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 … 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.more
If you’re interested in historical true crime then this is a must-read. Beginning with the 1830s, Joan Lock narrates the main cases faced by the newly formed Metropolitan Police at a time when there were no detailed forensics and only limited means of communication and transport. In fact you have to admire those early detectives for the crimes they did manage to solve. The origins of Scotland Yard are described – including Jack Whicher – one of the original eight members of Scotland Yard’s detective branch and familiar to you if you’ve come across The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. Some crime-solving methods are exceptionally gruesome to us now – e.g. the preservation of a severed head for the public to look at to help identify the poor victim. The emerging role of the press is interesting – the newspapers were quick to hold the police to account when crimes went unsolved. This is an easy read to dip in and out of, and essential for my own research.
Informative read on the difficulty of prosecuting ANYONE during this time period. I would have liked it to read more as a story than as individual instances, though I realize that would have been difficult unless you added fictitious details.
Some of the information was enlightening.
Not very factual and dry reading.
Boring. Hard to stay focused.
Liked it. Interesting topic, but a little dry at times.
Interesting history of the development of England’s police services & New Scotland Yard.
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.
I found this book fascinating! I come from a nursing background and we have our own sort of detective work when observing patients and the passage of disease. It’s not too much of a stretch from some of our community nursing situations overlapping into police areas of duristiction. Hence my fascination with deductive reasoning and the birth of forensics.
If you have an interest in how forensic science started and evolved this book is a must read. The cases are laid out in an easy read form and I could not put this book down!
An interesting glimpse of police work in 19th century Britain and the development of Scotland Yard. As an aside I thought the resistance of the people and politicians of Britain to plain clothes police officers was surprising
An engrossing read about the setting up of Scotland Yard – the detective branch of the Metropolitan Police Force. Unfortunately it was badly written and badly laid out which made some of it a bit hard to follow. But still fascinating.
Loved it. Different but very engaging. Also interesting to learn about the building of the police force and to read about real cases.