Dagmar, a gentle, eccentric spinster, was the embodiment of Austerity Britain's prudence and thrift. Her murderer Harold Hagger, with his litany of petty crimes, abandoned wives, sloughed-off identities and army desertions, was its opposite. With their characters so indelibly marked, their tragic meeting seemed in some way destined. Featuring England's first celebrity policeman, Fabian of the Yard, the celebrated forensic scientist, Keith Simpson, and history's most famous and dedicated hangman, Albert Pierrepoint, this is a gripping and deeply moving account of true crime by one of our most acclaimed writers.