Antony M. Brown

3.5 stars

Interesting concept where the author Antony Brown selects cold cases, so far both British and from the early 20th century, and invites the reader to pass judgement as a jury would. There is also a website where the reader can “cast their vote” as a member of the jury panel on one of the three scenarios depicted in the books.
Death of an Actress is a well-researched and well-presented account of the death of Eileen (Gay) Gibson. The perpetrator was identified, convicted and imprisoned for the crime but there was lingering doubt as to whether it was murder or death by natural causes. The perpetrator, James Camb, contributed to this doubt by disposing of the body overboard and thereby eliminating a true cause of death.
An easy and enjoyable read. I look forward to more in this series from An tony Brown.
… (más)

When a woman is found dead, the first potential suspects for the police are partners and ex-partners. This is because they are statistically to blame for a lot of these types of deaths. Things get a lot more complicated when those people have an alibi or are ruled out some other way. This case is a strange one like that, Julia Wallace is found dead at home by her husband who has just come in from a failed trip to meet a business client. It would be the first thing to question for the police, when did she die and was Wallace away from the house? And if he was, who else had a motive and opportunity to kill her?
Its 1931, years before CCTV and all the people involved now dead, where Antony Brown picks up the story, presenting it for the reader almost in the form of a criminal case in the courts. The reader is presented with statements and analysis, original photos and maps, ready to come to a personal conclusion and register it on coldcasejury.com, which I avoided going on until I had read the entire book and had pondered my choice. Sadly there is no way to definitely prove or disprove people given the information that still remains and there is definite reasonably doubt involved, but you are given the opportunity to express your feelings of what you think most likely. This kind of interactive reading was new and fun for me and I was interested to see the statistics of what other readers before me had said. I like the idea that people can share ideas and theories and debate the issues.
The book is written clearly and factually, with little obvious or subtle bias, which is great if you’re interested in jury work or love a good mystery that can’t quite be solved. I think I do this with any kind of case like this, but it’s nice to have a feeling you can have a say publically. The writing allows the reader to learn about England at the time and questioning their thoughts about the guilty person or persons. The writing is engaging and I felt, by the end, that I had a fairly solid picture of what I believed went on. Brown tries different theories in various ways to help you decide.
Short of some new evidence, I don’t think this case will ever be fully solved now. The distance from the date of the crime gives you the chance to think about it logically rather than emotionally which helps in a jury setting. I really enjoyed this book, even though I thought the cover was a bit sensationalist, and found the way it was set out a welcome change from other books in the true crime genre. It’s fairly short and the pages turn quickly, good fun for an afternoon of crime solving.… (más)