On Monday, the 2nd of March, 1752, a bill of indictment was found by the grand inquest for the county of Oxford against Mary Blandy, spinster, for the murder of Francis Blandy, late of the parish of Henley-upon-Thames, in the said county, gentleman. On Tuesday, the 3rd of March, 1752, the Court being met, the prisoner Mary Blandy was set to the bar, when the Court proceeded thus- CLERK OF THE ARRAIGNS-Mary Blandy, hold up thy hand. Which she did.] You stand indicted by the name of Mary Blandy, late of the parish of Henley-upon-Thames, in the county of Oxford, spinster, daughter of Francis...

Within lie twelve vintage tales of true crime by master essayist William Roughead. Henry James himself once urged Roughead: "Keep on with them all please, and continue to beckon me along the gallery that I can't tread alone and where, by your leave, I link my arm fraternally in yours: the gallery of sinister perspective just stretches in this manner straight away." Here you will find such Roughead classics as My First Murder: Featuring Jessie King, the crime that fortuitously set Mr. Roughead's steps toward matters criminous, Locusta in Scotland, a familiar survey of poisoning as practiced in...