Dead Fashion Girl

A Situationist Detective Story

Fred Vermorel

$39.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Strange Attractor Press
15 October 2019

True crime

Series: Dead Fashion Girl

A crime and a six-decade cover-up- the death of a fashion designer in the cesspit of vice and violence that was 1950s London.

A crime and a six-decade cover-up- the death of a fashion designer in the cesspit of vice and violence that was 1950s London.

In 1954, Jean Mary Townsend was strangled with her own scarf and stripped of her underwear but not sexually assaulted. The subsequent police investigation was bungled, leading to a six-decade cover-up, ensuring that this twenty-one-year-old fashion designer was effectively killed twice- first bodily, and then as her significance and her memory were erased. Fred Vermorel's forensic, troubling (and trouble-making) investigation digs deep into Jean Townsend's life and times, and her transgressive bohemian milieu. It disentangles the lies and bluffs that have obscured this puzzling case for over half a century and offers a compelling solution to her murder and the official secrecy surrounding it.

More than just a true crime story, Vermorel's investigation deploys Townsend's death as a wild card methodology for probing the 1950s- a cesspit of vice and violence, from coprophiles to bombsite gangs and flick knives in the cinema. Densely illustrated with archival material, Dead Fashion Girl is a heavily researched, darkly curious expose of London's 1950s society that touches on celebrity, royalty, the postwar establishment, and ultimately, tragedy.

By: Fred Vermorel
Imprint: Strange Attractor Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 137mm, Spine: 29mm
Weight: 632g
ISBN: 9781907222719
ISBN 10: 1907222715
Series: Dead Fashion Girl
Pages: 196
Publication Date: 15 October 2019
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Fred Vermorel is a pioneer of the in-depth study of celebrity and fan cultures, best known for his controversial ""anti-biographies"" of pop icons including the Sex Pistols, Kate Bush, Vivienne Westwood, and Kate Moss.