The Invention of Murder
Books | History / Europe / Great Britain / Victorian Era (1837-1901)
3.5
(78)
Judith Flanders
A Gruesome Journey Through Victorian England's Fascination with Murder"Superb... Flanders's convincing and smart synthesis of the evolution of an official police force, fictional detectives, and real-life cause célèbres will appeal to devotees of true crime and detective fiction alike." -Publishers Weekly, starred reviewIn this meticulously researched and engrossing book, Judith Flanders explores murder in nineteenth century England, examining some of the most gripping cases that captivated the Victorians and gave rise to the first detective fiction. From the crimes (and myths) of Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper, to the tragedy of the murdered Marr family in London's East End, The Invention of Murder retells the gruesome stories of many different types of killings, both famous and obscure.Flanders shows how murder as sensation and entertainment became ubiquitous - with cold-blooded killings transformed into novels, broadsides, ballads, opera, and even puppet shows and performing dog-acts. Detective fiction and the new police force developed in parallel, each imitating the other, as the founders of Scotland Yard influenced Dickens's Inspector Bucket, the first fictional police detective.Through these stories of murder-from the brutal to the pathetic-Flanders builds a rich and multi-faceted portrait of Victorian society in Great Britain. With an irresistible cast of swindlers, forgers, poisoners, and utterly dangerous criminals, The Invention of Murder is both a mesmerizing tale of crime and punishment, and history at its most readable.
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More Details:
Author
Judith Flanders
Pages
576
Publisher
Macmillan
Published Date
2013-07-23
ISBN
1250024889 9781250024886
Community ReviewsSee all
"This is a workout for a brain used to fiction but I got through it, the knowledge was fascinating but long book short, the Victorians were stupid literally the whole time.
No investigative steps
No real evidence
And all of it being repurposed as penny-dreadfuls and melodrama the moment details were published by the papers, true or not. "
Aiyana Marie
"This book is really grim because it's about Victorian True Crime, but it's SO good despite being really long."
Cindy Miller
"It took me a long time to read this book and at times it was kind of a slog through some of the chapters. I was most interested in the actual stories of the crimes but did some cool nuggets of information: one example being the public perception of poisoners vs the reality. There were a lot of neat kernels of information about various crimes (several I hadn't heard of), how the public perceived the crimes/criminals and how popular media treated those crimes; however, the format at times really made the reader work to get that information. My biggest issue was the numerous detailed summaries of so many plays and contemporary performances. While I appreciate what the author was trying to convey in using them to support her arguments and give a picture of the times, it was just too much. Frankly, some of the synopses were convoluted and really detracted from the narrative. <br/><br/>You will learn a lot and there are interesting parts to this book but as a reader you will work for it."
Sandra Lee
