The Phantom Appointment: The Unsolved Murder of Julia Wallace the Qualtrough Case, Liverpool, Bludgeoning, 1931
A phone call from no one. An address that never existed. A door that resists-then opens. On the night of January 20, 1931, Julia Wallace was found brutally bludgeoned inside 29 Wolverton Street, Liverpool. Hours earlier, her husband had been lured away by a caller using the name R. M. Qualtrough, sending him to "Menlove Gardens East"-a phantom destination. The murder produced no weapon, no forced entry, and a timeline so tight it became a legend of impossible crime.
This book contains no images-only cinematic narrative written in the style of a detective-investigator. It rebuilds the case from primary records and contemporaneous reporting: the Qualtrough call traced to a Breck Road kiosk; the tram-by-tram alibi; the mackintosh found beneath Julia; the careful removal of roughly four pounds from a kitchen cash box; and the appeal judgment that shattered a guilty verdict for lack of evidence-the first of its kind in Britain.
Inside you'll get:
A clear, minute-by-minute timeline from the 19-20 January events to arrest, trial, and the historic quashing of the conviction (19 May 1931).
Forensic insights into spatter, body position, the parlor geometry, and how a simple raincoat became the most contested artifact.
Key mysteries: Who was Qualtrough? Could the hoax call be staged by Wallace-or cover for someone else? Why does the scene look both violent and eerily contained?
Legal and social impact: how the Court of Criminal Appeal redefined evidentiary sufficiency and why the case still shapes true crime discourse.
Reader Promise: You'll walk the route, handle the documents, and see how a locked-room-feeling domestic crime can survive a century of scrutiny without surrendering its core secret-while keeping the victim, Julia Wallace, at the story's center.
This Book Is For Readers Who...
Want source-driven true crime without sensationalism.
Love cold case reconstructions and meticulous timelines.
Are drawn to forensic analysis and courtroom strategy.
Appreciate historical British murder cases that still matter.
Perfect For Fans Of... I'll Be Gone in the Dark, The Devil in the White City, The Stranger Beside Me, Killers of the Flower Moon, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and long-form locked-room mystery investigations.
Why This Story Endures: Because the Wallace case fuses unsolved mystery, forensic ambiguity, and a justice system forced to choose between narrative and proof. It is a cautionary tale about certainty-and a requiem for a woman whose life should not be eclipsed by the argument around it.
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