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duchessofreadin's review against another edition
4.0
Oh my goodness, this book was fabulous!!
Dive into some of the cases, those that were solved without a body. While much of the evidence could be circumstantial, there was enough to build some compelling cases.
If you enjoy true crime, then you need to read this book! I could not put it down once I started, and it was one of those "turn the page faster, I need more" reads.
Dive into some of the cases, those that were solved without a body. While much of the evidence could be circumstantial, there was enough to build some compelling cases.
If you enjoy true crime, then you need to read this book! I could not put it down once I started, and it was one of those "turn the page faster, I need more" reads.
outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Some perpetrators have mistakenly believed that if the body of the victim(s) was never found, then they couldn't be tried & found guilty of murder - fortunately this is untrue. A small collection of historic cases are examined here, including the infamous Acid Bath Murderer, John George Haigh, who dissolved the bodies of his victims in acid, & James Camb, a cabin steward who was convicted of murdering Gay Gibson, a glamorous actress, onboard ship & disposing of her body out of the cabin porthole. These cases were actually much more interesting than the one which took up the majority of the book, the kidnapping & murder of Muriel McKay, in what seems to have been a tragic case of mistaken identity.
The author is a former Scotland Yard detective who casts his eye over the cases & what went awry in some of the investigations. The tone of the writing is quite forthright with an occasional burst of colourful language, & the author is definitely a man of his time in some aspects. Reading this has definitely prompted me to look up some of the cases mentioned.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Pen & Sword, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
The author is a former Scotland Yard detective who casts his eye over the cases & what went awry in some of the investigations. The tone of the writing is quite forthright with an occasional burst of colourful language, & the author is definitely a man of his time in some aspects. Reading this has definitely prompted me to look up some of the cases mentioned.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Pen & Sword, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Kidnapping
Minor: Cursing and Homophobia
mercurialbooks's review
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
2.0
Firstly, thank you to Pen and Sword for granting my wish and letting me access this book past its archive date on Netgalley. I was very excited to read a novel about UK crime history. Missing, Presumed Murdered is about historical police investigations into missing person cases that resulted in murder convictions, despite never discovering a body.
Initially I was put off by the writing style of the author but soon realised it was quite similar to listening to a podcast rather than reading a book and so continued. I'm aware from other reviews that not many managed to continue because of the conversational nature of the text. Dick Kirby makes his personal opinions well known throughout the book and this may put off many readers, there homophobic references for example, with no self-awareness from the author that this may not be acceptable in today's society.
The cases themselves, I initially enjoyed learning about them because they were interesting and varied. Following the police in finding evidence to make a case of murder without a corpse was something I'd not personally read about before. However the second half of the book was dedicated to one case and one I quickly lost interest in. This last case was mostly dedicated to talking about the policemen themselves and how they had got involved. I would have personally preferred less focus on the single case and instead inclusion of more modern cases as I know there have been plenty of interesting ones since.
Initially I was put off by the writing style of the author but soon realised it was quite similar to listening to a podcast rather than reading a book and so continued. I'm aware from other reviews that not many managed to continue because of the conversational nature of the text. Dick Kirby makes his personal opinions well known throughout the book and this may put off many readers, there homophobic references for example, with no self-awareness from the author that this may not be acceptable in today's society.
The cases themselves, I initially enjoyed learning about them because they were interesting and varied. Following the police in finding evidence to make a case of murder without a corpse was something I'd not personally read about before. However the second half of the book was dedicated to one case and one I quickly lost interest in. This last case was mostly dedicated to talking about the policemen themselves and how they had got involved. I would have personally preferred less focus on the single case and instead inclusion of more modern cases as I know there have been plenty of interesting ones since.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Medical content, Body horror, and Homophobia
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review
informative
slow-paced
3.0
I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
While this book contains many interesting true crime cases, while Kirby gives great detail of these cases, his writing is dry, unengaging and doesn't flow well, it reads like a crime report, not a true crime book. A large portion of this book is focused on the case of the murder of Muriel McKay.
While this book contains many interesting true crime cases, while Kirby gives great detail of these cases, his writing is dry, unengaging and doesn't flow well, it reads like a crime report, not a true crime book. A large portion of this book is focused on the case of the murder of Muriel McKay.
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