charm to hide his violent nature and history of petty crimes.
Heath was executed by Albert Pierrepoint on 16 October 1946 at Pentonville Prison.
Taken from the court transcripts etc of the trial of the sadist Heath.
Notable British Trials series, Bournemouth
VG+ cloth hardback with no jacket.
Two small dark spots to upper board.
$45 C/C
William Hodge 1951 first edition, 239pp + plates.
[#5745]
A collection of twelve various infamous murderers including The Ripper, Peter Kurten, Charley Peace, Lizzie Borden.
From Great Britain and the United States.
G+ hardcover with no jacket, inscription at front.
$15 C/C
Arco 1953 First Edition, 223pp.
[#5725 ]
VG- VG- light stain to fore edge, clipped fep, DW edgewear
$15 C/C [TRC 7]
MacGibbon & Kee 1968 first edition hardcover,xxv 164pp intro Graham Greene. Philby the traitor and spy writes his own story here. ISBN 261631373 espionage.
Inside the minds of three infamous murderers.
Cesare Borgia / Marie D'Aubray / Edward Pritchard.
ISBN0352303476
murder
VG paperback, name to first page
$8 A/B
Star 1979,186pp
[PB# 1028 ]
VG
$20 C/D [TRC 11]
Readers Digest 1978 ifrst edition thus, illustrated papered boards, 414 + 398 pp illustrated. Ten famous cases written up by famous authors in the Readers Digest style. Thomas Neill Cream by Elizabeth Jenkins; Flannel Foot by Michael Innes; Stanley Setty by Andrew Garve; Portland Spy Case by Ludovic Kennedy; Muriel McKay by Clive Egleton; Siege of Sidney Street by Julian Symons; Crippen by Emlyn Williams; Billion Pound Forgery (nazi Germany) by Michael Gilbert; Shepherd Bush Case by Russell Braddon; The Wembley Job by Winston Graham.These are first editions of these works by these authors.
The story of The Jackal, a pro-Palestine terrorist active in Europe in the 1970s as a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, also known as Carlos.
Probably trained by the KGB, Carlos was involved in many of the 1970s worst terrorist incidents.
ISBN 0030194814
arab terrorism, Cold War, hijacking, Orly, Mohammed Boudia, Japanese Red Army, Black September, Munich olympics
VG hardback (but paper age browning) in G+ dust jacket with some edge wear, chipping and short tears.
$15 C/C
Holt Rinehart 1977 first edition, 312pp + plates.
[#5084 ]
VG- G damaged fep, foxed edges, DW rubbed and with top of spine missing
$15 C/C [TRC 3]
Longmans 1957 first edition hardcover, x 388pp + plates,Swedish criminologist reviews his international career, includes his views on the Glozel artifacts.
The definitive investigation of the motive and meaning of the ' crime of the century'...and its aftermath
An insightful look into the characters of the two murderers and the trial that found them sane and guilty.
Sparrow asks whether they were not in fact insane in a way that the law does not recognise.
Why does the law ignore perversion as a form of insanity?
What part does sexual perversion play in murder?
Chapter X = The Sexual Pervert and the Law, XI= The Sex Slaves.
moors murders, Myra Hindley, Ian Brady, child killers, psychology
VG hardback in VG dust jacket
Three line name inscription on end paper.
$30 C/C
Odhams 1966 First Edition, 191pp + plates.
[#4554 ]
Very well detailed and broadranged look at crime from 1840 across the whole world.
All the expected suspects plus more.
VG- softback with sunned spine
$15 B/C
Panther 1968 first thus, large format, 288pp, illustrated throughout.
[#5514 ]
In 1887, Elizabeth Berry, an attractive young nurse from the grim Oldham workhouse, found notoriety throughout the nation after the death of her daughter, perceived by many to be the cruellest of murders - performed with a callousness that was almost beyond belief.
There were many who protested her innocence in the affair, but there were also suspicions surrounding another death related to the nurse: that of her mother. Suddenly Elizabeth Berry's dark story began appearing darker still.
