In the early hours of Sunday December 8th, 1811, four people in the East End of London, near the Ratcliffe Highway, were brutally murdered. Twelve days later, in a neighboring household, three people were killed in the same grisly manner. This was the most prominent murder case in London in the nineteenth century until Jack the Ripper. The Maul and The Pear Tree revisits the Ratcliffe Highway murders.

     Detective novelist P.D James and police historian T.A Critchley vividly describe the discoveries of the crimes and the crime scene itself in great detail. They discuss the frantic response of the public, as well as the death of the suspect John Williams in prison, who was buried at a crossroads with a stake through his heart. The book concludes with a reexamination of all the evidence previously presented and an attempt to clear Williams' name and uncover the true culprit.

     The Maul and The Pear Tree is thoroughly intriguing without unnecessary fictionalization or dramatization. Written by authors with great experience in the field of law enforcement and forensic science, it provides a clear, detailed assessment of the case and it's evidence. It is very insightful into the ways the law enforcement and forensic scientists of that time operated.