In Conversation with Non-Fiction Authors

Join non-fiction authors Susan C. Law, S.C. Skillman, and Adam Wood as they chat about their books and writing at Warwick Library. This is the perfect event for our Book Bingo category 'A non-fiction book' (you don't have to be taking part in our Book Bingo challenge to attend, but if you would like to find out more, head over to our website!)

Dark Side of the Cut: A History of Crime on Britain's Canals by Susan C. Law

There is something strangely compelling about the waterways. Isolated places on the edge of society, they have always had their own distinctive way of life and a certain shady reputation. Ever since the earliest days, canals have attracted crime, with sinister figures lurking in the shadows and bodies found floating in the water. When a brutal murder in 1839 created a national outcry, it seemed to confirm all the worst fears about boatmen – a tough breed of men surviving in harsh conditions, who were swiftly branded as outlaws by the press.

Drawing on a rich collection of original sources, Dark Side of the Cut brings to life dramatic stories that are gruesome, shocking and tragic. These evocative snapshots of rough justice uncover the secret world of the waterways, revealing the real human cost of the Industrial Revolution.

About Susan C. Law

Susan C. Law is a journalist and social historian, with a PhD in History from Warwick University. Her work has been published in a wide range of media, including BBC History Magazine, The Times Higher Education, CIM Professional Manager, The Australian, London Evening Standard, and many tabloid dailies. She is the author of Through the Keyhole. Sex, Scandal and the Secret Life of the Country House (The History Press 2015) and Dark Side of the Cut. A History of Crime on Britain’s Canals (2023). Since 2017 she has worked as a volunteer for the Canal & River Trust charity.

Paranormal Glocuestershire by S.C. Skillman

Gloucestershire is a county rich in beauty, history, and a high level of spiritual, mysterious, and paranormal activity. With a profusion of haunted inns, castles, houses and landscape features, the presence of the past is absorbed into the fabric of places as diverse as the Neolithic burial chamber of Belas Knapp Long Barrow, the prisons at Gloucester and Littledean, and the 12th century Ancient Ram Inn at Wotton under Edge. Hauntings have been reported at Sudeley Castle, Chavenage House, St Briavels Castle, Woodchester Mansion and Owlpen Manor and many report unsettling experiences at the Abbeys in Gloucester and Tewkesbury, the villages of Prestbury and Arlingham, and in the Montpelier and Pittville areas of Cheltenham. In this book author S. C. Skillman visits eerie locations around Gloucestershire to unearth a selection of chilling tales about them and explores the strangeness of the hauntings of this fascinating county.

Paranormal Gloucestershire takes the reader into the world of ghosts and spirits in the county, following their footsteps into the unknown. These tales of haunted places, supernatural happenings and weird phenomena will delight the ghost hunters, and fascinate and intrigue everybody who knows Gloucestershire.

About S.C. Skillman

SC Skillman lives in Warwick with her husband and son, and her daughter currently lives and works in Australia.

She was born and brought up in Orpington, Kent, and her first permanent job was as a production secretary with the BBC. Later she lived for nearly five years in Australia before returning to live and work in the UK.

Her published output includes two novels Mystical Circles (psychological thriller) and A Passionate Spirit (paranormal suspense) and four highly illustrated nonfiction books Paranormal Warwickshire, Illustrated Tales of Warwickshire, A-Z of Warwick, and Paranormal Gloucestershire, published by Amberley. She has also completed a new gothic mystery novel, Director’s Cut.

The Case of the Painted Bicycle Lamp by Adam Wood

The gruesome double murder of Richard and Mary Phillips in Coventry’s Stoke Park estate seemed a perfect mystery.

The bloodied bodies of the elderly couple were found in their bedroom, with the previous days’ newspapers piled up on the doormat.

A calendar on their mantlepiece had not been changed for two days, capturing the date of the attack – Wednesday, 10th January 1906.

The only clue for Coventry’s City Police was the discovery of a crudely-painted bicycle lamp, its side lights covered over, which the murderer had seemingly used as a lantern.

Could Detective Inspector Imber solve the riddle?

About Adam Wood

Coventry author Adam Wood has been interested in historic true crime since being told as a young boy that his great grandfather, born in London’s east end, had seen the body of one of Jack the Ripper’s victims.

​Now an author, speaker and tour guide Adam was Executive Editor of Ripperologist magazine, the leading publication dedicated to serious study of the Whitechapel murders, for more than twenty-five years until 2023, when he launched a new wider-reaching historic crime magazine, Crime Through Time.

​Adam lectures at conferences and gives theatre talks, and is regularly consulted for documentaries and comment for television, appearing on both Netflix and the BBC, and on radio and podcast shows.

​He is passionate about sharing history in an accessible way which makes it both interesting and enjoyable.

Free refreshments will be provided.

There will be copies of all the authors books for sale at the event:

• Susan C. Law (Cash only)
• S.C. Skillman (Cash or card)
• Adam Wood (Cash or card)

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