This is a really interesting and incredibly readable look at the legal history of the crime of murder in England and how the statute has developed and evolved over time. It picks out the key cases that have shaped the law's application - some of which you will have heard of, others you may not. If you're a reader of crime fiction, this is really interesting - as you can see the development of things that you've seen in classic murder mysteries but in real cases. It also includes the development of corporate murder and manslaughter statutes and their success (or lack thereof) in the latter half of the twentieth century. Interesting and thought provoking.

This was a really fun, enticing and completely captivating book to read. The book completely stole my attention and interested me as a reader and captured my relatively short attention span for hours as this book was able to make the seemingly plain, boring and repetitive subject (to me) of not just murder but the law and its changes through time around subjects such as crime an interesting topic.

I really enjoy true crime stories and this book effectively interested me, even as a what is considered a pretty long book I really enjoyed reading it and the process of it.

This book is for crime lovers and people who love a bit of gore a mystery. This was interesting for me to read as I was able to look at a psychological aspect of this book and delve into the reasons why people kill and commit murder.

A very interesting book about the history of murder and how the law has changed over time. Factual and not overly dramatic, I learnt a lot from this book.

Absolutely fantastic book. Not alone was it difficult to put down but also it's one that I've dipped back into occasionally. I feel like it would appeal to true crime podcast listeners (like me) but it's an incredibly satisifying read. The author goes into fascinating depth and it's a great juxtaposition of the law, together with really human stories. Fascinating to read how the law has evolved as the understanding of murder/homicide has changed.

Gruesome and gripping, hopping on the true crime trend but with enough legal bite to be on the right side of voyeuristic. Thanks NetGalley!

A great book to read.
The legal history of Murder and Crime and how it`s changed over the centuries with true crime studies.
A well written book and well researched into.
I was shocked by how the law is with not getting convictions for corporate manslaughter and things need to change and quick.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

Murder: The Biography is an interesting look at the history of murder, from the perspective of how different murder cases have changed the law (and how the law existing at the time impacted various murder cases). It’s written by a lawyer, but it’s accessible for the layperson, and Morgan remains keenly aware of how fascinating the topic of murder is to many. The details aren’t at all dry, but the back of the book contains details of how to find the relevant judgements, etc, for those who want to dig right into it.

For a reader of crime/mystery fiction, it has little to say about the fictional world (beyond a few comments that the bulk of murders are not like in books), just in case you were wondering — it focuses entirely on real-world cases, mostly things which helped to shape the law and other prosecutions. So we see things like the development of defences of diminished responsibility, and corporate manslaughter, through the lens of the events that prompted them. The latter law is still not really tested: the case of Grenfell, Morgan says, is a make-or-break moment for it, as you’d imagine.

I found it a really interesting read, and surprisingly quick. I wasn’t already aware of all of the murders, either. Just as a warning, there are a few really awful cases, such as the case of Dr Bateman’s negligence — skim that one if you’re a bit squeamish, and avoid the details.

I really enjoy true crime books and thought this one would be another one to add to the list, however it wasn’t quite what I expected. It was very interesting to find out lots of facts to do with different crimes committed but overall I didn’t find this book to draw me in completely and thought it dragged on a bit.

When we think of murder we often think of the "how" and "why" but I for one have never considered the legal history of the act itself. Morgan's is a gripping and fascinating look at murder through the ages looks at a series of cases and answers important questions like "Can murder ever be justified?"

The cases that shaped the legal system we know today range from the well known, like Ruth Ellis (the last woman to be hanged in the UK) to the case of the Victorian crewmates who argued that cannibalism was their only chance of survival. A great read, one that will stay with you long after you finish the book.

I enjoyed this book, it was fascinating and not dull. It was somewhat repetetative in some places, but overall a good read.

Thank you Harper Collins UK and NetGalley.
I totally loved this book. I was a bit stuck with what to read so picked this up and am so glad I did.
I really hope Kate does another book as I would love to read more.
I cannot recommend this highly enough

One of the most interesting books I've read in a while. Jam packed with facts about British law and the justice system pertaining to murder and all the nuances that go with the decision of what constitutes murder not just in the present day but right back to when the term murder was first used. I loved the use of crimes that have become famous or even iconic in popular culture as well as the very serious side of miscarriages of justice and the families still working tirelessly to hold people or companies responsible for the deaths of their loved ones. The intricacies of the law and the differing opinions of those that uphold the law in courts was fascinating and how nothing is ever black and white. I have been recommending this book to everyone, I loved it!

