Step inside a real-life, missing person investigation in this compelling, true crime must-read.

Uncover what happened to missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, as David Videcette takes you on a quest to unpick her mysterious disappearance and scrutinise the shadowy 'Mr Kipper'.

One overcast Monday in July 1986, 25-year-old estate agent Suzy Lamplugh vanished whilst showing a smart London property to a mysterious 'Mr Kipper'. Despite the baffling case dominating the news and one of the largest missing persons cases ever mounted, police failed to find a shred of evidence establishing what had happened to her.

Sixteen years later, following a second investigation and under pressure from Suzy's desperate parents, police named convicted rapist and murderer John Cannan as their prime suspect. However, the Crown Prosecution Service refused to charge him, citing a lack of evidence.

High-profile searches were conducted, yet Suzy's body was never found. The trail that might lead investigators to her, long since lost.

Haunted by another missing person case, investigator and former Scotland Yard detective, David Videcette, has spent five years painstakingly reinvestigating Suzy's cold case disappearance. Through a series of incredible new witness interviews and fresh groundbreaking analysis, he uncovers piece by piece what happened to Suzy and why the case was never solved.

In the first half of the 18th century there was an explosion in the volume and variety of crime literature published in London. This was a 'golden age of writing about crime', when the older genres of criminal biographies, social policy pamphlets and 'last-dying speeches' were joined by a raft of new publications, including newspapers, periodicals, graphic prints, the Old Bailey Proceedings and the Ordinary's Account of malefactors executed at Tyburn. By the early 18th century propertied Londoners read a wider array of printed texts and images about criminal offenders - highwaymen, housebreakers, murderers, pickpockets and the like - than ever before or since. Print Culture, Crime and Justice in 18th-Century London provides the first detailed study of crime reporting across this range of publications to explore the influence of print upon contemporary perceptions of crime and upon the making of the law and its administration in the metropolis. This historical perspective helps us to rethink the relationship between media, the public sphere and criminal justice policy in the present.

Lt. Patrick J. Ciser (Ret.) of the City of Clifton Police Department, in New Jersey, is also known to his many karate students as Sensei (Teacher). Ciser achieved national and international fame by representing the United States in five international karate tournaments, winning gold medals in South America and Europe.

"Pat Ciser," as he is known in North Jersey, grew up and became a police officer in Clifton in 1977. Growing as a police officer, he started to realize that with his martial arts skills, he could save lives, surprisingly, on both sides of the law.

Newspaper accounts of Ciser's exploits over the years bear witness to the true stories recounted in this book. Headlines and quotes give a glimpse of his illustrious career as he was continually called upon, in life and death situations. The Clifton Journal read, "Pat Ciser, Clifton's answer to Superman" ... New Jersey's Record wrote, "Veteran officer compared to Chuck Norris"; while the Heard News read, "Action hero calling it quits," when announcing his retirement in 2008.

Join Ciser as he recalls mastering karate, kicking in doors, and dodging bullets and blades. The only difference between the stories in Budo and the Badge, and the ones on the big screen, are that these stories are real.

Reconceptualizing Security in the Americas in the Twenty-First Century illustrates the various security concerns in the Americas in the twenty-first century. It presents the work of a number of prolific scholars and analysts in the region. The book offers new theoretical and analytical perspectives. Within the Americas, we find a number of important issues security issues. Most important are the threats that supersede borders: drug trafficking, migration, health, and environmental. These threats change our understanding of security and the state and regional process of neutralizing or correcting these threats. This volume evaluates these threats within contemporary security discourse.

Applied Theatre: Women and the Criminal Justice System offers unprecedented access to international theatre and performance practice in carceral contexts and the material and political conditions that shape this work. Each of the twelve essays and interviews by international practitioners and scholars reveal a panoply of practice: from cross-arts projects shaped by autobiographical narratives through to fantasy-informed cabaret; from radio plays to film; from popular participatory performance to work staged in commercial theatres. Extracts of performance texts, developed with Clean Break theatre company, are interwoven through the collection. Television and film images of women in prison are repeatedly painted from a limited palette of stereotypes - 'bad girls', 'monsters', 'babes behind bars'. To attend to theatre with and about women with experience of the criminal justice system is to attend to intersectional injustices that shape women's criminalization and the personal and political implications of this. The theatre and performance practices in this collection disrupt, expand and reframe representational vocabularies of criminalized women for audiences within and beyond prison walls. They expose the role of incarceration as a mechanism of state punishment, the impact of neoliberalism on ideologies of punishment and the inequalities and violence that shape the lives of many incarcerated women. In a context where criminalized women are often dismissed as unreliable or untrustworthy, the collection engages with theatre practices which facilitate an economy of credibility, where women with experience of the criminal justice system are represented as expert witnesses.

