The Long Drop by Denise Mina

 

The time is 1958 and the place is Glasgow, Scotland.  William Watt's family has been brutally murdered.  Someone broke in and shot his wife, sister-in-law and daughter, killing them all.  The police arrest Watt but have to release him as they have no evidence and he was miles away.  But his name is ruined and Watt posts an ad asking for information and offering a reward.  He is contacted by Peter Manual who says he knows who did the crime.  The two meet in a bar and during a night of carousing, it becomes clear that Manual knows what he does because he is the murderer.

The two meet again in a courtroom.  Manual has been arrested and charged with eight murders.  Two were teenage girls who were strangled and left by the road, three were Watt's family and then there was another family of three, killed the same way.  Manual confesses to all the crimes but then pleads not guilty in court.  He insists on representing himself, trusting on his charming personality to set him free.  That doesn't happen and Manual is found guilty and hanged.

This book is based on the true case of Peter Manual, often called the first serial killer of Scotland.  The title The Long Drop is the method of hanging that kills the person being executed immediately.  Mina is a Scottish author whose debut novel won the John Creasy Award for best first novel.  Since then she has written many crime novels, several of which are in series. In this book, she features the personality of Manual and how his reactions are not normal to personal interactions.  He believes, for example, that his testimony is going over well at his trial when in fact it repulses all those who hear it.   This book is recommended for mystery and true crime fans.