Prescription For Murder - The True Story of Mass Murderer Dr Harold Frederick Shipman - Book Review

What an extraordinary book this is, very well researched by Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie. It tells the story of the infamous mass murderer Doctor Harold Shipman, known to his "friends," as Fred.Doctor Shipman was tried and found guilty of fifteen murders in 1999. Latest research suggests he may well have killed 250 people, and possibly even more than that. That makes him Britain's worst known mass murderer and puts him right up there in the first division of evil. Most of his victims were elderly women. Trusting women. Vulnerable women. Only too keen to accept a "vitamin" injection from the friendly GP, or a "flu jab". It will do you good dear. Give you a tonic.The man had a fascination with morphine. He watched his own mother dying of cancer, helped by morphine. He developed a morphine habit of his own, and killed his victims using morphine, a particularly stupid method, seeing as morphine is so easily traceable. "Stupid", was favourite word of his. He considered himself above mere mortals and loved to belittle "stupid" underlings. That says a lot about the man. He avoided detection whenever possible by having the bodies cremated. For years no one thought to challenge him. You just don't think badly of the hard working family doctor, do you? At least people didn't, back then.This book published in 2000 refers to him as being on suicide watch in Manchester's Strangeways prison. What the writers didn't know at the time of course was that he would indeed commit suicide on the eve of his 58th birthday on 13th January 2004.I particularly liked the coverage of the early years, the sixties, as he was growing up and courting and marrying. Surely the roots of his crimes were growing there. And where exactly the writers obtained such detailed accounts I have no idea, but the resulting work is a monumental achievement. Excellent and poignant photographs too.For anyone studying crime, or the psychology of murderers, this book is an essential requirement. It isn't pretty and it isn't cheerful, but it is a compelling account of the tragic events that unfolded in Cheshire town of Hyde. Hyde will recover, the last sentence in the book. I will second that.ISBN: 0751529982By Brian Whittle & Jean Ritchie dr seuss cat in hat quotes