Bernard Taylor, investigates the disturbing life of Elizabeth Berry endured during an era of grinding poverty when Victorian England was obsessed with the exploits of murderers and forensic science was in its infancy. He takes a fresh look at the demise of Berry's husband and two other young children, deaths that for a long time were considered to be of natural causes.
ISBN9780715651209
murder, true crime, British
VG softback
$15 C/B
Duckworth Overlook 2016, 242pp.
[#3459 ]
A novel firmly based on the Moors Murders case, focusing on Brady and Hindley. Almost a piece of journalism on the murder.
British murder case, deadly couple, pedophilia, child killer, Ian Brady, Myra Hindley, Saddleworth Moor, Serial Killer, Nietzsche, Nietzschean, Superman
VG hardback in VG dust jacket.
Some handling wear or surface soiling to the white jacket.
$10 C/B
C/B World Books 1968 hardcover, 352pp.
[#4751 ]
The murders, the arrest, the trial. David Yallop is the investigative writer whose previous books have solved other murder mysteries. In this book he turns to the most infamous murderer in the world today - the Yorkshire Ripper. This is the story of a man who killed his women victims with grotesque cruelty. Who eluded one of the greatest hunts in history. And it is the story of the numbing fear that gripped northern England where, if you were a woman, you might suddenly die a violent and obscene death. Following two years intensive research with police officers, the victims' relatives, pathologists, prostitutes and many others, David Yallop has produced an investigative account of murder that captures in full the evil reality of the man they called the Yorkshire Ripper. And, most remarkable of all, he identified before the arrest where the solution to the murders lay.
ISBN0708820026
G paperback, photo section detached, light handling wear
$8 A/B
Macdonald Futura 1981, 337pp + plates.[PB998 true crime]
VG paperback
$10 A/B
Macdonald Futura 1981, 337pp + plates.[PB1024 true crime]
Only thirty-three days after his election, Pope John Paul I, Albino Luciani, died in strange circumstances. Almost immediately rumours of a cover-up began to circulate around the Vatican. In his researches David Yallop uncovered an extraordinary story: behind the Pope's death lay a dark and complex web of corruption within the Church that involved the Freemasons, Opus Dei and the Mafia and the murder of the 'Pope's Banker' Roberto Calvi. When first published in 1984 In God's Name was denounced by the Vatican yet became an award-winning international bestseller. In this new edition, Yallop brings the story up to date and reveals new evidence that has been long buried concerning the truth behind the Vatican cover-up. This is a classic work of investigative writing whose revelations will continue to reverberate around the world.
ISBN9780552132886
G+ paperback
$8 A/B
Corgi 1987 (or later) revised edition. 479pp + plates. [PB1504 true crime ]
Starting as a British Police Constable in 1910, young details his police career, culminating in his position as the Commander of the C.I.D. at Scotland Yard.
British policing, autobiography, Hugh Young C.B.E., true crime
VG hardback in VG- dust jacket, chipped at spine ends and with water soiled botrtom corner.
Offset toning to endpapers, rear hinge cracked but tight.
$25 C/C
W H Allen 1955 first edition, 252pp.
[#4571 ]
The exploits of Peter Williamson, a New Zealand undercover cop.
ISBN9781869581947
true crime, justice, non-fiction
VG+ softback
$20 C/B
Hodder 1995 first edition, 239pp
[#5387 ]
McNeish covered the trial of David Bain for killing his complete nuclear family in Dunedin in 1994.
This book gives the details of the crime, the parties invovled, and the evidence of the crime scene, and finds that david was indeed the culprit, not the father as has been put forward by many.
Becoming scarce.
ISBN 0908990464
true crime, spree killer, Dunedin
VG softback, name to first page.
$25 C/B
David Ling 1997 first edition, 281pp + plates.
[#5502 ]
The New Zealand Armed Offenders Squad official history.
From Armed Constabulary to anti-terrorist commandos.
ISBN9780958371742
police, crime, law enforcement, AOS
VG softback with a minor crease to the cover.
$20 C/B
Howling At The Moon Productions Ltd. 1998 first edition, 244pp.
[#4145 ]
The Centennial book of the New Zealand Law Society.
