Filey woman releases 'Bloody Yorkshire' book with stories from Scarborough

Wendy Rhodes, who owns Bonhommes in Filey but now lives in Spain, is releasing the third book in the ‘Bloody Yorkshire’ triology on Thursday, October 26, just in time for Halloween.

The Bloody Yorkshire trilogy depicts a range of crimes from all over the county, including a few from Scarborough and Filey.

Each volume includes 13 crimes and show the changes in the law and sociology through the times, including the history of legal aid, legal punishments, etc.

Volume one includes the history of York Tyburn and the ‘Three-legged Mare’ used for hangings.

Mrs Rhodes said: “I have always loved true crime and the Victorian era, and as a Yorkshire girl, it had to be about the county.

"When I was a child, my grandmother used to tell me tales from Yorkshire’s past, and I guess the fascination started there.”

Mrs Rhodes has also written The History of both Scarborough & Filey, and Doctor Pritchard the Poisoning Adulterer about Doctor Edward Willian Pritchard, who was the doctor for Filey and the Bridlington Workhouse in the 1840s.

It is said Doctor Pritchard left Filey under a cloud, moved to Scotland where he slowly poisoned his wife and mother-in-law and was the last man to be publicly hung at Glasgow Green in 1865.

Mrs Rhodes has also written an account of the Battle of the Bonhomme Richard.

The new book, Bloody Yorkshire Volume Three, is released on Thursday, October 26 and can be purchased online.