True Crime
Talking Books
The titles in this booklist are just a selection of the titles available for loan from the
RNIB National Library Talking Book Service.
Don’t forget you are allowed to have up to 6 books on loan. When you return a title,
you will then receive another one.
If you would like to read any of these titles then please contact the Customer Services
Team on 08457 626 843 or email cservices@rnib.org.uk
If you would like further information, or help in selecting titles to read, then please
contact the Reader Services Team on 01733 37 53 33 or email
libraryinfo@rnib.org.uk
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Conscience be my guide: an anthology of prison writings. 1991. Read by Nigel
Graham, 12 hours 14 minutes. TB 9616.
This remarkable collection of prison writings inspires us with the faith, humanity and
vision of prisoners of conscience through the ages. Contributors range from early
Christians persecuted for their belief, to modern day peace protestors, victims of
labour camps, juntas, the holocaust and conscription. Some, like Sheila Cassidy,
have won huge followings during the campaigns for their release. Contains violence.
TB 9616.
FF8282. A prison diary. 2002. Read by Jeff Bellamy, 6 hours 38 minutes. TB
13241.
Prison Diaries; book 1. Jeffrey Archer was sentenced to four years' imprisonment at
12.07pm on Thursday 19th July 2001. Within six hours, Prisoner FF8282, as he is
now known, was on suicide watch in the medical wing of Belmarsh top security prison
in south London. This, he discovered, is standard procedure for first-time offenders on
their first night in jail. By 6.00am the next morning, Archer had resolved to write a
daily diary of everything he experienced while incarcerated. The diary should be of
interest to anyone concerned with the improvement of our penal system, whether they
are concerned citizens, politicians or workers in the prison service. Unsuitable for
family reading. TB 13241.
FF8282. A prison diary. 2004. Read by Jeff Bellamy, 7 hours 46 minutes. TB
14133.
Prison Diaries; book 2. On 9 August 2001, twenty-two days after Jeffrey Archer was
sentenced to four years in prison for perjury, he was transferred from HMP Belmarsh,
a double-A Category high-security prison in south London, to HMP Wayland, a
Category C establishment in Norfolk. He served sixty-seven days in Wayland and
during that time, as this account testifies, encountered not only the daily degradations
of a dangerously overstretched prison service, but the spirit and courage of his fellow
inmates. Contains strong language. TB 14133.
FF8282. A prison diary. 2004. Read by Jeff Bellamy, 10 hours 39 minutes. TB
14371.
Prison Diaries; book 3. The final volume of Jeffrey Archer's prison diaries covers the
period of his transfer from Wayland to his eventual release on parole in July 2003. It
includes a shocking account of the traumatic time he spent in the notorious Lincoln jail
and the events that led to his incarceration there - it also throws light in a system that
is close to breaking point. Contains strong language. TB 14371.
Great British trials: Evans and Christie. 1999. Read by Ronald Pickup, 3 hours
12 minutes. TB 12341.
"Great British Trials" provides a fascinating glimpse into some of the most notorious
crimes and trials of the last 500 years. Through the original trial transcripts,
2
eyewitness accounts and contemporary newspaper reports, we witness the actual
events that made each trial a cause celebre of its day. In March 1950 Timothy Evans,
aged 25, was hanged for the murder of his wife and child. Sixteen years later the
Queen was to grant him a full pardon. The shocking truth of the sordid and tragic
events that took place behind the doors of number 10 Rillington Place was to horrify
the nation. TB 12341.
Great British trials: Ruth Ellis. 1999. Read by Jemma Redgrave, 2 hours 16
minutes. TB 12012.
This series provides a glimpse into some of the most notorious crimes and trials of the
last 500 years. Through the original trial transcripts, eyewitness accounts and
contemporary newspaper reports, we witness the actual events that made each trial a
cause celebre of its day. On Wednesday 13th July 1955, Ruth Ellis became the last
woman to hang in Britain. Convicted of shooting her unfaithful lover in cold blood, the
calm appearance of this mother of two and the furore that accompanied her sentence
ensured this trial was to have a memorable place in the annals of British justice.
TB 12012.
The Seaside murders. 1985. Read by Robert Ashby, 6 hours 29 minutes. TB
6037.
Thirteen classic true stories of crimes which took place on British beaches, they range
from the pathos of the 40 year old heap of old bones discovered in 1961 which was all
that remained of pretty Mamie Stuart, to the life and crimes of the infamous "Brides in
the Bath" murderer, George Joseph Smith. Unsuitable for family reading. TB 6037.
Tales from the Newgate calendar. 1981. Read by Tom Crowe, 7 hours 52
minutes. TB 4318.
This selection from the famous calendar chronicles the exploits of infamous criminals
such as Captain Kidd and Dick Turpin, who were held in Newgate prison before
standing trial. TB 4318.
Altick, Richard D
Victorian studies in scarlet. 1970. Read by Eric Gillett, 14 hours 46 minutes. TB
2398.