A book by lawyers about lawyers, being a collection of essays on the history of the legal profession in New Zealand, including notable individuals and regional bodies.
lawyers, judges, chief justice, law society
VG hardback in VG- dust jacket with rubbed corners and a small area of chipping loss to rear panel.
$20 C/D
Reed 1969, 439pp + plates.
[#3606 ]
The recollections Desmond Crowe, a retired Police Officer and Local Body Politician. During his service in the police he had some unique experiences. He began his training at the Police Training School at Lyttelton in 1954.
ISBN9780473107666
VG softback
$20 C/B
Desmond T. Crowe 2005, 184pp.
[#3365 ]
Field was a New Zealand Police Dog Handler from 1974-1987. He describes his experiences of the selection, training and operation of police dogs. He saw service in Masterton and the Wairarapa, and policed the Springbok Tour protests.
ISBN0473021099
police, dog-handler, canine, memoir
VG softback with gift inscription and signed by Jim Field
$25 C/C
Wairarapa Times-Age Co. Ltd., 248 pp.
[#3460 ]
An in depth scholarly study of the case and the reaction it created in the general public and academia at the time.
The allegedly lesbian teen couple killed the mother of one who was threatening to split the pair up.
This case was the basis for the film Heavenly Creatures by Peter Jackson.
ISBN0908652542
Juliet Hulme, Pauline Parker, Lust Murder, Lesbian Youth, Folie a Deux, Crime
VG softback with gift inscription to first page.
$20 C/B
New Women's Press 1991, 214pp. with illustrations.
[#3655 ]
An excellent work on the most sensational and shocking murder of modern New Zealand times.
Written with an expert lawyer's insights, Graham explores the psychology of the relationship between Juliet Hulme (now writing as Anne Perry) and Pauline Parker.
The pre-meditated murder of Parker's mother, Honorah Rieper, on 22 June 1954 in Victoria Park, scandalised Christchurch and shocked the world, especially as there were hints the killers were a lesbian couple.
Graham details what happened to the murderers after their sentences were served.
ISBN9781877551123
true crime, Heavenly Creatures, Peter Jackson, Honorah Parker, Folie Deux, matricide
VG softback
$35 C/C
Awa Press 2011 first edition, 341pp.
[#3991{H} ]
From the annals of New Zealand's most notorious cases as handled by Alfred Charles Hanlon the famous lawyer, written by the man responsible for the Hanlon television series. In the latter years of the nineteenth century and in the first three decades of the 20th, Hanlon's name was a legend in law. While carving out a one-man law practice from the entrenched partnerships of Otago's legal society, "Alf" Hanlon was to defend, usually with dramatic success, a great number of murder cases. His defence combined a forceful personality, keen legal skills and remarkable oratory - useful attributes at a time when death by hanging awaited those convicted of murder. Contents: Prologue: The Early Years, Regina v Dean (Minnie Dean), Regina v Clements (Charles Clements), Political Interlude, Rex v Kerry, Rex v Sweeney (Hugh Sweeney), Of courts and Colleagues, Rex v Stott and Bromley, Rex v Findlay, Cartoons and Caricatures, Rex v Connolly, Epilogue: Taking Silk
ISBN0908690096
VG hardback in VG dustjacket.
$15 B/C
BCNZ Enterprises 1985 First edition, 180pp. Illustrated.
[#3000/5072 ]
Memoirs by, at the time, New Zealand's foremost barrister and judge.
Includes famous New Zealand criminal cases and the trials of Minnie Dean, Charles Clements, the Tapanui murder of Sing Tong, William Wogan and more.
criminology, trials, jurisprudence, law
VG hardback with no dust jacket. Minor rubbing wear to corners.
$45 C/B
Otago Daily Times 1939 First Edition, xii 332 + frontis portrait.
[#4290 ]
Based on British common law and the principles of the Magna Carta, the institution of the Justice of the Peace in colonial New Zealand evolved to meet the needs of the Maori custom of utu.
This history shows how JPs have had to balance both the British and the Maori sense of justice.
Includes the achievements of the early colonial JPs,from Thomas Kendall onwards, and the creating of Judicial Justices of the Peace.
ISBN9780473295967
public order, crime, justice, law, legal history
VG hardback in VG dust jacket.
