"In order to 'frame' the zone within which the murders described in this book occurred I undertook a series of long walks crossing the borough in order to examine the site of each killing. It quickly became apparent that Barnet was not the featureless zone I had presumed it to be. On the contrary – a quiet yet brooding power lurks in our hilly region of serried rooftops and arterial roads."
Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in... is a multi-author, multi-region local-history series. All of these books have absolutely horrible cover designs. I've never previously wanted to read a "true crime" or "local history" book, but was delighted to learn that Nick Papadimitriou – author of the astonishing Scarp – had written the account of grisly misadventures relating to my local area. He states that "my aim in writing was to evoke a dark and destabilising resonance – echoes of events murmuring below the streets, roads and parks which form the backdrop to our everyday". It covers the period of c. 1500 to 1959 and becomes more compelling as it reaches the modern era.
Unlike Scarp, it's a book of character portraits, but his fascination with "deep topography" still informs the writing. It's very much filled with a strong sense of place and it helps that I know many of the streets and exact locations he describes. The 1931 murder of the Edgware tramp "Pigsticker" appears in Scarp as well, so was clearly one that caught the author's imagination.
This grim book makes for fascinating reading and reminds you that people haven't changed very much. The ordinary, matter-of-fact nature of the crimes – often committed in the name of love or as a result of sheer foolishness – makes them especially powerful to read about.
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