A series of fascinating portraits of gruesome crimes - some well-known, others newly uncovered - and the sinister characters who made up the murky criminal underworld of the Victorian era.

Like their modern counterparts, Victorians knew how to love and hate in equal measure. The archives are brimming with stories of all manner of atrocity, including husbands murdering their wives, suicidal lovers, and mistresses taking revenge on their love rivals. They range from the truly dreadful to the fairly ludicrous, but mostly they have one thing in common - bloodshed, and plenty of it.

Dedicated to the crimes, perversions and outrages of Victorian England and the United States, this grisly book covers high-profile offences - such as the murder of actor William Terriss, whose stabbing at the stage door of the Adelphi Theatre in 1897 filled the front pages for many weeks - as well as lesser-known transgressions that provoked scandal around the world.

Drawing on a wealth of sources, from archival records and Old Bailey transcripts to national and regional newspaper archives, Michelle Morgan sheds new light on supposedly well-known stories while also unearthing previously unknown incidents.