The author examines the Victorian delight in murder as a social phenomenon, and
classic murder cases that afford a vivid perspective of the way people lived. TB 2398.
Baron, Stanley Wade
The contact man: the story of Sidney Stanley and the Linskey Tribunal. 1966.
Read by John Richmond, 7 hours. TB 68.
A vivid description of Sidney Stanley and the Lynskey Tribunal of 1948, showing its
effect on the Labour Party just after its sweeping victory in the post-war General
Election. TB 68.
3
Bell, Josephine
Crime in our time. 1962. Read by Arthur Bush, 9 hours 56 minutes. TB 737.
Written for the layman, this is a comparison of crimes over the last 60 years, and an
examination of criminals, the police, prisons, and detention centres. TB 737.
Bowden, Mark
Killing Pablo: the hunt for the richest, most powerful criminal in history. 2001.
Read by Garrick Hagon, 12 hours 51 minutes. TB 13403.
This text charts the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, the richest and most violent
criminal in history. It exposes for the first time the massive covert operation by US
Special Forces to hunt down and assassinate the man described as the billionaire
godfather of international drug trafficking. This book also tells the story of the men of
the special forces who ultimately destroyed Pablo Escobar. The author has had
exclusive access to highly classified intelligence documents, secret surveillance
footage and Escobar's wiretap transcripts, and has interviewed the major players in
the manhunt. Contains violence. TB 13403.
Britton, Paul
The jigsaw man: the remarkable career of Britain's foremost criminal
psychologist. 1998. Read by Michael McStay, 17 hours. TB 12108.
The autobiography of Paul Britton, one of the foremost offender profilers in the world.
Over the past dozen years, Britton has assisted the police in over 100 cases involving
murder, rape, arson, extortion and kidnapping. He has also advised the FBI and the
Russian Ministry of the Interior. Contains strong language. TB 12108.
Brown, Sandra
Where there is evil. 1999. Read by Carolyn Bonnyman, 8 hours 53 minutes. TB
12617.
An account of a woman's search for the truth about a child's disappearance and her
own fathers' involvement. After Sandra Brown's 12 year old neighbour disappears the
police investigation draws a blank. But 27 years later Sandra's father confesses to his
involvement in the child's disappearance. Sandra delves into the case and in doing so
discovers that her father was a known molester of children, whose activities were
known not just to everyone in the local community but also to the police. Unsuitable
for family reading. TB 12617.
Campbell, James
Gate fever: voices from a prison. 1986. Read by David Rider, 7 hours 36
minutes. TB 6474.
In order to bring together this unusual chorus of voices - murders, fraudsters, armed
robbers, the wrongly imprisoned and the trusties, nonces and grasses - the author
was granted two privileges: a room of his own inside a high-security prison, plus a
4
pass which enabled him to wander at random talking to whoever he wished - not
forgetting the screws. TB 6474.
Capote, Truman
In cold blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences. 1966.
Read by Marvin Kane, 13 hours 30 minutes. TB 234.
The lives and deaths of a family of four, brutally murdered in America in 1959, and
two of their killers hanged in 1965. TB 234.
Carse, Robert
The age of piracy: a history. 1959. Read by Arthur Bush, 9 hours 19 minutes. TB
1264.
The history of an age of individualism and adventure from the early buccaneers of
Tudor times to the final decline of piracy. TB 1264.
Cassels, Lavender
The Archduke and the assassin: Sarajevo, June 28th, 1914. 1984. Read by
George Hagan, 11 hours 7 minutes. TB 5784.
The personalities of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir apparent to the Austrian
Empire, and the student who shot him are assessed by investigating the influences
which shaped their characters, together with the events which culminated in the
encounter at Sarajevo. This "small news item" in a "distant country" was to prove the
writing on the wall for a dynasty that had reigned for 600 years. TB 5784.
Charriere, Henri
Papillon. 1970. Read by Robert Gladwell, 24 hours 59 minutes. TB 1371.
Condemned in 1931 for a murder he did not commit Charriere, nicknamed Papillon,
was transported to French Guiana. In this book he recounts his frequent attempts at
escape from there and from Devil's Island, the bestiality of the treatment he endured,
and the struggle to retain determination and the will to survive. Unsuitable for family
reading. TB 1371.
Collins, Steve
The good guys wear black: the true-life heroes of Britain's armed police. 1998.
Read by Nigel Carrington, 7 hours 6 minutes. TB 13623.
SO19, the Metropolitan Police Special Firearms Wing, is a squad of gunfighters who
daily defend the public from evil. Yardies, international drug barons, IRA enforcers
and celebrity South London gangsters and hitmen have all been taken off the streets
by the true-life heroes of SO19 either in handcuffs or in bodybags. Contains strong
language. TB 13623.
5
Cornwell, Patricia
Portrait of a killer: Jack the Ripper - case closed. 2004. Read by Lorelei King, 12
hours 45 minutes. TB 13714.
