Book review: Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane (Amazon / Book Depository)
Interesting, quickly readable history with some modern interpretation of an officially “unsolved” Victorian murder. A teenage maid was murdered and the son of her former employing family is suspected and tried for it, police make some big mistakes, witnesses misremember, societal tensions, some pretty damning evidence, no other obvious suspect, a twist here and there…all the elements for good true crime! The story traces the events that transpired before the murder, the trial of the main suspect and aftermath, and the author’s deductions about what really happened, thanks to some application of modern deductive forensic methods. That last element was the part I enjoyed most, and it’s a shame that some relics of the crime that were once displayed in a secretive Scotland Yard crime museum have since disappeared, as the author tells it. Interesting tidbit: the book’s title comes from a penny dreadful of the same name published shortly after the murder. Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane: Published in the US by Pegasus Books on April 15, 2016 I received a copy courtesy of the publisher for unbiased review. |