Hachette India

The Scoundrel Harry Larkyns and his Pitiless Killing by the Photographer Eadweard Muybridge

Rebecca Gowers

SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA NON-FICTION CROWN

Diamond thief guerrilla fighter spy decorated hero bohemian rogue and lover of several notorious women - all describe Major Harry Larkyns. Yet he has long been dismissed as merely a liar and a cheat famous only for being shot dead in 1874 by the unnerving photographer Eadweard Muybridge. But has history properly understood either the killer or his victim? Part biography part crime investigation THE SCOUNDREL HARRY LARKYNS uncovers some extraordinary truths and is historical detective work at its finest.

'One of the best books of the year' Irish Times
'Strange brilliant quirky and illuminating' Country Life
'A story that is as eventful as it is tragic' Guardian
'A masterpiece of historical detective work' Keith Lowe

Rebecca Gowers

Rebecca Gowers is the author of The Swamp of Death a narrative analysis of a striking 1890 murder case shortlisted for the CWA non-fiction Gold Dagger award; and of two novels When to Walk and The Twisted Heart both longlisted for the Orange Prize. In 2014 she became the fourth editor of Plain Words classic guide to the use of English by her great-grandfather Sir Ernest Gowers; and she followed this with her own anti-establishment guide to the misuse of English Horrible Words. The Scoundrel Harry Larkyns takes her back to her fascination with nineteenth-century literature history and crime and is both a non-standard biography and a radically new exploration of a seminal murder.