Delitti u Misteri, No. 14; Malta, 2009; 32 pages; ISSN: 1818-4448, Illustrated. Editor Edward Attard

“A reward of £100 (one hundred pounds sterling) is hereby offered to any person not being one of the principal offenders, nor connected with the Police, who shall give to the Superintendent of Police such information as will lead to the apprehension and conviction of the perpetrator or perpetrators of the outrage committed on the night between the 11th and 12th instant at the door of the Palace of His Grace the Archbishop, Bishop of Malta, in Valletta, by exploding a bomb; or of any such similar outrages committed at Notabile or Rabato in the past three years.”

The above Government Notice was published on 13 May 1901; three years after the first bombs were planted in Mdina and Rabat. The explosions were the result of a dispute between the administration of the Mdina Cathedral and that of St Paul’s Church at Rabat. The detailed story of the result of this dispute features in the Delitti u Mister (issue no 14) which has just been published and is now on sale, in leading bookshops in Malta and Gozo. The magazine is compiled by editor Edward Attard and published by Book Distributors Ltd of San Gwann.

In a particular article, as homage to the memory of the late Sir Anthony Mamo, Mr Attard deals with the important trials by jury, in which Sir Anthony acted a prosecutor and later as Chief Justice.

An interesting story deals with the theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (or as it is also known, La Giaconda), one of the most well known paintings in the world. It was stolen from the famous French Museum, the Louvre, on 21 August 1911. Eventually, Vincenzo Perruggia was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment for having committed the crime.

Another story deals in detail, with the jury of the case in which, a lottery ticket was forged and the culprits “succeeded” to exchange it for a handsome sum of money. The jury was held in April 1932. Four men were found guilty of the crime. Another accomplice was given impunity to testify against the accused.

Other contributions in the magazine concern bigamy, Broadmoor – the high security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in Berkshire, England, and the usual page of crimes committed in Malta in the past, Mill-Imghoddi.

Delitti u Misteri is on sale at leading bookshops in both Malta and Gozo. It is also available, from the publishers, Book Distributors Ltd of 13, Triq Giorgio Preca, San Gwann SGN 3511, (Tel: 2138 0351/2). Each issue costs e3.50 and some back numbers are still available.