Using the firsthand expertise she has gained through writing the bestselling Dr Kay
Scarpetta novels, Patricia Cornwell utilizes the demanding methods of modern
forensic investigation to re-examine the evidence in the Jack the Ripper murders.
These include state-of-the-art DNA testing on various materials, computer
enhancement of watermarks and expert examinations of hand-writing, paper, inks and
other relics. She also uses her knowledge of profiling on the possible suspects, as
well as consulting experts in the field. On presenting her conclusions to a very senior
Metropolitan Police officer she learns that had the investigators of the time been
presented with the facts she has unearthed, her suspect would definitely have been
arrested and would probably have faced trial. Naming the killer as the artist, Walter
Sickert, Cornwell details the reasons and evidence for this conclusion. Contains
strong language. TB 13714.
Dickie, John
Cosa Nostra: a history of the Sicilian Mafia. 2004. Read by Jonathan Oliver, 17
hours 54 minutes. TB 14491.
The Mafia has been given many names since it was founded in the mid-19th century -
the Sect, the Brotherhood, the Honoured Society, and now Cosa Nostra. Yet as times
have changed, the Mafia's subtle and bloody methods have remained the same. This
book reconstructs the complete history of the Sicilian Mafia from its origins to the
modern day, from the lemon groves and sulphur mines of Sicily, to the streets of
Manhattan. Contains strong language. TB 14491.
Dunning, John
Cryptic crimes: a chilling catalogue of mysterious murders. 1990. Read by
David Banks, 8 hours 39 minutes. TB 9254.
Twenty true murder mysteries, all set in Europe. Contains violence. TB 9254.
Fairclough, Melvyn
The Ripper & the Royals. 1992. Read by Peter Baker, 15 hours 6 minutes. TB
11987.
More theories have been put forward about the Whitechapel murders of 1888 than
about any other unsolved crimes in the files of Scotland Yard. Who was Jack the
Ripper? Was he some lone maniac 'down on whores'? Or were the Ripper murders,
as this book shows, the joint enterprise of a group of high-ranking desperadoes acting
to protect the Prince of Wales's heir, the Duke of Clarence, from blackmail? Many
new facts are presented in this book which unravels the nexus of intrigue that has
threatened the Royal family for three generations. TB 11987.
6
Ferris, Paul
Villains: it takes one to know one. 2007. Read by Jonathan Hackett, 9 hours 28
minutes. TB 16264.
Paul Ferris spent twenty-five years as one of Britain's most feared gangsters. Now
Ferris recounts the stories of a tough existence that nobody knows better. The
brutality you'd expect, the strangeness you might not. The stories cover the
underbellies of London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester and beyond, but the material
couldn't be closer to home - from the job Paul's father, Willie Ferris, pulled with a
school bus full of kids as the getaway vehicle, to the war Paul got caught up in
between two of London's biggest teams. And, as you'll discover, when it comes to
villains, it takes one to know one. Contains strong language. TB 16264.
Fordham, Peta
The robbers' tale: the real story of the great train robbery. 1965. Read by Arthur
Bush, 7 hours 45 minutes. TB 111.
An enthralling, witty and true account of the Great Train Robbery of 1963, containing
information supplied by some of the people actually concerned. TB 111.
Foreman, Freddie
Respect: autobiography of Freddie Foreman - managing director of British
crime. 1997. Read by Steve Hodson, 12 hours 41 minutes. TB 15814.
Freddie Foreman's admission in this book that he was responsible for the gangland
killings of Ginger Marks and Frank 'the mad axeman' Mitchell, who had been sprung
from Dartmoor Prison by the Kray twins, made headlines around the world. Freddie's
chilling but often humorous account of his life is a story from the inside of how some
of Britain's most famous and daring robberies were committed, of bent coppers and
the criminally insane, of loyalty and betrayal, and fights to the death. Contains strong
language. TB 15814.
Fraser, Frankie
Mad Frank and friends. 1998. Read by Steve Hodson, 9 hours 30 minutes. TB
12694.
The text details Frankie Fraser's and his friends’ memoirs of life in and out of prison.
The text includes figures such as `Ruby' Sparks, the famous pre-war burglar, and
Spark's girlfriend, the `Bobbed-Haired Bandit', the first woman on a smash-and-grab
team, with Billy Hill and Bert Marsh, the self-styled Bosses of the Underworld, and
with the thieves they employed. Contains violence. TB 12694.
7
Gosch, Martin A
The last testament of Lucky Luciano. 1975. Read by Marvin Kane, 18 hours 43
minutes. TB 3741.
Lucky organised crime in America like an industrial tycoon. All-powerful, he controlled
employers, unions and the police. Exiled at the end of the war to Italy, he was never
to return to the States. TB 3741.
Ginzburg, Eugenia Semenovna
Into the whirlwind. 1967. Read by Gretel Davis, 15 hours 27 minutes. TB 7949.
