Publications

Death at the Priory: Love, Sex and Murder in Victorian England

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Impressively researched… a sensational read.
Chicago Tribune

Who killed Charles Bravo? This is the mystery at the centre of James Ruddick's mesmerising Death at the Priory, a detailed and vivid recreation of the case that followed barrister Charles Bravo's death. In 1876, an attractive widow, Florence Ricardo, accepted a marriage proposal from the successful barrister. Four months after their marriage, Bravo collapsed at home, and proceeded to die a slow and pain-filled death, despite the attendance of several of London's top physicians. The doctors concurred: Bravo had been poisoned, and a police investigation soon cast a net of suspicion over everyone at the Priory, his London home. We are presented, thriller-fashion, with all the principal suspects: Mrs Cox, Bravo's long-serving companion; stableman George Griffiths (who nursed a grudge against the dead man); Dr James Gully, who had been the lover of Bravo's wife Florence; and, of course, the enigmatic figure of the beautiful Florence herself.

Ruddick has tackled great cases of the past before, with Lord Lucan: What Really Happened, and he is expert at re-sifting the evidence and presenting to the reader highly plausible solutions to previously unsolved mysteries. Here, we are given a fascinating picture of Victorian society, with all its repression and damped-down sexuality, but the really compelling aspect of Ruddick's book is the new evidence he draws on to demonstrate for the first time who really killed Charles Bravo.

Conan Doyle never wrote a more intriguing mystery.

Barry Forshaw, Amazon Reviews

Lord Lucan: What Really Happened

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An absorbing, forensic examination of a famous case…
The Daily Telegraph

In November, 1974, the enigmatic Lord Lucan disappeared into the night after the body of his children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, was found at his family's London home. Two days later, his abandoned car turned up at the English sea port of Newhaven, stained in blood, a bludgeon in the boot. What had happened to Lord Lucan - and who had killed the nanny?

In this engrossing account, investigative journalist James Ruddick narrates the events that led up to Lucan's disappearance - his reckless, wasteful life as an aristocratic scoundrel, his failed marriage, his descent into debt and crisis - and offers compelling explanations for the questions that Lucan left behind.

Remembered Laughter: The Life of Kenneth Williams

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Kenneth Williams was one of Britain's most popular figures - a serious actor, raconteur, film star, personality, comedian and camp icon. Remembered Laughter tells for the first time the full story of his rise from the back streets of King's Cross to international celebrity, the extraordinary twists and turns along the way, and the struggle to define himself both publicly and privately. Williams' personal life - at turns hilarious and desperately sad - is revealed through the memories of more than a hundred fellow actors, family members and close friends. The book also includes previously unpublished excerpts from his legendary diaries and letters (the bits they couldn't publish fourteen years ago) as well as scores of new photographs.