Why I had to become a murder detective for my book about an 18th-century Jewish pedlar

An illustration of the crime from 1771. London Jewish Museum

This article contains details of antisemitism and violence that some readers may find upsetting.

It’s evening at a remote Sussex pub in 1734 and a vicious triple murder has just taken place. Jacob Harris – a Jewish pedlar, smuggler and possible highwayman – stands accused of slitting the throats of the publican, his ill wife and a female servant.