This is the first of Eugenia Ginzburg's two volumes of memoirs looking at her
experiences during the Stalin years in the Soviet Union. In 1937 she was wrongly
accused of terrorism. She was then tried and spent two years in Butyrki prison in
Moscow before being sent to the hard labour camps of Siberia in 1939 when this
volume ends. Ginzburg describes her life in captivity and how she coped with it.
TB 7949.
Gosch, Martin A
The last testament of Lucky Luciano. 1975. Read by Marvin Kane, 18 hours 43
minutes. TB 3741.
Lucky organised crime in America like an industrial tycoon. All-powerful, he controlled
employers, unions and the police. Exiled at the end of the war to Italy, he was never
to return to the States. TB 3741.
Grey, Anthony
Hostage in Peking. 1970. Read by Michael de Morgan, 13 hours 55 minutes. TB
1395.
The author, a journalist in China, was taken as a hostage by the Chinese communist
regime, and this account of his two years' solitary confinement is based on the secret
diaries he managed to keep during this time. TB 1395.
Haines, Max
Bothersome bodies. 1989. Read by Ronald Markham, 5 hours 55 minutes. TB
8096.
A collection of 17 true murder stories. The focus of these grisly tales is on the
imaginative way in which each of the murderers and murderesses dispose of the body
of their victim, the area which can mean the difference between walking free and the
hangman's noose. TB 8096.
Hancock, Robert
Ruth Ellis. 1963. Read by Syd Ralph, 6 hours 36 minutes. TB 5701.
When Ruth Ellis heard the death sentence passed on her she smiled and told her
family that she was happy to die. The only thing that bothered her was the way in
8
which the story had been told in court. Robert Hancock now reveals for the first time
the full background to the story of the last woman to be hanged in Britain. TB 5701.
Hatherill, George
A detective's story. 1971. Read by Michael de Morgan, 7 hours 45 minutes. TB
1752.
The author's career in the C.I.D., some of the interesting cases on which he has
worked, culminating with the Great Train Robbery. TB 1752.
Hepburn, James
The black flag: true tales of twentieth century piracy. 1994. Read by Michael
Tudor Barnes, 8 hours 32 minutes. TB 10686.
Piracy died with the skull and crossbones: the world's navies have made the sea safe.
Think again. Not so safe for the Sunning, caught in a nightmare on the China seas,
nor for passengers on the Morro castle, sunk in flames off the New Jersey coast with
the loss of 134 lives. Nor for the Khalis III, found abandoned in the Bahamas, a
corpse floating in the wreckage, the deck splattered with blood. This book shows that
piracy is very much alive. TB 10686.
Hibbert, Christopher
The roots of evil: a social history of crime and punishment. 1963. Read by
Duncan Carse, 19 hours 37 minutes. TB 1237.
A survey - containing some horrifying descriptions - of crime and punishment from the
Middle Ages to the present day. TB 1237.
Hughes, Robert
The fatal shore: a history of the transportation of convicts to Australia, 1787-
1868. 1987. Read by Nigel Graham, 31 hours 45 minutes. TB 8548.
In describing Australia's painful transition from prison camp to open society, Robert
Hughes draws on a wealth of documents, private and official, never before consulted.
Their vivid testimony adds to the most complete account yet written of how 160,000
men, women and children, some innocent, some not, were shipped off the face of the
known world to suffer, to die, to succeed and to go on to found a new nation. TB
8548.
Irving, Clifford
Daddy's girl: the Campbell murder case: a true tale of vengeance, betrayal and
Texas justice. 1988. Read by Robert Gladwell, 27 hours 53 minutes. TB 7507.
In 1982 James and Virginia Campbell were murdered in the middle of the night. This
Houston murder remained unsolved for over two years - no leads, only speculation.
The most likely suspects, their daughter Cindy and her boyfriend, David West, but
their alibi cannot be cracked for a long time - a true case of vengeance and betrayal.
TB 7507.
9
Jackett, Sam
Heroes of Scotland Yard. 1965. Read by Robin Holmes, 6 hours 45 minutes. TB
1188.
Tales of the courage and resource shown by the Metropolitan Police in protecting the
public from criminals. TB 1188.
Jackson, Richard
Occupied with crime. 1967. Read by David Broomfield, 10 hours 28 minutes. TB
342.
Sir Richard, formerly Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard, and President of
Interpol, recalls his work and some interesting cases. TB 342.
Keneally, Thomas
The commonwealth of thieves. 2007. Read by Richard Burnip, 15 hours 4
minutes. TB 15915.
In late18th-century Britain, people were hanged for petty offences, yet crime was rife.
The gaols were bursting and over-flow prisoners were kept in notorious 'hulks': rotting
old ships moored offshore. Out of this situation was born the 'solution' - 'The Sydney
Experiment': criminals perceived to 'damage' British society would be transported to
Australia. Thus, Sydney was founded as 'an open-air prison' with 'walls 14,000 miles
thick'. There were orgies, diseases, court marshalls, hangings, escapes and hunger.
