The Victorian Master Criminal: Charles Peace and the Murders of Cock and Dyson

The first book in more the 50 years to tell the incredible true story of the Victorian master criminal, Charles Peace On 2 August 1876, a young policeman named Constable Cock was shot dead while walking ‘the beat’ at Whalley Range, Manchester. A few months later, on the evening of 29 November 1876, Arthur Dyson, an engineer, was murdered in his own back yard at Banner Cross, Sheffield. Charles Peace was Victorian Britain’s most infamous cat-burglar and murderer. He was a complex character: ruthless, devious, dangerous, charming, intelligent and creative. Mrs Katherine Dyson identified him as the murderer of her husband, and as the police searched the country for him Peace was living a life of luxury under another identity in London. One of these murders became the most notorious and scandalous case of the Victorian age, with a tale of illicit romance and a nationwide hunt for Britain’s most wanted man; the other was to become an infamous landmark in British legal history. Although noone suspected a link between them, these two sensational murder cases would, in the end, turn out to be tied together in a way that shocked Victorian society to its core. AUTHOR: David C Hanrahan is an author and historian specialising in unique true crime cases in British history. His book ‘Colonel Blood’ was adapted into an episode of Days that Shook the World (BBC/ Lion Television), for which he worked as historical consultant. He is also the author of ‘The Assassination of the Prime Minister’ (THP, 2008) and ‘The First Great Train Robbery’ (Robert Hale, 2011). 8pp b/w illustrations