JOAN LOCK

The collision of the Princess Alice pleasure steamer with the Tyne collier, Bywell Castle, in the Thames in September 1878 resulted in Britains worst-ever inland waterway accident. Almost 650 Princess Alice passengers and crew died. Whole families were wiped out; many children were left orphans; parents childless. The nation wept. Joan Lock describes vividly the lead up to the accident, the disaster itself and its aftermath. She then delves into the quarrels that the tragedy devolved into, as each side blamed the other during the extended inquiries to discover just how the accident happened and why so many people drowned. In the process, the author makes a startling discovery...

Here, now fully updated for the twenty-first century, is the complex and fascinating history of the formation of the British Women Police. Full of drama, intrigue and humour, it also captures, through well-authenticated primary material, the colour and manner of the times. Remarkable women abound in this book, from the wealthy and eccentric Margaret Damer Dawson to the excitement-hungry ex-suffragette Mary Allen; and from the alluring but ill-starred Mrs Stanley to the tireless Mrs Peto. A few famous faces like Winston Churchill, Lady Astor and Adolf Hitler also feature, as does the women polices arch-enemy: the magistrate Frederick Mead. The pressure for the appointment of women police began well before World War I. Anti-white-slave traffic organizations felt they would help to stem the flow of prostitutes to and from Europe and suffragettes wanted them to ensure fairer treatment for women from the police and courts of law. But it was the Great War that gave them a launching pad for their battle. Early policewomen fought much public and police prejudice, wondering all the time how far to hold out for their ideals and how much to compromise for the sake of some official recognition; the eternal problem when breaking new ground. Their story, which was played out not only in the streets and courts of Great Britain and the House of Commons but in a defeated Germany and strife-torn 1920s Ireland, as well as in prohibition-era USA, ended in victory with their official integration into the force in the 1970s, but the battle did not end there, as our story shows...

Aprenda a pintar 36 precioses flores, desde motivos clásico como peonías y las orquideas, hasta flores menos tradicionales como las rosas y los girasoles. Se explican todas las técnicas, desde cómo sujetar y llenar el pincel, hasta como hacer trazos y crear sutiles combinaciones y gamas de color. Incluye consejos para crear cuadros con mas vitalidad a traves de composiciones armoniosas y un equilibrio adecuado entre luces y sombras.

El inspector Best debe investigar la muerte de una joven cuyo cadáver aparece con seis rosas blancas. La investigación pronto relaciona el caso con la desaparición de otras tres muchachas. Poco a poco, el caso se complica con el asesinato de uno de los detectives y con indicios sobre trata de blancas y espiritismo. Ambientada en la Inglaterra victoriana, la novela es fiel a la tradicion de Conan Doyle o Agatha Christie.

The explosion was heard twenty miles away. It killed boatmen and wrecked the exotic villa of Lawrence Alma-Tadema, the fashionable St Johns Wood artist. But what caused the 1874 Regents Park explosion? Fenian bombs? Sabotage by rival railways or other firms? Or was it something personal? And whose was the other body found in the canal? An artists model? The missing Kings Cross barmaid? Or another victim of the so-called Thames murderer? As he struggles to find the answers, Scotland Yards Sergeant Ernest Best straddles the conflicting worlds of art, wealth and privilege and that of the poverty-stricken London boatman in an intriguing mystery that will change his life forever. The first book in the Detective Sergeant Best series.

It is a beautiful warm August day in 1880: perfect weather for the annual Metropolitan Police Annual Fete held at Alexandra Palace. Inspector Best is summoned to uncover the identity of Quicksilver who has sent an anonymous note threatening to cause an horrific explosion at the event. When a second note is received and its threats become increasingly confusing with their literary allusions, Best seeks out the help of Helen Franks, a close friend from the past. However, is Quicksilver really intent on causing mass injury on this fine day, or is his desire of a more personal nature?

A gripping and satisfying murder mystery with an unguessable final twist- Mystery Women[A] gripping Victorian mystery- Publishers WeeklyAsking an historian to review a historical novel is asking for trouble but Joan Locks book is something else. Her knowledge of London and its policing in the 19th century makes this into a very different kind of novel one with an extremely realistic setting- London Archive Users ForumWhen the bodies of a number of babies are found scattered around Islington, Detective Sergeant Best is sent undercover to lodge next door to a suspected baby farm. He shadows an alleged child dropper onto a Thames pleasure steamer and finds himself caught up in Britains worst civilian tragedy the 1878 sinking of the Princess Alice a horrific experience which will haunt Best forever. Meanwhile, his determination to avenge the death of a young girl he had befriended and save the life of another becomes a crusade.