I found this an interesting account of how the legal status of “murder” (as a chargeable offence) in the UK has evolved over the centuries. The book isn’t a tour of “true crime” cases. Instead, it uses those cases as examples of how definitions and laws were challenged, ranging from the defence of insanity to the introduction of corporate manslaughter.

There was a focus on how certain trials may have had different outcomes if they had been held a few years later (or I suppose earlier in other cases). On the one hand, it’s uncomfortable to think that specific cases were disadvantaged by now outdated laws. On the other hand, at least we could say that the legal system does, to some extent, attempt to keep up with the times.