The pursuit of the financial proceeds of criminal activity has become a central theme of contemporary crime control. Initially conceived to tackle the global trade in illegal drugs, these methods have been more recently employed in the context of terrorism. This work offers a judicious account of the national and international strategies which seek to cope with crime by attacking its financial underpinnings. The book focuses on the increasingly civil legal orientation of these strategies - a sea change from criminal prosecutions to civil legal instruments. The author focuses on developments of the civil strategy in the US and the UK beginning with its historical origins. The work reveals the contradictions that animate the civil approach to criminal finance and discloses the failure of civil devices, as presently constituted, to comply with rights. It bridges the gap between two jurisdictions prominent in this area; the United States and the United Kingdom. This comparative element distinguishes the project from other work in the field that focuses on a single jurisdiction. Critical in its perspective, the work brings balance and reflection to an emergent area of national and international interest. Money Laundering and the Proceeds of Crime analyzes rather than merely describes the proceeds of crime laws, anti-money laundering regimes and the civil legal approach to criminal finance and as such will have a wide readership. The book will appeal to, amongst others, government actors involved in constructing instruments to confront criminal finance, scholars and researchers working in the area and banks, financial institutions, lawyers and other professional private actors charged with anti-money laundering functions.

An up-to-date examination of Mexico's version of the "War on Drugs" that exposes the evolution of major cartels and their corruption of politicians, law-enforcement agencies, and the Army. What can President Enrique Pena Nieto do to curb the narcotics-induced mayhem in Mexico, and what would be the consequences to the United States if he fails? This book analyzes Mexico's transition from a relatively peaceful kleptocracy controlled by the Tammany-Hall style Institutional Revolutionary Party/PRI (1929-2000) to a country plagued by rural and urban enclaves of grotesque violence. The author examines the major drug cartels and their success in infiltrating American and Mexican businesses; details the response from the Obama administration; assesses the threat that the continuing bloodshed represents for the United States; and emphasizes the constraints on America's ability to solve Mexico's crisis, despite U.S. contributions of intelligence, military equipment, training, and diplomatic support. Documents the origins of Mexico's drug industry to explain today's situation involving a graft-ridden Army, suborned police, ruthless capos, unethical office-holders, and U.S. security forces Emphasizes the threat that the widespread criminality represents to the United States, as well as the constraints on Washington's ability to solve its neighbor's crisis Exposes the linkages between elected officials, particularly governors, and the underworld Illustrates the challenges that will remain, even if the cartels were shattered, by the presence of a human infrastructure of 500,000 men, women, and children skilled in kidnapping, extortion, torture, murder for hire, human smuggling, and dozens of other crimes

If you love Katie Flynn and Pam Howes, you'll love Chrissie Walsh's WWI story of love, loss and triumph!Kitty and Tom Conlon arrive in Liverpool in July 1916 to claim the house Tom's great-uncle has bequeathed him in his will. The move to England couldn't have come at a better time. Dublin is in turmoil following the Easter Uprising and Kitty's brother is now in prison. The house in Weaver Street is all they hoped for, and after a shaky start with her new neighbours, Kitty believes the world is her oyster. Until that is, Tom is conscripted into the navy. With Tom away, it's up to Kitty and the women of Weaver Street to get each other through the war. Praise for Chrissie Walsh:'An authentic Yorkshire saga - you can almost hear the clacking of the looms. Add a feisty mill girl, determined to fight injustice, and you'll be reading through the night' Alrene Hughes, on The Girl from the Mill. 'Full of joy, sorrow and a big pinch of fun. I loved it' Elizabeth Gill, on The Child from the Ash Pits 'A captivating story of family, relations and the complexities of life. With truly heart-tugging moments that make you shed a tear. The Child from the Ash Pits is everything a good read should be' Diane Allen, on The Child from the Ash Pits What readers say about Chrissie Walsh:'I could not fault any of this book, as the author brings all the characters to life, its such an interesting story that will engross readers all the way through. Loved it.' 'Really well written and very enjoyable, keeping the reader engrossed and gripped until the very last page.' 'Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was engrossed from start to finish. Good strong characters, and strong storyline. Great author. I recommend.' 'The author writes so descriptively about the characters you feel you know them inside out. A brilliant read and I can't wait for the next novel to be published.'

