Murder. It seems like a pretty dry cut term; the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. But Kate Morgan's 'Murder: The Biography' is a well researched and exceptionally well written book about the how understanding of the term has changed under British law throughout history.

Morgan uses cases to explain in depth how laws have developed - and been exposed in their shortcomings - over the years, starting in Tudor times and moving through to contemporary jurisprudence.

Highly informative and entertaining.

Absolutely loved this!! I’m a huge fan of true crime and love reading anything I can in that genre. Such a good collection of topics. Great read

“…saw the case as a golden opportunity to finally clarify the law and disabuse the maritime community of the notion that there was nothing inherently wrong with eating a cabin boy."

Kate Morgan wrote a really good overview of how the concept of murder evolved over the years under British law, taking into account its shortcomings at every step! There were some sections that went on for too long, but as a whole this was a great read!

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this!

As a lawyer with an interest in criminal law, I found this book to be fascinating and I learned a lot. I was hooked from the beginning as the author took us on a journey through history. This is a must read for anyone with an interest in historical books, or crime.

A really interesting exploration of the history of the law of murder and the law surrounding homocide.
Each chapter looks at the law’s development surrounding killers and their victims with cases that helped that change occur.
It was very accessible with a glossary at the back for more archaic or legal terms, and was written in an engaging way.

This was very interesting and i learnt a fair bit. There was moments where i struggled while reading (i did go and get the audiobook so i could listen along and that did help me, and emila fox is a great narrator) but the break op with cases did help with some of the law lingo.

It is well researched and very detailed in regards to the changes in various murder laws within Britain over the years. The use of cases to explain but also show which cases had an influence for these changes, helped with the information but also made it interesting. The history of law, The book starts in Tudor times and moves through time into todays laws.

Then you have the cases that challenge the laws, was it murder or manslaughter. Was it self defence, premeditated, insanity etc. All these have had an impact of laws changing, like duals, finding loop holes.

The laws are still not perfect but compared to what they where there has been change and improvement, but then again you have the murders who are written and sung about dispite their acts 'mack the knife'.

There could have been more expansion on parts, but then you would have a very very heavy book. Hope to maybe see more that a few sections get their own book maybe... i certainly will be looking out to see what Kate Morgan brings out next.

I highly recommend this especially if your interested in true crime, history and law system.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher from providing me with a ebook for an honest review.

“…ordinary people who have found themselves in extraordinary situations, with fatal results.”

This is an interesting non-fiction book which looks at the laws behind murder and unlawful death.
It explores many cases and shows how they have shaped the law. There are historic cases and more recent ones.

It’s very readable and well researched. There’s a glossary which is useful as some of the terms were unfamiliar to me.

I had heard of some of the cases, but most of them were new to me.

If you’re interested in true crime and the law then I would recommend this book.

3.5 stars.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for a copy for review.

This meticulous and interesting book acts as an important response to all the other books and TV programmes on murder, real , , fictional modern and historic. In short it is a review of the historical response to killing from the early system of payment of compensation to when killings might become a “legal” matter requiring punishment. Inevitably that means an investigation, a community assessment of the nature of the death, a possible trial with determination of the “type” of the killing and with conviction a punishment that until relatively recently in Britain could include the death penalty.
While much of our current process is based on codification laid down in the 17th century it has continued to evolve – albeit some might say unacceptably slowly – through the Parliamentary introduction of new laws (that more recently have been a response to reviews or investigations into perceived miscarriages of justices or lack of appropriate results) and more substantially through the establishment of “case law” by decisions made on the basis initially of a specific case considered in court. Until the early 20th century the “progress” of a case could be speedy and with no appeal process (unless a royal pardon was accepted), Further until 1997 and the establishment of Criminal Cases Review Body there was no specific process of post conviction review of the original decision allowing consideration of new evidence.
Morgan, using specific cases (some well known and others that have largely faded from public memory) shows how this process has evolved over the last centuries. But alongside this she shows how the various definitions of killing have been developed to murder, manslaughter, infanticide and to a lesser extent corporate manslaughter. She also includes the development of mitigation measures around a possible murder convictions for those by age or with mental health issues – the latter a deeply contested and ongoing dialogue.
The majority of trials were jury trials controlled by a judge. She talks a little to the complexities of this with the possible biases involved leading to miscarriages of justice, but often a deep reluctance of juries to convict in the face of capital punishment of offenders. So the structures of the process are not forgotten in this book. But in the latter chapters she covers the modern (and ongoing) concerns around both perceived miscarriages of the process and the inability to deal with the number of deaths by corporate neglect or incompetence. Throughout Morgan is well aware of the fact that we are talking about real people killed but also the massive and long lived impact this can have on the families and the communities involved.
So this book acts as an important historical review of where we are now as a country, shows the weaknesses of the system that are currently in place, but also the sobering impact of the failure to effectively deal with terminal crimes through a combination of lack of will to deal with the issues at a political level, but also the sheer inexorable grind of years from the recognition of a problem to even the most basic practical response. All this even without the issues of the process being carried through real people who might be ignorant of the underlying issues or frankly worry little about them. So expect a less than comfortable read that talks to two parallel realities - those of unlawful killings and death and then the strange and convoluted processes of law to address them.

