Book excerpt: Reading of murder stimulates a powerful response. We are repelled by the horror of it, but, simultaneously, our natural curiosity is strongly aroused. We want to know who did it, and why. Most unsolved murders have no apparent motives - or too many motives. The murders of Sir Harry Oakes in 1943, one of the richest men in Canada, and Christine Demeter, found dead in a blood-soaked garage in Mississauga in 1973 - remain unsolved. In fact, history is full of unsolved murders. Who killed King William Rufus, Edward II, and the Princes in the Tower? Who was Jack the Ripper? Was James Hanratty really guilty of killing Michael Gregson? These mysteries and more are contained in The World’s Most Mysterious Murders.