This book considers the Victorian criminal-justice system in the context of a single English county, Norfolk. It examines all its aspects, from the commission of a crime, via the initial detection and arrest of suspects, to their investigation, prosecution, trial, and conviction, finishing up with their final penal disposal. To a significant degree, the changes that occurred during this period produced the system that operates today, and so are worthy of detailed consideration. Furthermore, many of the challenges faced by the Victorian justice system continue to trouble its ‘modern’ equivalent and so are of interest to those tasked with addressing them in the present day.

The book will be of interest to legal and social historians and students, to those who work in today’s criminal justice system, as well as the curious general reader.