Within lie twelve vintage tales of true crime by master essayist William Roughead. Henry James himself once urged Roughead: "Keep on with them all please, and continue to beckon me along the gallery that I can't tread alone and where, by your leave, I link my arm fraternally in yours: the gallery of sinister perspective just stretches in this manner straight away." Here you will find such Roughead classics as My First Murder: Featuring Jessie King, the crime that fortuitously set Mr. Roughead's steps toward matters criminous, Locusta in Scotland, a familiar survey of poisoning as practiced in the realm. The Fatal Countess, a Jacobean royal flush of didoes in high places; Physic and Forgery: A Study in Confidence, and many more capital crimes old and new, but all revealed with that dry wit and mellow artistry that is the mark of fine wine or writing. Above all you must not miss Mr.Roughead's ensemble by the entire company entitled, An Academic Discussion wherein his best known murders sit in judgment on the qualities of their crimes and discuss the artistry of their chosen metier.

About the Author
William Roughead was a Scottish solicitor and amateur criminologist who went on to be a pioneer of the 'true crime' literary genre.

Reviews
In the White House at Washington, in a special selection of the bookcases just outside the President's study, there is a carefully winnowed selection of detective literature deposited there by the Library of Congress and labeled The President's Shelf. On that shelf the rarest brews, in my opinion, are the work of Mr. Roughead. -- Alexander Woolcott
Far and away the best. -- Dorothy Sayers



Book Information
ISBN 9781590774625
Author William Roughead
Format Paperback
Page Count 376
Imprint M. Evans& Co Inc
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 449g
Dimensions(mm) 202mm * 142mm * 28mm