Mr Briggs’ Hat

CWA Daggers: Non-fiction, 2011

Paperback / ISBN-13: 9780349123592

Price: £10.99

ON SALE: 2nd February 2012

Genre: Biography & True Stories

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THE THRILLING TRUE STORY OF BRITAIN’S FIRST EVER RAILWAY MURDER

‘A fascinatingly quirky portrait of the underside of Victorian London . . . unputdownable’ Daily Telegraph

‘A cunning and suspenseful tale’ Independent

‘Meticulously researched . . . the final revelation is a showstopper’ New York Times

On 9 July 1864, businessman Thomas Briggs walked into carriage 69 on the 9.45 Hackney-bound train.

A few minutes later, two bank clerks entered the carriage – but as they sat down, one of them noticed blood pooled in the seat cushions and smeared on the walls.

But there was no sign of Thomas Briggs.

The only things left in the carriage were his walking stick, his bag – and a hat that, strangely, did not belong to Mr Briggs . . .

‘A thrilling book, which reads at times like a good Victorian novel… an utterly compelling did-he-do-it’ Sunday Times

‘A riveting portrait of Victorian London’ Financial Times

Reviews

(A) thrilling book, which reads at times like a good Victorian novel... an utterly compelling did-he-do-it
Sunday Times
With a storyteller's instinct for colour and suspense Kate Colquhoun has brilliantly recreated the five-month period from Thomas Briggs' death to Muller's execution
Daily Express
Kate Colquhoun is a fine, robust writer who makes the most of its every twist and turn
Mail on Sunday
Deploying her skill as a historian, Colquhoun turns a single curious murder case into a fascinatingly quirky portrait of the underside of mid-Victorian London. I found it unputdownable
Daily Telegraph
Kate Colquhoun's irreproachable unpicking of the case is meticulous, patient, thorough and measured
Independent