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This is the true and horrifying account of the brutal torture and murder of the author’s brother and his long-time girlfriend forty years ago. In July 1978, two bodies were found in the sea off the coast of Guatemala, and proved to be the remains of Dr Chris Farmer and his lawyer girlfriend, Peta Frampton, young graduates, aged twenty-five and twenty-four, from Greater Manchester. After suffering a three-day ordeal in which they were tortured, they were then thrown overboard while still alive from the yacht on which they had been crewing, their bodies weighted down with heavy iron engine parts and their heads covered in plastic bags. For nearly forty years, no one was charged with these savage murders, even though the names of the yacht, the Justin B, and its owner, a Californian named Silas Duane Boston, were known.

But this is also the story of how Chris’s sister, journalist Penny Farmer, and her family, tracked down the killer and assembled the evidence against him, leading to the arrest of Boston in California in December 2016. By now in his seventies he was charged with two counts of maritime murder. He pleaded not guilty, but among the evidence that Chris Farmer’s family, the police forces in both the UK and the USA, as well as the FBI and Interpol, had so patiently collected, was the shocking eyewitness testimony of both of Boston’s two sons who, aged thirteen and twelve, had been present when the murders took place.

Regrettably, Boston will now never face justice, for he effectively took his own life in prison in April 2017. But for the families of Chris and Peta, they have at least the satisfaction of knowing that, through their own efforts over many years, this serial killer did not escape being made to face his crimes.

The post Dead In The Water: Bringing down my brother’s killer after his 38 years on the run appeared first on Robert Smith Literary agency.

Judith Jonson has been a widow for five years. At first, she hoped Dan would return, but her dream turned to a nightmare as the war ended, and she had to accept her beloved husband was never coming home.

Then one day she sees a picture in the paper – the aftermath of a dramatic robbery in London’s West End – and Judith can’t believe her eyes. It’s Dan, she’d stake her life on it, or rather his life, the traitor.

Betrayed and desperate for answers Judith begins a hunt for the man she thought she married. And in amongst the lowlifes of the East End’s gangland underworld she finds more than she bargained for.

But Judith had better be careful whose business she meddles in. The rule of law doesn’t apply in Kellston. She had been deceived, but she doesn’t want to end up dead…

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INCLUDES EXCLUSIVE ACCESS & INTERVIEWS WITH PRINCE HARRY

Once a reckless rebel, now a respected role model, Prince Harry is one of the world’s most popular royals and the force behind giving the British royal family a twenty-first century makeover. How has he done it? Harry: Conversations with the Prince is a three-dimensional look at what Harry is really like, both on and off royal duty. It is written by distinguished journalist and author Angela Levin, who accompanied Prince Harry on many of his engagements and had exclusive access to him at Kensington Palace.

The book unwraps the real man behind the camera, and his own perceptive insights. It delves into his troubled childhood and the lasting effect of losing his adored mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, so young. It explores his rebellious teenage years and the key defining moments that have enabled him to face his demons and use this experience to help others who struggle with mental, emotional and physical pain. Angela Levin found a complex man who has inherited his late mother’s extraordinary charisma and is determined to ‘make a difference.’

After finding the love of his life in Meghan Markle, and in anticipation of their marriage this year, this is a celebration of the real Prince Harry.

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Emboldened by her winning fight to land the role of The Girl, the making of The Seven Year Itchand the eighteen months that followed was the period of greatest confidence, liberation, and career success that Monroe lived in her tumultuous life. It was a time in which, among other things, she:

* Ended her marriage to Joe DiMaggio and later began a relationship with Arthur Miller
* Legally changed her name to Marilyn Monroe, divorcing herself from the troubled past of Norma Jeane
* Started her own production company;Studied in private lessons with Lee and Paula Strasberg of the Actors Studio and became a part of the acting revolution of the day

The ripple effects her personal rebellion had on Hollywood, and in trailblazing the way for women that followed, will both surprise and inspire readers to see the Marilyn Monroe in an entirely new light.

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The tales include murders and violent crimes, but also feature scandals that merely amused the Victorians. These include the story of a teenage man who married an actress, only to be shipped off to Australia by his disgusted parents; and the Italian ice-cream man who only meant to buy his sweetheart a hat but ended up proposing marriage instead. When he broke it off, his fiancée’s father sued him and the story was dubbed the ‘Amusing Aberdeen Breach of Promise Case’. Also present is the gruesome story of the murder of Patrick O Connor who was shot in the head and buried under the kitchen flagstones by his lover Maria Manning and her husband, Frederick. The couple’s subsequent trial caused a sensation and even author Charles Dickens attended the grisly public hanging.

Drawing on a range of sources from university records and Old Bailey transcripts to national and regional newspaper archives, Michelle Morgan’s research sheds new light on well-known stories as well as unearthing previously unknown incidents.

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