I really wanted to love this book but I found it gave the basic facts from the crimes then went into the law side of things which started to confuse me at times and also got a bit boring

A thoroughly researched book about the history of British murder laws, crime and punishment. Kate Morgan’s passion for and knowledge of British crime is impressive, and she presents this history in an accessible and entertaining way. She examines cases which had impact on British law and really educates her reader in a fascinating and intelligent way. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book. Written to show how the law of Murder has been categorised and changed throughout the history of the English legal system.

Kate Morgan uses real life cases to demonstrate the changes in perspective and laws, as society changes. The writing was easy to follow and flowed through out the book. Some of the cases are the ones we see in the headlines, still to this days, others are the historic murders that. started the changes in the law.

I was really interested that Corporate Manslaughter was discussed and included insight into such incidents as Piper Alpha and Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster.

There were legal terms used and there is a handy glossary in the back and all the case law that was used for the research, for those who will no doubt be delving deeper.

It is not just a book for the legal minded. If you have any interest in history, sociology or true crime, I would recommend this book to you. In fact as I was reading I was messaging people I know telling them they need to read this.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for my honest review.

This was a pleasure to read and so interesting. A real page turner. It’s well researched and uses facts and stories that are not sensationalised to make them seem more than they are. There are some cases that we may know of, including modern day cases, and lots of cases that changed the definition of murder in the eyes of the law. There are cases that are heartbreaking due to circumstances and innocent people convicted due to how the law stood at the time.
It charts the evolution of murder from a legal standpoint using cases and legal jargon and how it has evolved and been interpreted through the ages from the beginning to modern day.

This is defiantly a book for people interested in British law or crime writing but it will appeal to a wider audience as a historical book about the times and social issues around crime and the law.

It is written in a story - like way that just flows and you can’t wait to read the next chapter. There are also some pictures that make a nice change and add interest. I would recommend this book to anyone and I will look out for more books from this writer as she has done an amazing job.
I will be re reading this book again in the future – something I very rarely do.

Fascinating account of the history of the crime of murder.

This is a fascinating and insightful account of the history of the crime of murder and how the specific crimes committed have changed over time along with the legal definitions and the punishments. The book is very well researched and I love the author's clear and well thought out writing style, making complicated legal definitions and nuances easy to understand.

The book begins by setting out the history of the legal definition of murder. The author then presents a number of historic murder cases and analyses how these have shaped the current legal definitions and punishments, putting the crimes in the context of what was acceptable in society at the time and how the complex legal framework has been built up over time as gaps are discovered in order to try to make the system as complete, fair and fit for purpose as possible.

Highly recommended, a great read.

It was an interesting and informative read as I learned something more about the legal aspects of murder.
Well researched, full of real cases, it's a bit slow at times but never dry.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Bloody love a biography like this. True stories that make you not want to go to bed at night .. Mainly because you don’t want to put this book down for a start!

A true crime read but from the legal aspect rather than the crimes themselves. An really interesting read that I thoroughly enjoyed and would definitely recommend.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I was really excited to get my hands on this one and to break away from my typical psychological thrillers and delve into more true crime. The crimes themselves were horrific and I was taken aback but the severity of them, but the book itself dealt more with the legal sides of the crimes and I got a little lost and bored with the over information. I wish I had enjoyed this more but I think this is an issue of my literary preferences instead of the writing itself as I'm sure if you are interested in the legal side of crimes then this would be perfect for you.

This is a fascinating look at the evolution of the meaning of “murder” in a legal sense throughout the history of British law. The author, a lawyer herself, gives a meticulously well-research account of how murder came to be defined in law and gives overviews of the cases that shaped the changing understanding and prosecution of “murder” from the middle ages to the present day.

It is riveting to see how certain cases developed the introduction of manslaughter as a separate charge, or mental illness as a defense, or the rise of the appeals system, and so on. There are obviously some upsetting cases, so reading it from start to finish did get rather bleak at times. However, I feel as though I learned a lot – particularly about corporate manslaughter – so it was worth pushing through. The writing was great, although did get a little dry in places, but that is perhaps to be expected when dealing with such complex legalese.

All in all, this is an intriguing read and I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys “true crime”.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

Murder: The Biography tells a very comprehensive tale of the law of murder and how it's changed over the years since it's conception. It is extremely detailed and well-researched which is a true testament to the author. The book evidences changes in law with true accounts of crimes that have been committed and admirably steers away from sensationalising them unlike other true crime books.
The book reads somewhat like a textbook so isn't really appropriate for the casual reader; it tends to use technical language which makes it hard to comprehend in areas and some sections are a tad long winded.
Though the book is very interesting, I wish that the differences in chapters were more distinct as some of them seemed to blend together and I wish the author hadn't looked at quite so many cases during certain parts of the book.
Definitely recommend if you're interested in the law of murder in the UK but not for those looking for thrilling tales of serial killers and whatnot.

As a huge fan of true crime stories and biographies I was really happy to recieve this book but sadly was left feeling underwhelmed.

It was just sooooo boring and dragged on and on and on.

Whilst the description and premise of the book are interesting the actual execution felt somewhat clinical.

It was basically facts about the crime and then the law parts, there was no real attention drawn to the severity of these crimes, it was basically 'here's what happened, here's how it was dealt with... next's

If you are interested in the law side of crime than this is for you, if you're more interested in the facts behind the crime I'd give it a miss.

Thanks to netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC.