Greg Wise was attracted to the role of village squire Philip Hawkin because of his enigmatic character. Although the death penalty in England was abolished in 1965, we’ve managed to track down some of London’s most historic execution sites which we’ve marked on the interactive map below. Within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Shooter’s Hill is one of the highest points in the London area. Her narrative spell is such that the reader is immersed immediately in the rural Britain of the early '60s.

On 30 January 1606, four of the infamous Gunpowder Plotters were executed at St Paul’s in the most public of displays, intended to warn others of the dire consequences of treason. When the ambitious Heathcote retells the story of that 25-year-old crime, she believes she is giving voice to the truth. He has new information which he refuses to divulge, and which threatens the very foundations of his existence. Place of Execution" is beyond excellent and leaves one with a moral question to which there is no answer: Does the end justify the means?Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in May 1660, the new King Charles II wasted little time exacting his revenge on the folk who had been responsible for removing his father’s (Charles I) head.

No such luck – the stress of investigating the case and the revelations that come with it are enough to turn Catherine back to cigarettes and into a sixties-esque fug of smoke. Bennett, a young, university-educated inspector new to his position with the Derbyshire force, joins the duty sergeant, Bob Lucas, heading out to Scardale to investigate. Her body was never found but evidence that she had been kidnapped and murdered was, as was evidence that her stepfather was responsible. I must confess, though, that when I saw it on TV I couldn't follow it - the simultaneous plots in past and present puzzled me, or perhaps I was 'as tired as a newt'! Today, the choice of many lawyers and surgeons relaxing over an al fresco picnic lunch is Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the largest public square in central London.

In a letter to The Times he wrote, “I believe that a sight so inconceivably awful as the wickedness and levity of the immense crowd collected at that execution this morning could be imagined by no man, and could be presented in no heathen land under the sun. According to the center, two states have executions scheduled for next year, and Ohio is the only state to have executions scheduled from now through at least 2026. May God have mercy upon your soul" or " may God have mercy on your soul" is a phrase used within courts in various legal systems by judges pronouncing a sentence of death upon a person found guilty of a crime that carries a death sentence. Bennett with the help of a local policeman DS Tommy Clough, was able to find a suspect and to gather the evidence that had led to trial and death sentence. His message to the millions of Britons that regularly tuned in to his jeering, sarcastic broadcasts was that resistance was futile and surrender was their best option.

Despite this, "may God have mercy on your soul" has been used as a closing statement in modern times by American judges when passing a sentence of death. The last person to be executed in the Tower was Josef Jakobs, a German spy, who was captured after parachuting into England during the Second World War. It also aired as a three-part series in November 2009 in the US as part of the anthology series Masterpiece: Contemporary!A feeling of unease on behalf of Detective Inspector George Bennett deepens upon encountering a worrying series of clues and the rugged intransience of the wary villagers. I did not have pleasure of reading any novel by McDermid before watching the 150 minutes PBS production of her novel Place of Execution but I believe, the film is a success. I was looking for a solid, reliable thriller that I could listen to whilst commuting to work, and as I had heard so many praise her work, I thought I would give ‘A Place of Execution’ a go. Again, regarding the casting - he had the perfect look for the role - arrogant and cold - and played the role to perfection.

A series of unrests occurred between 1763 and 1769 that centred on London’s East End, as thousands of silk weavers took to the streets to protest about poor rates of pay, cheap imports and the introduction of mechanised looms.The decades that followed Henry VIII’s split with the Roman Catholic Church were a turbulent time in England’s history. On their final journey from the prison to the docks the condemned sailors were permitted one final wish… a quart of ale at The Turks Head Inn. A most unlikely venue perhaps, however whilst St Paul’s was not a site used for executing common criminals, the churchyard was a place reserved for some extra-special naughty boys!