Robert Wilhelm's long-awaited sequel to
The Bloody Century
takes the reader back to nineteenth-century America in all its gory glory. Nothing much has changed; people killed then as they do now for greed, jealousy, love and hate but this fascinating journey through the mindset of the century has much to tell us about detection methods and court decisions and has much that will surprise. Who, for instance, would ever imagine that the coroner's decision on a body found with two distinct shots to the head would initially be suicide? That two men so consumed with hatred would end up murdering each other? That a man would murder not one but two wives by the exact same method - and almost get away with it! That a reclusive gold-prospector would turn out to be a cannibal?
The Bloody Century 2
is richly illustrated with graphic depictions of murderers and their crimes from 19th-century sources. The book draws on contemporary reporting with eye-popping headlines like 'Horror!' (from the
Philadelphia Inquirer
in 1866) and 'Rum and the Knife' (
Illustrated Police News
, 1877). In this engaging book, thoughtfully divided by motive for easy reading, the whole panoply of who does what to whom in what circumstances is laid bare. Read in one gulp or savor it by dipping - The Bloody Century 2 - More Tales of Murder in 19th Century America is a book the reader will find hard to put down.