Murder by Mistake — M.J. Trow

(A 132-page True Crime Short with 21 photographs) The mysteries surrounding Britain's 7th earl of Lucan have endured for almost four decades. In 1974, after his carefully crafted plan to murder his wife went awry, he killed his nanny by mistake, and then attacked his wife--all while his three children were in the house. If it happened today, everyone with access to the Internet and TV would be inundated for months with the contradictory details of this bizarre story and how the dashing aristocrat became the subject of a worldwide manhunt.

In 1974, England was still very focused on the perks afforded the titled rich. To add insult to murder, the focus of the case moved from the dead nanny and injured wife to the whereabouts of the earl, who disappeared shortly after the attacks. While the police analyzed the evidence, friends and relatives of the missing earl closed ranks and obstructed the investigation. Those same aristocratic friends may have helped get him out of the country and may know where he--or his body--is today.

Trow analyzes what likely happened the night of the murder and the fate of the missing earl. Combining his talents as a storyteller and the objectivity of a historian, Trow leads us into the opulent sanctuaries of England's aristocracy, suddenly violated by a despicable crime.

This case will never die. There is great excitement now in the British press. A BBC documentary recently claimed that two of Lucan's three children were taken on holiday to Africa, the trip paid for by Lucan's friends, so that their father could see them. According to one investigator, hotel and bar receipts from Namibia prove that Lucan was certainly there in 2000. In February 2012, Hugh Bingham, Lucan's younger brother, said he was convinced that Lucan had escaped to Africa but was not sure whether he was still alive.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

M. J. Trow is a uniquely talented British novelist and author of nonfiction books on important historical figures such as El Cid, Spartacus, and Jack the Ripper. He is the creator of three highly acclaimed detective novel series: the 16-book Lestrade series, which is based on the police detective in the Sherlock Holmes stories; the 18-book Peter Maxwell series, which features “Mad Max,” a teacher in the flawed British educational system who pits himself against the bureaucracy to solve mysteries; and his newest, the Kit Marlowe series. The second Kit Marlowe novel, Silent Court, was published in 2011, and the third, Witch Hammer, will be published in the spring/fall of 2012. Scorpion's Nest is currently in production for publication at the end of 2012.

ABOUT THE SERIES

From the best true crime authors in the business, many of whom have seen their books made into major motion pictures, comes Crimescape�"�--a new collection of compelling short nonfiction crime eBooks from leading independent eBook publisher RosettaBooks. Taking readers into the dark minds of criminals and the tense hunt to bring perpetrators to justice, Crimescape authors stand apart from other true crime writers because they have personal experience in crime investigations, whether as police detectives, investigative reporters, forensics professionals or criminal psychologists. As riveting storytellers, Crimescape's writers give readers all the information they need to understand relevant clues and the interwoven influences in each criminal case.

“What makes for a good true-crime story? Interesting characters, an engrossing plot, situations that often teeter between life and death. But here's the MacGuffin about true crime: What you're reading actually happened. Sometimes truth really is more compelling than fiction. And that's why you will enjoy reading Crimescape's true crime series.”
-- Paul Alexander, # 1 bestselling author of the Kindle Singles Accused, Murdered, and Homicidal