For Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths In and Around Carlisle Ian Ashbridge has selected 30 shocking, spine-chilling and unforgettable episodes from the criminal history of the town and the surrounding countryside dating back from the nineteenth century to medieval times. The cases span over 500 years. Included are the barbaric execution for high treason of Andrew de Harlaca in 1323, and the truth behind the legend of the Croglin vampire some 362 years later, the frenzied murder of Mary Brown in St Nicholas in 1826, and that of William Horsley in 1861 who was strangled by his possessive lady friend who also happened to be his mother-in-law. Other more familiar incidents are recalled - the Durranhill Murder of 1861, the brutal shooting of PC Byrnes at Plumpton in 1885 - but most of the murders and misdeeds recorded here are less well known. All reflect the hardship and brutality of those distant times, when the justice system was uncompromising and most forms of crime were dealt with ruthlessly. And yet sometimes there were unexpected and merciful acquitals that reveal much about the attitudes of a remote age.
Ian Ashbridge's meticulously researched and fluently written book will be fascinating reading for anyone who is interested in the history of Carlisle and the dark side of life.