Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths In & Around Southend-on-Sea

Book excerpt: A history of true crime in a quaint resort town in Essex, England that hosts a variety of amusements—along with a legacy of madness, mayhem, and murder. This ghoulish look into the past takes readers on a sinister journey through Southend-on-Sea, from medieval times to the twentieth century, and featuring a rogues’ gallery of cutthroats, highwaymen, witches, murderers, and madmen. Included are more than twenty notorious episodes offering fascinating insight into criminal acts and the criminal mind. And in addition to the eerie events of the past, the author explores grievous crimes from more recent times such as the Murrell fratricide, the brutal killing of Florence Dennis, the Watson bungalow murder, the Brown wheelchair murder, the Shoebury Garrison deaths, and many more. Gordon’s chronicle of the dark side of Southend’s long history will be fascinating reading for anyone who is interested in the town’s rich—sometimes gruesome—past.