"Carrying ahead the project of cultural criminology, Phillips and Strobl dare to take seriously that which amuses and entertains us--and to find in it the most significant of themes. Audiences, images, ideologies of justice and injustice--all populate the pages of Comic Book Crime. The result is an analysis as colorful as a good comic, and as sharp as the point on a superhero's sword."--Jeff Ferrell, author of Empire of Scrounge Superman, Batman, Daredevil, and Wonder Woman are iconic cultural figures that embody values of order, fairness, justice, and retribution. Comic Book Crime digs deep into these and other celebrated characters, providing a comprehensive understanding of crime and justice in contemporary American comic books. This is a world where justice is delivered, where heroes save ordinary citizens from certain doom, where evil is easily identified and thwarted by powers far greater than mere mortals could possess. Nickie Phillips and Staci Strobl explore these representations and show that comic books, as a historically important American cultural medium, participate in both reflecting and shaping an American ideological identity that is often focused on ideas of the apocalypse, utopia, retribution, and nationalism. Through an analysis of approximately 200 comic books sold from 2002 to 2010, as well as several years of immersion in comic book fan culture, Phillips and Strobl reveal the kinds of themes and plots popular comics feature in a post-9/11 context. They discuss heroes' calculations of "deathworthiness," or who should be killed in meting out justice, and how these judgments have as much to do with the hero's character as they do with the actions of the villains. This fascinating volume also analyzes how class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation are used to construct difference for both the heroes and the villains in ways that are both conservative and progressive. Engaging, sharp, and insightful, Comic Book Crime is a fresh take on the very meaning of truth, justice, and the American way.Nickie D. Phillipsis Associate Professor in the Sociology and Criminal Justice Department at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY.Staci Stroblis Associate Professor in the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.In theAlternative Criminologyseries

Rose West was, on the face of it, a mother living with her family in a semi in Gloucester. But behind closed doors, she was a monstrous killer who, with husband Fred, killed at least a dozen women and girls, including her own daughter Heather, sixteen, and stepdaughter, Charmaine, eight.

Rose was sadistic as both a mother and killer, and all her victims as well as her own children were subjected to horrific sexual violence and torture. Rose did paid sex work in the family home with husband Fred peeping through the holes he had made in the wall and listening on an intercom. They modified the house to take in lodgers and then preyed on them, as well as other young women hitching a lift or waiting for a bus.

In 1972, aged seventeen, Caroline Owens, who had been hired as a nanny, was drugged, attacked and raped, but managed to escape. But she could not bring herself to testify, so the Wests remained free.

Two decades would pass before Rose’s dark secrets were discovered when nine of the victims’ bodies were dug up in the garden and beneath the cellar at the West’s home at 25 Cromwell Street. And now, three decades after this grim discovery, the workings of Rose West’s twisted mind remain as mysterious as who played what role in this husband-and-wife folie à deux.

Constituting fewer than 15% of the nation's police officers, women have found it especially difficult to rise through the ranks and achieve higher posts. Here, those few women who have made it to the top--about 1% of the chiefs and sheriffs in American policing--share their stories and describe the challenges they faced as they rose to their positions. Each of the chiefs compted for their offices with other candidates, almost always male. The sheriffs--virtually all elected officials-- came under even closer scrutiny. While few in number, these top cops illustrate the emergence of women as more than token leaders of American sheriff and police departments. They are unique groundbreakers who have managed to breach the brass ceiling.

Here is the fascinating story of how individual women are setting a pace for other women in one of the most male-dominated public service fields in America, second only behind firefighting in its image as a place where few women have successfully negotiated careers to the top. Who are these women, and how did they earn the top spot? Are they nontraditional women, or women in nontraditional positions? Do they share common characteristics in terms of family backgrounds, race, ethnicity, age, or marital status? To what do they attribute their success in the face of overwhelming obstacles? How can their experiences with education, careers, service, and assignments help other women achieve similar success in this field or in others? Schulz answers these questions as she vividly recounts the paths to the top for these determined and exceptional women.

This book aims to describe and demystify what makes criminal gangs so culturally powerful. It examines their codes of conduct, initiation rites, secret communications methods, origin myths, symbols, and the like that imbue the gangsters with the pride and nonchalance that goes hand in hand with their criminal activities. Mobsters are everywhere in the movies, on television, and on websites. Contemporary societies are clearly fascinated by them. Why is this so? What feature and constituents of organized criminal gangs make them so emotionally powerful-to themselves and others? These are the questions that have guided the writing of this textbook, which is intended as an introduction to organized crime from the angle of cultural analysis. Key topics include: * An historic overview of organized crime, including the social, economic, and cultural conditions that favour its development; * A review of the type of people who make up organized gangs and the activities in which they engage; * The symbols, rituals, codes and languages that characterize criminal institutions; * The relationship between organized crime and cybercrime; * The role of women in organized crime; * Drugs and narco-terrorism; * Media portrayals of organized crime. Organized Crime includes case studies and offers an accessible, interdisciplinary approach to the subject of organized crime. It is essential reading for students engaged with organized crime across criminology, sociology, anthropology and psychology.