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8 Real Murder Cases That Inspired Classic Mystery Novels

Sometimes reality and fiction are intertwined.

By Harry Pearson | Published Jun 23, 2021
murder mysteries inspired by real case
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  • Peter Manuel enters a courtroom.Photo Credit: Murderpedia

Edith Thompson and Freddy Bywaters

edith thompson (center) the inspiration for the documents in the case (left) and finnegans wake (right)
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  • Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Neville Heath

Hawley Harvey Crippen

murder mysteries inspired by real case
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  • A disguised Crippen after his arrest. 

    Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

John Haigh

Francis Rattenbury

francis rattenbury, inspiration for the paying guests
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  • Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

William Palmer

Herbert Rowse Armstrong

murder mysteries inspired by real case
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  • Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The "Beast of Birkenshaw"

Mystery Books
Detective Mysteries
classic mysteries

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