Welcome to Litsy!

An interesting look at crime and crime telling in Britain through history. This was a fascinating read and blends true crime with fiction. I likes the references to the classic crime writers like Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers. An intriguing read. #Scarathlon #TeamCryptKeepers @LiseWorks

It feels weird saying I immensely enjoyed this. Worsley takes us through dark streets and country homes to examine what makes us so obsessed with murder. She traces back to the ban on public executions leading to the titillating, thrill-seeking public looking elsewhere for their kicks. People actually walked around murder scenes while the victims were still there! 🙀 So much more in this absorbing history of our more macabre tastes.

#Bookreport for #OutstandingOctober hosted by @Andrew65
Includes a few from my #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
All books raised points for #Scarathalon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

A very relaxing total of 30 hours reading
Horseman for #FearfulFall hosted by @Cinfhen and @BarbaraBB 4⭐️
Jamaica Inn 5⭐️
False witness 3⭐️
And then there were none 3.5⭐️
Tagged - 5 ⭐️

Reviews to follow

#Scarathalon #TeamSlaughter #DailyPrompt

Day 20 - Murder This is next on my tbr pile

@Clwojick

Lucy Worsley looks at murder as entertainment through true crime and fiction from the public reaction to the Ratcliffe Highway Murders in 1811 to the shift from the puzzles of Golden Age fiction to the more noir-ish post WWII scene.

Fascinating but I wish she'd carried on up to the present. At times it showed that this was the book of the TV series. I may well watch the series, which appears to be available on YouTube. Low pick or a high so-so?

#coffeeandabook

I‘m watching Lucy Worsley Investigates: Witch Hunts. I love Lucy. I‘m hoping for some quiet reading time this afternoon. But it‘s Thanksgiving here and the people are all home. For days.
#scarathlon2022 #TeamMonsterMash @StayCurious

I so enjoyed reading (finally!) Lucy Worsley with the #pemberlittens, that I've subsequently gone a bit of a binge. And this one nicely intersects with my love of crime fiction.

An interesting and informative look at the English preoccupation with murder, discussing the rise of the detective novels and authors. I found myself writing down several novels to add to my already mountainous TBR shelves. 3 📖📖📖 1/2
7th book for #Littenlisten @aperfectmjk 9th book for #ChristmasMyWay @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES 13th book for #AVeryMerryReadathon @TheSpineView #WinterCozy @PuddleJumper #WrapItUpReadathon @keys_on_fire

The analysis of the English fixation on crime, especially #murder, as a form of entertainment is coupled with discussion of successful writers and artists of the time, and real examples of crimes which were influential in literature and popular culture, as well as the development of police work. Came with a TV series. A bit scattered but thematically interesting and Worsley is an accessible and intelligent historian #crime #history #nonfiction

I have #bookshelf envy!
#LucyWorsley
#Historian

@GingerAntics I really enjoyed this! Thanks so much for posting about it! #blameitonlitsy

This is a great look at how murder has been used for entertainment purposes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in England. I covers everything from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Alfred Hitchcock. If you‘re a true crime fan or a detective fiction fan, I highly recommend this book. This book is especially wonderful for Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock fans, as Worsley has interesting little tidbits on each of their lives.👇🏻

I‘m a twisted nut job?! Well, at least you all know what you‘re in for then. 🤷🏼‍♀️ 🤣😂🤣
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder

Scared Straight: The Victorian Edition
As an odd child who fell asleep to Alfred Hitchcock movies at 3 in the morning starting at the age of three, this is an intriguing fact about him.
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder #AlfredHitchcock #ScaredStraight #FunFacts

This seems a bit harsh...but it certainly fits Middlemarch to a T. Pratchett and Gaiman are exceptions to the rule, then?
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder #TerryPratchett #NeilGaiman #GeorgeElliot

This is really interesting. We usually think of this period as being a hot mess for investigations, but apparently they got the killer the vast majority of the time.
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder #JackTheRipper #FunFacts

This is the other case (the first being Lizzie Borden) that got me into true crime... well, those two and a strange Unsolved Mysteries episode in which a superman actor was killing in the middle of a Hollywood party and no one noticed!!!
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder #TrueCrime #Superman #LizzieBorden #JackTheRipper