Tom Keneally tells the fascinating story of how Governor Arthur Phillip, despotic ruler
of New South Wales, imposed order between the convicts, sailors and native
aboriginal tribespeople and how the 'open-air prison' eventually developed into one of
the most vibrant cities in the world. Contains strong language. TB 15915.
Kennedy, Ludovic
The airman and the carpenter: the Lindberg kidnapping. 1985. Read by David
Sinclair, 18 hours 41 minutes. TB 5812.
The airman is Charles Lindbergh, famous for his historic flight from New York to Paris
in 1927; the carpenter a German immigrant, Richard Hauptmann. The tragic link
between the two names is the kidnap and death of Lindbergh's baby son. The author
investigates the justice or otherwise of the case. TB 5812.
Kirkpatrick, Sidney
A cast of killers. 1986. Read by John Rye, 8 hours 48 minutes. TB 6440.
Working on a biography of King Vidor, the famous 1920s film director, the author
realised that, in an unusually well-documented life, the year 1967 alone was a blank.
Intrigued, he found that Vidor had spent the year investigating the death of his friend
and fellow director, William Desmond Taylor and that his findings were hidden - a true
story that reads like a thriller. TB 6440.
10
Kray, Reginald
Our story. 1988. Read by Gene Foad and Peter Wickham, 6 hours 28 minutes.
TB 7570.
The Kray twins are the most notorious criminals in British history. Convicted of murder
in 1969 they write their story by turns; Ron is in Broadmoor and accepts this but Reg,
in Gartree, burns with a fury to be free, convinced they have paid their debt to society.
In this frank autobiography they seek to explode some of the myths that surround
them. They succeed in describing a career of unabashed violence in a sub-culture
more potent than any myth. TB 7570.
Lewis, Kevin
The kid: a true story. 2004. Read by Steven Alexander, 7 hours 47 minutes. TB
16134.
The Kid; book 1. Kevin Lewis grew up on a council estate in South London. Beaten
and starved by his parents, ignored by the social services and bullied at school, he
was offered a chance to escape this nightmare world and was put into care. At the
age of 17, not able to make a proper living, he became caught up in the criminal
underworld of London, where he was known as "The Kid". Kevin tells the story of how
he has managed to make a better life for himself. Contains strong language. TB
16134.
Low, Donald A
Thieves' kitchen: the Regency underworld. 1982. Read by Robert Gladwell, 9
hours 10 minutes. TB 4487.
A picture of the underworld of crime and vice that existed beneath the elegant
Regency society of Nash terraces and Pride and Prejudice tea parties. TB 4487.
McKie, David
Jabez: the rise and fall of a Victorian scoundrel. 2004. Read by Robbie MacNab,
7 hours 51 minutes. TB 13963.
Jabez, as he was universally known, was a business man, philanthropist, politician,
temperance campaigner and charmer. He was also an astonishing scoundrel - a liar,
adulterer and cheat who perpetrated the most destructive fraud of the nineteenth
century. When the Liberator building collapsed under the weight of its own
extravagant malpractice, thousands of people were left defrauded and destitute.
Jabez, the Liberator's moving spirit, immediately took flight to Argentina,
accompanied (scandalously) by a female ward half his age. Eventually, a determined
Scotland Yard detective caught up with Jabez, and kidnapped him on a high-speed
train across South America from whence he was hauled back to justice. TB 13963.
11
McLean, Lenny
The Guv'nor. 1998. Read by Ian Redford, 8 hours 5 minutes. TB 11794.
Lenny McLean is the deadliest bare-knuckle fighter Britain has ever seen. In this
autobiography he tells how the Mafia flew him to New York to take on their greatest
bare-knuckle boxer in a multi-million pound illicit challenge bout. When the IRA
fronted up a London gang in a money-laundering scam, Lenny was brought in to
intimidate the terrorists. This is not a story glorifying violence, but a tale of one man's
triumph against almost insurmountable odds. Contains violence. TB 11794.
Manchester, William Raymond
The death of a president: November 20-November 25, 1963. 1967. Read by
David Broomfield, 36 hours. TB 1375.
A history of the assassination of President Kennedy and the days immediately
preceding and following it. TB 1375.
Mark, Robert
In the office of constable. 1978. Read by Andrew Timothy, 14 hours 30 minutes.
TB 3543.
The autobiography of the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police during two famous
London sieges; a man who fought hard to root out corruption in the C.I.D. TB 3543.
Marnham, Patrick
Trail of havoc: in the steps of Lord Lucan. 1987. Read by Christopher Saul, 6
hours 53 minutes. TB 6801.
The entry of a blood-stained and hysterical woman into the Plumber's Arms on the
evening of the 7th November 1974 sparked off one of the greatest murder
investigations since the war. Lady Lucan said that she had escaped from a murderer,
her husband. But Lord Lucan subsequently disappeared - apparently off the face of
the earth. The author explores what happened in the preceding years and draws
some surprising conclusions. TB 6801.
