Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in and around Frome (Paperback)
Imprint: Pen & Sword True Crime
Series: Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths
Pages: 129
Illustrations: 25
ISBN: 9781526706041
Published: 29th August 2018
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The Somerset town of Frome might top national polls as a great place to live and enjoy a reputation as the epitome of cool, with Hollywood A-listers regularly spotted on its street and global rock-stars playing its venues, but the place hasn’t always been so ‘chic’ and behind this modern-day façade lies a more sinister and foul past; full of murder, kidnapping, rioting, witchcraft and rebellion, among the other nefarious activities that have taken place over the centuries in the town and surrounding areas.
Indeed, the very existence of Frome is down to acts of criminality; as it has been said the reason Saint Aldhelm built his Saxon church in the first place, thus bringing the market town into being, was to ‘civilise’ the outlaws and bandits who roamed the interior of Selwood Forest; the huge tract of woodland which encircled the land that became the original settlement.
Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in and Around Frome chronicles fourteen foul but fascinating stories that includes the Frome vicar who wrote the most significant book on witchcraft, influencing everyone from The Great Beast himself, Aleister Crowley, to the perpetrators of the Salem witch trials; the key turning point in the Monmouth Rebellion; the last person to be publicly hanged outside Taunton gaol; a war veteran’s triple tragedy; and the violent and brutal pitched battle that was the culmination of a long-running feud between the local populace and the Salvation Army.
You will never look at Frome the same way again.
Frome Times (print & online)
Competition winner announced
True Crime Library Bulletin 511
As featured in competition
True Crime Library, Bulletin 507/8
Behind a ponderous title is an enjoyable volume of lively local history.
Fortean Times – reviewed by Matt Coward
As featured by
Somerset Guardian/Frome Times, 8th November 2018
Article: 'Author's new book shares the secrets of Frome's dark past as featured by'
Frome Times, 27th September 2018
As featured by
Frome Times, 13th September 2018
About Mick Davis
Mick Davis spent many years working in the criminal law before retiring with his wife Lorraine to Frome in Somerset where he pursues his interest in restoring historic buildings, local history and archaeology. He now spends his time researching and writing full time. His first book was The Historic Inns of Frome and his collaboration with David Lassman has so far produced The Awful Killing of Sarah Watts and Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in and around Frome, both published by Pen and Sword. Current projects include a survey of the prehistoric barrows of North Somerset.
About David Lassman
David Lassman began his writing career freelancing for newspapers and magazines, before studying screenwriting at Bournemouth University. He spent three and a half years on a Greek island writing his first novel, is author of Frome in the Great War and co-created the ‘Regency Detective’ series with Terence James. His collaborations with Mick Davis include The Awful Killing of Sarah Watts, one of the most infamous crimes of the Victorian period and Visitors’ Historic Britain: Somerset.