$30 C/C
Media Features Ltd 2015, 160pp.
[#4311 ]
On New Year's Eve 1997, young holiday-makers Ben Smart and Olivia Hope disappeared from a party at a seaside resort, last seen boarding a mystery yacht with a mystery man. Five months later 26-year old Scott Watson was arrested and later convicted of their murders. But is Watson guilty? Keith Hunter is one of many who think not and in 2003 he produced a documentary that showed why. Now he goes further, showing how the jury's verdict was acquired
ISBN9780473117214
true crime, murder, justice
VG softback
$20 C/C
Hunter Productions 2006, 295pp.
[#3465 ]
An account of the 1983 murder of a young girl and her mothers account of the search for the child and the killer.
ISBN0908990219
Napier, Kirsa Jensen, sensible sentencing
VG softback
$10 C/C
David Ling 1994 first edition, 378pp + plates.
[TRC18 ]
The autobiography of the man accused of the Tania Furlan murder and baby kidnapping, a man who fired a rifle in an assassination attempt on the Queen, a member of a little-known NZ terrorist group, a bank robber and Ninja.
Christopher John Lewis was found electrocuted to death while awaiting trial. The question is: was he guilty or was he framed?
He claimed he was framed by another ex-con and fitted up by the police. After a string of bank robberies in Christchurch, Chris served 8 years in prison before setting himself up in business, only to be charged with the Furlan murder, which he steadfastly denied.
ISBN0958356866
true crime,
VG softback
$35 B/C
Howling at the Moon 1997, 352 pages. [#3598 ]
VG G+ DW chipped head of spine, corners and top edge rear panel, sunned spine, rear fep torn, name to fep
$20 C/C [TRC 14]
John Long 1972 second impression hardcover, 192pp+ plates. Consultant pathologist to the New Zealand Police for three decades. Famous New Zealand cases.
Author was second in command of the Red Escort Group ( police riot squad) battling the anti-tour protesters and communist insurgents within the movement. With illustrations in the text.
ISBN 0908630069
VG hardback in VG dust jacket
$20 C/C
Harlen 1982 first edition, 216pp.
[#4829 ]
VG- hardback in G+ dust jacket
$15 C/C
Harlen 1982 first edition, 216pp.
[#3364 ]
In 1895 Minnie Dean was hanged for the crime of infanticide, as was regarded as a 'baby farmer', profiting by taking in unwanted babies, whom she was supposed to care for. The prosection claimed she instead murdered them. A study of her life and crimes.
ISBN0140167633
VG softback
$25 C/B
Penguin 1994, 221pp + plates. [#2855 new zealand, crime, murder, biography, otago, winton ]
A record of the inquests, court hearing and the trial, conviction and execution of the 'baby-farmer' of Winton.
Southland, female murder, infanticide, hanged
VG- hardback in G+ dust jacket.
Book lacks free end paper, and the jacket has some large areas of chipping loss to bottom of front panel.
$30 C/B
Times Printing Service 1973 first edition, 82pp+ plates.
[#4940 ]
In 1969 Jennifer Beard was murdered as she traveled a remote road near Haast Pass.
At the time, the Jennifer Beard inquiry was described as the biggest manhunt in new Zealand's history.
One suspect stood out, yet despite physical evidence and eyewitnesses connecting him to the murdered woman, Gordon Bray was never charged and the case remains unsolved.
ISBN9781877361081
new zealand, murder, true crime, cold case
VG softback
$15 C/B
Longacre Press 2005 first edition, 304pp + plates.
[#4349 ]
The author discusses his role in the Department, and an overview of it's history, with emphasis on the 1960s.
Includes discussion of Barnett, Findlay, Matthews, Dallard eras.
Penal Administration and Policy; Capital Punishment; Constitutional Questions.
ISBN0477013732
law, criminology, judiciary, crime
VG hardback in VG dust jacket.
Ex library with stamps etc, jacket under plastic sleeve.
$25 C/C
Government Print 1987 first edition, xiv 296pp + plates.
[#4334 ]
24 world famous trials recounted including; Edward Gibbon Wakefield (elopement and abduction etc) / Lizzie Borden / Roger Casement / The Battle of Taumatawiwi / Reichstag Fire / T G Wainewright.