Masters, Brian
'She must have known'. 1997. Read by Nigel Graham, 15 hours 41 minutes. TB
13925.
The trial of Rosemary West was the culmination of one of the century's most
notorious murder investigations. When Frederick West hung himself, he seemed to
have cheated justice. The trial of his wife for the same crimes was a media sensation.
In this psychologically acute and legally penetrating account, the author looks at how
and why an evil psychopath was able to ensnare so many. Contains violence. TB
13925.
12
Mendoza, Antonio
Killers on the loose: unsolved cases of serial murder. 2000. Read by Stuart
Milligan, 8 hours 53 minutes. TB 13768.
This text tracks suspected serial killer cases from the end of the twentieth century.
Alarmingly, most of the victims in this book are prostitutes. Authorities estimate that
there are between 35 and 50 serial killers on the loose in the USA, and new reports of
suspected killers are constantly surfacing all over the world. Contains violence. TB
13768.
Millen, Ernest
Specialist in crime. 1972. Read by Andrew Timothy, 10 hours 38 minutes. TB
2234.
An ex-deputy commissioner of the CID tells of his career, from his days on the beat in
Knightsbridge to a desk in Scotland Yard with 2,700 men under his command. TB
2234.
Morrison, Blake
As if. 1997. Read by Steve Hodson, 10 hours 15 minutes. TB 11076.
The death of the infant Jamie Bulger at the hands of two ten-year-old boys raised the
questions of why two innocent boys killed another, and whether childhood innocence
is a myth. The author sought explanations in the boys' families, and looked at the
violence that saturates the minds of modern children. He exposes the hollowness of
condemnation divorced from understanding. TB 11076.
Nicholl, Charles
The fruit palace. 1985. Read by Robert Gladwell, 15 hours 51 minutes. TB 6429.
Nicholl's nervy quest for the truth about the cocaine underworld takes him from seedy
backstreet bars of Bogota to the high hidden valleys of the Sierra Nevada passing, on
the way, a kaleidoscope of Columbian towns and villages, mountains and jungles,
shanty dockside barrios and fashionable resorts to meet fixers and smugglers.
TB 6429.
Nightingale, Rita
Freed for life. 1982. Read by Anne White, 8 hours 41 minutes. TB 10550.
Rita Nightingale, a glamorous hostess in one of Hong Kong's exotic night clubs, was
arrested in 1977 at Bangkok Airport and found to be carrying over three kilos of heroin
in her luggage. She was sentenced to twenty years although still claiming to be
innocent. Three years ago she was released but had already found a spiritual release
while in prison and now works for the Prison Christian Fellowship. TB 10550.
13
O'Mahoney, Bernard
Essex boys: a terrifying expose of the British drugs scene. 1999. Read by Steve
Hodson, 9 hours 40 minutes. TB 12344.
A new edition of the book previously published as "So this is Ecstasy?" It tells the
story of one of the most violent and successful criminal gangs of the 1990s, whose
reign of terror was finally terminated when the three leaders were brutally murdered.
On their way they had built the drug-dealing organisation which supplied the pill that
killed Leah Betts, and were responsible for a wave of intimidation, beatings and
murder. Contains violence. TB 12344.
O'Neill, Gilda
The good old days: crime, murder and mayhem in Victorian London. 2006. Read
by Michael Tudor Barnes, 7 hours 35 minutes. TB 14844.
Were things really better in the good old days? Only if you were healthy, wealthy and
male. For most, life in London was one of grinding poverty, binge drinking, prostitution
and gun-crime. Gilda O'Neill explores the teeming underbelly dwelling in the fog-
bound streets, rat-infested slums, common lodging houses, boozers, penny gaffs and
brothels in the heart of the greatest empire that the world has ever seen, revealing
that Victoria's was actually a most unruly reign. Contains strong language. TB 14844.
Pierrepoint, Albert
Executioner Pierrepoint. 1974. Read by Robert Gladwell, 10 hours 37 minutes.
TB 4290.
The autobiography of a man who from 1931 until 1956 followed the careers of his
father and uncle as Chief Executioner. During that time he carried out over 400
executions, travelled abroad teaching his methods and became converted to the
abolition of capital punishment. TB 4290.
Randle, Michael
The Blake escape: how we freed George Blake and why. 1989. Read by John
Livesey, 10 hours 24 minutes. TB 8565.
Saturday 22 October 1966; 7pm. Roll-call at Wormwood Scrubs and George Blake,
the British double-agent serving a 42-year sentence for espionage, is discovered to
be missing. His escape made headlines all over the world and led to an investigation
that defied the experts for over 22 years. TB 8565
Ratushinskaya, Irina
Grey is the colour of hope. 1988. Read by Gretel Davis, 15 hours 42 minutes. TB
7280.
