The Sedgemoor Strangler and Other Stories of Crime

Foreword

If there is a theme to this collection it is the idea of the perfect murder. As Jacques Futrelle, the creator of The Thinking Machine, explains in “The Problem of Stateroom 10,” crime writers deal in murders that are imperfect. Ingenious, maybe, but imperfect. The pleasure comes from setting up a mystery, or a challenge, that almost succeeds. Presumably in real life perfect murders are committed and we never hear about them.

This is not quite the same as unsolved murders, such as the Jack the Ripper crimes. The incompetence of the police ensured that Jack went unpunished, rather than any ingenuity on his part. His awe-inspiring name became a by-word and showed a touch of genius, but may have been invented by one of the scores of attention-seekers who wrote letters at the time.

So a satisfying story will intrigue the reader with a crime that aspires to perfection and almost succeeds. It may be the sort of challenge issued to “The Perfectionist,” or young Finch, in “The Problem of Stateroom 10.” Or it can take the form of an “impossible” event, like “The Amorous Corpse.” Or maybe a serial murderer must be unmasked before he strikes again, as in “Dr Death,” and “The Sedgemoor Strangler.”

Prepare to meet some famous and infamous figures from the world of crime. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson investigate “The Four Wise Men”; and, in “Showmen, “William Hare, the body-snatcher, explains what it means to get away with murder.

In almost all of the stories there are decent, law-abiding people plunged into events outside their normal experience. It is my hope that you, my reader, will want to share in the shocks and surprises. You never know when it may come in useful.

PETER LOVESEY