A very interesting and well written book about the history of murder and manslaughter.

This was a very well researched and incredibly informative read about the history of how murder and manslaughter have come to be defined and how these terms have legally changed over the years since their inception.

Using real life case studies, this book is able to make what could be dull legal history into an interesting subject.

I loved how this book used a range of case studies from the 1800s to the present day. The cases were not just traditional homicides, but also ranged from medical negligence, corporate killings and deaths by dangerous driving.

The writing style was very accessible and easy to read and understand.

Overall, this was a very fascinating read which I certainly learnt a lot from. Highly recommended for any true crime fan.

It’s taken me so long to write a review of this because I’m afraid I just won’t do the book justice but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I went into the book expecting to learn something but also expecting it to be a little bit dry. Instead, I came away having learned so much in an engaging way!

I thought this was a well-researched and focused book, despite it being about the law it didn’t feel inaccessible for someone without a law background. There is also a glossary included at the back, which is handy. Morgan explains current law without boring jargon, but most importantly illustrates how these laws were developed through various events from the past that shaped that particular law. In this way, it felt a bit like a true crime story as I learned about so many cases from the past that I’d never heard of before. What is good about this book is that it doesn’t just make these crimes the focus point of the book, as I mentioned, she uses it to illustrate how laws have been shaped. Also, she pulls in events from the past and current events, to really illustrate the conception of some laws. For example, she uses an example of a car accident that took place in 1896 to show how laws around dangerous driving and cars were shaped (in fact she calls cars the most accessible deadly weapon in the history of mankind).

When I say this book is focused, I mean it. Each chapter stays on point, I often find with research books because there is crossover in so many areas, authors will tend to repeat themselves or start merging chapters so it doesn’t become distinctly about one topic. Morgan avoids all of this and gives us clear factual cases alongside the topic she covers, which include corporate manslaughter, death in medical settings, insanity pleas and much more.

What fascinated me most was her touching on cases where large numbers of people were killed because of failings by companies, and she notes the Grenfell fire. She highlights through other corporation failings how hard it is to get convictions or even assign blame because of the lack of willingness from higher-ups to own up to negligence.

Overall, Morgan makes murder and the law wholly accessible and interesting to wider society and I really do think those within the UK should be reading this, there’s so much we don’t know about the law and this is only one area! It is worth noting that this is wholly focused on the UK, but I would mainly say England and Wales. She does bring in some Scottish cases, but of course, the legal system does differ between Scotland and the rest of the UK and Ireland.

Fascinating real life tales of how English law around murder has developed.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Kate Morgan offers a well researched account of how law has changed and evolved around Murder, discussing historical and modern cases. Details of crime, murderers and how law has developed makes an interesting read. Beware this does contain graphic descriptions but a must read for any true crime fan.

A fascinating travel through the history of murder laws and detection in the UK. Full of surprises and quirky "I didn't know that's". A good read for the novice or the seriousl criminologist..

The was so far away from my usual type of book but I found it fascinating. Very gripping and easy to follow for amatuers to the genre like me.

Murder :The Biography is a legal history of murder and the author details strange and varied cases that form part of the UK murder law. I found this to be a well written, compelling and educational read and was completely gripped by and involved in the true crime stories.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

A “biography” of murder and manslaughter in the UK told through legislation. This is really a biography of the law of homicide, rather than of homicide itself.

This was a fascinating read and gave a good insight into things like insanity defences, etc, through various test cases.

That said, other reviewers have complained it wasn’t what they expected, because they thought it was going to be a “biography”/ history of murder itself, rather than the legislation (clearly they didn't read the blurb). I didn’t make that mistake, but I still felt this was lacking somewhat. For example, one issue I’m very interested in is Joint Enterprise and while this book covered that, it didn’t really do the topic justice (excuse the pun).

Also, I didn’t find the book particularly illuminating on more recent history, such as the abolition of double jeopardy (which was covered, but not in enough detail).

This title was much more interesting on historical cases, such as the grisly case that looked at cannibalism amongst sailors and the law of the sea.