Already a leading writer of her generation at 28, Irina Ratushinskaya was imprisoned
for her "dissident" poetry and nearly died there from a series of protest hunger strikes.
She was released through intense Western pressure after Gorbachev came to power.
For the record she describes the horror and the humour, and above all, the selfless
14
courage and mutual support of the other women prisoners which makes it a story of
hope. TB 7280.
Robins, Natalie
Savage grace. 1985. Read by Christopher Saul, 17 hours 34 minutes. TB 7040.
The Baekeland family had everything: genius, wealth and beauty. At the turn of the
century, Leo Baekeland made a fortune when he invented the plastic Bakelite. His
grandson, Brooks, married the flamboyant society hostess, Barbara Daly. Brooks's
son, Antony, was strikingly handsome. But scandal broke. Brooks was living in France
with, everyone said, his son's girlfriend. In November 1972 Antony stabbed his
mother to death. The author shows how their envied lives led to tragedy. TB 7040.
Rolph, C H
Living twice: an autobiography. 1974. Read by Alvar Lidell, 12 hours 15
minutes. TB 2615.
The author tells of his double life - as a policeman with sympathy for the man in the
dock, and as a famous journalist. TB 2615.
Rolph, C H
Further particulars. 1987. Read by David Rider, 8 hours 30 minutes. TB 8354.
The life and career of C.H. Rolph has had a multitude of facets and these informal
memoirs cover his varied experiences from the age of seventeen in 1918 until 1985.
Policeman, journalist, editor, broadcaster, scriptwriter and crusader for law reform and
civil liberty, he was always a confidant of major figures of his time, and many are
embodied in this honest and perceptive book. TB 8354.
Rose, Andrew
Stinie: murder on the common. 1985. Read by Christopher Saul, 8 hours 28
minutes. TB 6484.
Sentenced to death for the murder of Leon Beron on Clapham Common in January
1911, Stinie Morrison was an odd man, even by criminal standards. The author
reveals what may have been a miscarriage of justice: the motives of Edwardian
officialdom seem to have been extremely dubious and there was a blatant
suppression of facts to bolster a weak case for the prosecution. TB 6484.
Sachs, Albie
The jail diary of Albie Sachs. 1966. Read by Michael de Morgan, 12 hours 45
minutes. TB 94.
The author, a South African barrister, arrested for his part in the Anti-Apartheid
movement under the Ninety Days Law, was in solitary confinement for 168 days. TB
94.
15
Shaw, Roy
Pretty Boy. 1999. Read by Jonathan Oliver, 7 hours 14 minutes. TB 12410.
Roy "Pretty Boy" Shaw is reported to be the most vicious man in England. But the
heavy electric gates that protect the grounds of his Essex home cannot hide his
chequered past - Roy has been in every secure institution in the country. Contains
violence. TB 12410.
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr
The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: an experiment in literary investigation. Vol.
1. 1973. Read by Stanley Pritchard, 28 hours. TB 2495.
An account, drawn from both personal experience and the testimony of others, of life
in Soviet prisons and labour camps. TB 2495.
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr
The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: an experiment in literary investigation. Vol.
2. 1975. Read by Andrew Timothy, 28 hours 45 minutes. TB 2966.
Sequel to: The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: an experiment in literary investigation.
Volume 1. The description of eight years after the arrest of the author in 1945. TB
2966.
Stalker, John
Stalker. 1988. Read by Ray Jones, 10 hours 26 minutes. TB 7090.
In May 1984 John Stalker, Detective Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester
Police Force, was asked to undertake an enquiry into the deaths of six men in
Northern Ireland in 1982. He was removed from all duties only days before he was
about to gain access to material highly embarrassing to the RUC. He reveals the
circumstances surrounding this case and writes frankly about his relationships with Sir
John Hermon, the RUC and James Anderton, his chief at Manchester. TB 7090.
Summerscale, Kate
The suspicions of Mr. Whicher: or, The murder at Road Hill House. 2008. Read
by Beth Chalmers, 10 hours 26 minutes. TB 16062.
A true story that inspired a generation of writers such as Wilkie Collins, Charles
Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle, this has all the hallmarks of the classic murder
mystery - a body; a detective; and, a country house steeped in secrets. In "The
suspicions of Mr. Whicher", Kate Summerscale untangles the facts behind this
notorious case, bringing it back to vivid, extraordinary life. TB 16062.
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Taylor, Laurie
In the underworld. 1984. Read by Christopher Scott, 6 hours 59 minutes. TB
5338.
The author set out with a tape recorder, plus John McVicar as protector and generally
sympathetic guide, to explore London's criminal world. He was given privileged
access to the clubs and pubs where "top" villains relax and gamble. He met every
kind of criminal, from the armed raider to the conman and learnt various tricks of the
trade. TB 5338.
Thomson, Mary Turner
The other Mrs Jordan: a true story of bigamy and betrayal. 2008. Read by
Carolyn Bonnyman, 6 hours 49 minutes. TB 15752.