An early NZ crime publication.
true crime, new zealand, international
VG softcover with stapled sheets in printed yapped edge wrapper of stiff card.
$35 A/B
Auckland: Oswald Sealy circa 1943, First Edition, 131pp.
[#5038 ]
Sir Sydney Smith was a New Zealander who became famous as one of the Empires greatest pathologists.
With a new foreword by Professor Keith Simpson.
Includes Sidney Fox, Annie Hearn, Chrissie Gall, and the Ruxton cases, and the Auckland Arsenic Mystery of Mrs Wilson.
ISBN0880293063
true crime, criminology, pathology, forensic pathology, memoirs,
VG hardback with VG dust jacket.
$15 C/C
Dorset Press 1988 first thus after 1959 original, 318pp + photos.
[#4336 ]
New Zealander who became famous as one of the Empires greatest pathologists, rivalling Bernard Spilsbury in renown.
Includes the Sidney Fox, Annie Hearn, Chrissie Gall, and the Ruxton cases, and the Auckland Arsenic Mystery of Mrs Wilson.
Criminology Pathology Forensic Science
VG hardback with VG unclipped dust jacket, small pen mark to fep, slight foxing to closed edges.
$30 C/C
Harrap 1960, third impression after 1959 first, 318pp + plates.
[#5680 ]
The author revisits the terrible 1970 murders of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe on their isolated farmhouse at Pukekawa.
Arthur Allan Thomas was twice convicted of murder, but later declared innocent and pardoned.
Birt posits another candidate for the crime, who had motive, means and opportunity.
That man was Jeanette's own father, Lenard William Demler.
ISBN9780141006291
Crewe murders, new zealand, true crime
VG softback, former owner name at front.
$15 C/B
Penguin 2001, 227pp + plates.
[#3754/3901 ]
The report of the inquiry which found Thomas innocent and wrongfully convicted, and resulted in his Pardon and compensation.
Gives full details of the original criminal investigation, the uncovering of the planted (by Police) shell casing, and the subsequent efforts of Thomas' supporters to overturn his guilty verdict.
Gives the discussion and rationale for his compensatory payment.
justice, crime, pardon, police corruption, new zealand true crime,
VG+ softback
$25 C/B
Government Printer 1980 first edition, 125pp.
[#5108 ]
Arthur Allan thomas tells his side of the wrongful conviction and subsequent acquittal, as well as Wishart revealing his research into a possible new prime suspect for this 40 year old 'cold case'.
ISBN9780958240178
VG softback, gift inscription to first page.
$15 C/C
Howling at the Moon 2010, 280pp + plates.
[#3322 ]
VG softback, minor highlighting on two pages.
$15 C/C
Howling at the Moon 2010, 280pp + plates.
[#4363 ]
Investigative journalism into the murder of Harvey and Jeanette Crewe on their farm at Pukekawa, and the case against Arthur Allan Thomas. Yallop's exposure of the shortcomings of the police case and the two trials were instrumental in the re-examination of the conviction against, and the ultimate pardoning of Thomas.
ISBN 0140056378
G+ paperback, some creasing to covers
$8 A/B
Penguin 1980, 372 pages + plates. [PB1138/1423 ]
A biography, which includes verse and ballads written by Terry, a notorious chap who shot an old Chinaman to highlight the threat of non-white immigration in turn of the Twentieth Century New Zealand.
He became a bit of a celebrity, with many supporting him during his escapes from the Seacliff mental institution.
Hard to find title.
crime, murder, insanity, mental health, institutionalisation, xenophobia, Yellow Peril
Very Good hardback with Very Good dust jacket.
However it is ex-library with stamps and pockets, dust jacket under plastic sleeve.
$65 C/C
Otago Foundation Books 1977, First Edition, 222pp + plates.
[#4305 ]
A social and criminal history of marijuana use in New Zealand.
Researched from Police, Customs and Health Department records, as well as media reports and other sources.
ISBN9781869530310
cannabis, hemp, drugs, narcotics, sociology
VG softback
$30 B/C
David Bateman 1990, 184pp.
[#4239 ]