Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths in the Cotswolds

Book excerpt: Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in the Cotswolds explores the dark history of this famously picturesque region of England. Behind the picture-postcard idyll, everyday life in this largely rural area saw murders, beatings, jealousy and alcohol-fuelled crimes. Nell Darby's book examines a selection of these shocking events in vivid detail. Drawing on contemporary sources, newspapers and prison records, she gives a fascinating insight into life and death in the surprisingly turbulent past of the Cotswolds. The cases she reconstructs come from all over the region—the towns, the villages, the countryside. They show how Cotswold people carried out violent crimes regardless of their location and upbringing—from unemployed farmers' sons to educated surgeons, dark deeds were committed by individuals from all walks of life. They also reveal the criminal consequences of greed, madness, malice, carelessness and drink. Women were involved almost as often as men, as victims and as perpetrators.Nell Darby's thoroughly researched and sympathetically written anthology of Cotswold cases be compelling reading for anyone who lives in the area or is interested in its history.