Download or read book Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths/Staffords written by Nicholas Corder and published by . This book was released on 2006-11 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Death and villainy always hold us in their grim but thrilling grip. In Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Staffordshire the chill is brought close to home as each chapter investigates the darker side of humanity in notorious cases of murder, deceit and pure malice that have marked the history of the county. From crimes of passion to opportunistic killings and coldly premeditated acts of murder, the full spectrum of criminality is recounted here, bringing to life the sinister history of Staffordshire from the Georgian period to modern times. For this journey into a bloody, neglected aspect of the past, Nicholas Corder has selected over 20 notorious episodes that give a fascinating insight into criminal acts and the criminal mind. Recalled here are the Rugeley poisoner William Palmer, who disposed of his victims with strychnine, the murderous breakout from Standon Farm and the vicious assaults on Isaac Brooks. The canal boat killing of poor Christina Brown is described in graphic detail, as is the fatal womanizing of Romeo Smith, the bizarre case of the headless corpse of Hednesford, and the bestiality of Thomas James. The human dramas Nicholas Corder explores are often played out in the most commonplace of circumstances, but others are so odd as to be stranger than fiction. His grisly chronicle of Staffordshire's hidden history will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the dark side of human nature.