In April 2006, Mary Turner Thomson received a call that was to blow her life apart.
The woman on the other end of the line calmly told her that she and Will Jordan,
Mary's husband and the father of her two younger children, had been married for
fourteen years and had five children together. The Other Mrs Jordan is the shocking
true story of how one man manipulated an intelligent, independent woman, conning
her out of £200,000 and leaving her to bring up the children he originally claimed he
was physically incapable of fathering. TB 15752.
Topping, Peter
Topping: the autobiography of the police chief in the Moors murder case. 1989.
Read by Robert Ashby, 9 hours 24 minutes. TB 8154.
A Manchester policeman all his working life, Topping masterminded the search for
two of the victims of Hindley and Brady - Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett. Topping
reveals the astonishing confession of Hindley - who tells the truth as she saw it, about
the murders - and a wealth of detail about Brady. Topping was once a colleague of
John Stalker and as head of CID he had regular contact with James Anderton. Peter
Topping's story is a fascinating insight. TB 8154.
Wambaugh, Joseph
Echoes in the darkness. 1987. Read by John Chancer, 15 hours 57 minutes. TB
7667.
Bill Bradfield is an outstanding teacher and self-styled expert in Greek. He collects
poetry and women. Dr Jay Smith, his Principal, has strange nocturnal habits. Both
men are at the core of the Main Line Murder Case, the baffling murder of a colleague
whose nude body is found in her car. Her two children have vanished, and seven
years of investigation by the FBI result in a unique murder trial. TB 7667.
17
Watson, Katherine D
Poisoned lives: English poisoners and their victims. 2004. Read by Diana
Bishop, 9 hours 51 minutes. TB 13965.
The book is based on the stories of 540 English poisoners, most of whom being poor
and illiterate had previously been lost to history. Using original historical sources, it
challenges old assumptions and breaks new ground, by studying the majority, rather
than the small minority that journalistic true crime books tend to focus on. Most people
assume that the typical English poisoner was a woman or a doctor, but this was not
the case. A highly readable account of a subject that both fascinates and horrifies.
Unsuitable for family reading. TB 13965.
Whittle, Brian
Prescription for murder: the true story of mass murderer Dr Harold Frederick
Shipman. 2000. Read by David Banks, 12 hours. TB 12232.
Harold Shipman was a pillar of the community, serving on local committees, donating
prizes to the rugby club, organising charity collections. His patients thought the world
of him: he was attentive, kind and never too busy to chat. Yet Dr Shipman was also
the most prolific serial killer the world has ever known, with between 200 and 300
victims. This text is an account of these crimes and the man who committed them.
Contains violence. TB 12232.
Wideman, John Edgar
Brothers and keepers. 1985. Read by Raymond Adamson, 11 hours 30 minutes.
TB 6977.
John and Robert Wideman grew up in the same family, went to the same schools, in
the same area - Homewood - the black ghetto of Pittsburgh. Yet while John Wideman
- champion basketball player, former Rhodes scholar and newly appointed professor
of English at Wyoming - was beginning to make a new reputation as an outstanding
novelist, his rebellious younger brother was involved in drugs and petty crime.
Contains strong language. TB 6977.
Wiesenthal, Simon
Justice not vengeance. 1989. Read by Tom Crowe, 17 hours 37 minutes. TB
7934.
Simon Wiesenthal is the world's most famous Nazi-hunter. Here, at last, he tells his
life story; his horrifying ordeals in Hitler's concentration camps, his near-miraculous
survival of the Holocaust, and his unswerving devotion to a single sacred cause:
justice. TB 7934.
18
Wilson, Colin
Mammoth book of true crime. 1998. Read by Charles Carroll, 25 hours 20
minutes. TB 12721.
The text describes and analyses some of history's most infamous crimes and their
perpetrators: the Moors Murderers, William Heirens and the Chicago sex killings, the
Lindbergh baby case, Machine Gun Kelly, John Christie and the death house at 10
Rillington Place, the Dusseldorf Sadist and other horrors from the dark side of human
history. Contains violence. TB 12721.
Yallop, David
The day the laughter stopped: the true story behind the Fatty Arbuckle scandal.
1991. Read by Jon Cartwright, 12 hours 6 minutes. TB 9495.
The true story of the Fatty Arbuckle scandal when, in 1921, the fat film comedian
stood accused of the rape and murder of a pretty screen actress. Arbuckle, born in
poverty, rose to the heights and had his career snatched away by a wave of hysteria
and bigotry, amid the political corruption of San Francisco and the immorality of a
President. He saved Charlie Chaplin's career, and began Buster Keaton's. His is a life
story ranging from comic heights to tragic depths. Contains passages of a sexual
nature. TB 9495.
If you have read a book you particularly enjoyed (or didn't enjoy) and want to share
your thoughts with other readers, visit the new RNIB Readers Forum at
www.rnib.org.uk/readersforum and post your review on the Forum".
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