Burke and hare - the west port murders | Stephen Hall

Over a nine month period, serial killers Burke and Hare discover the business of supplying dead bodies to surgeon Dr Knox, which provides a source of income beyond their dreams. With the support of their wives they draw their poor, destitute victims into their lair but it is not long before cracks begin to appear within this murderous union, as distrust and infighting begin to emerge, raising tensions within the lodgings where the events take place, and leads to Burke declaring his desire to end the partnership and the murders. Meanwhile Archibald Johnson, a reporter for the Courant Newspaper, who has been following with interest the increase in grave robbing, is contracted by the city's fathers to discover who is behind the theft of bodies from the graveyards. This leads him on a dark journey through the underbelly of the city, into conflict with a vicious organised crime gang led by William Merrilees, that results in risking his life for answers to his investigation, drawing him back to the University, where the bodies are used for anatomy lectures. Here, it is brought to his attention of the murder of Mary Paterson, and he assumes there is a connection with William Merrilees, but in his pursuit he is drawn towards Burke and Hare, culminating in a face off with Hare, and the discovery that they are behind the murders of victims, who are sold to Dr Knox. On their arrest, Hare and his wife Margaret double cross Burke and Helen McDougal, offering King's Evidence and escaping a trial, which, using flashback, reveals the true events of the final murder, in which the psychopathic Hare cajoles Burke's final involvement. Burke is found guilty and hanged in front of a crowd of 30000 people, while Hare escapes to London, and Knox's career is ruined. The story highlights the desperate needs of the antagonists to survive by any means, the disparity between the snobbery of the rich, the survivalism of the poor and the internal rivalries among both the murderers and the university professors, that reside in a melting pot of greed and power.