This is an interesting theory that the Jack the Ripper cases might not have all been committed by a single person. Maybe it was two different people (one who dissected and one that didn‘t), or five different killers. 🤷🏼‍♀️ That certainly sheds a different light on things.
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder #JackTheRipper

@TheBookHippie and we thought they bungled the Borden case. Good grief.
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder

Reading seems to be a popular, Victorian era activity for the fine imprisoned lady.
@TheBookHippie #LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder

Another female tried for murder seemingly saved only by her gender (although this one seems to have actually been guilty).
@TheBookHippie #LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder

Love a good Sherlock reference!!!
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder

A two for one trial... and another reference to Lady MacBeth. What‘s up with all the Lady MacBeth references, @TheBookHippie ?
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder

Interesting tidbits about Oliver Twist. It‘s not quite the fun children‘s story I remember.
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder

Never knew this about Dickens.
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder

Who knew?!
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder

I keep forgetting to post that I‘m reading this. I started it 2 days ago now. Woops. This is a really cool look at the genre of true crime and whodoneit fiction. I‘m quite enjoying it so far!
#LucyWorsley #TheArtOfTheEnglishMurder

I get up to get a coffee, and my reading chair is invaded!

I‘m enjoying this book, but the error I just came across is so strange that it makes me question everything I know about Agatha Christie! She only had one child, yes? A daughter? How could a mistake this huge get by the author, editor, publisher, and everyone else involved? Or am I crazy? Reading it wrong?

Loved my first Lucy Worsley! I‘ve been a fan of her documentaries for a while, so it‘s no wonder I enjoyed her style. This book was a fascinating mix of historical true crime, early forensic science and literary history.

Early for #GratefulReads, but this book was full of characters we all love to hate — like famed murderess Mary Ann Cotton.

Four hours down for #24b4Monday and one more book for #NFNov! #MrBook1inaMillion #LitsyPartyofOne

“In France, arsenic was known as poudre de succession, or ‘inheritance powder‘, and until 1836 it was impossible to detect whether arsenic was present in a dead body.” ☠️

#nfnov #til

I just started Art of the English Murder and A is for Arsenic and am enjoying them! I‘ve been doing lots of Christie and Conan Doyle, so these seemed perfect for #NFNov. 🧐

#gratefulreads #lookingforwardtoreading

Lots of #laughter happening on the ball field for the first day of baseball camp for the kiddo but not a lot happening in this true crime book I‘m reading! #30junebooks @howjessreads

My current read is this fascinating non fiction about how Murder became mass entertainment in early 19th century England then moves onto famous murders & then great English crime writers. Very interesting so far. Accompanied by the stormy weather & the 1st NRL game of the 2019 season between Melbourne Storm & Brisbane Broncos.⛈🏉

Already getting started on my #marchmysterymadness preparation! This is a history of murder as entertainment in England and also discusses the prominence of English-style murder mysteries in pop culture. I‘m also partially reading this for #SHreads19 since it mentions Sherlock Holmes in the subtitle but my plan to write a script and then film a review for posting in March. I‘m on page 40 of this and enjoying it so far.

A commute audiobook borrowed from Libby and my first book of 2019! I enjoyed this jaunt through the landscape of English murder from Jack the Ripper through the “Golden Age” of the post-war writers notably Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margarie Allingham and the Queen Agatha Christie. Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins and Inspector Witchler all make appearances as well. Excellent exploration of the subject in the classic Worsley style. 4👍

Starting this recommended non-fiction book today. It looks very promising and I'm excited to dive into this world of... murder! As well as its presence and influence on fiction! ☠️

#friendrecommended #murder #nonfiction #england #bbc #femalewriter

I want to say a big public THANK YOU to my lovely #2018nonfictionbookexchange Litten Anja. But I can‘t find you here to tag you ?. Can someone put me in touch with Anja from Düsseldorf- so I can say a loud and proud Thank you! Love my books - one I‘ve wanted to read for ages and one new discovery, which is the best magic of Litsy. Thank you ????

A fun, light overview of the rise of crime and detective fiction and how murder cases became media sensations from Regency to interwar Britain. Lucy Worsley is a fun writer and I‘d like to see the TV special developed at the same time as the book (the book does bounce around a bit because of this).

(I love this footnote, btw, and also Worsley‘s job as Head Curator or whatever of The Tower of London Museum and its ilk is rad)

Dickens had the actual worst optics for a dude who abandoned his wife of many years for an almost-teenage actress yet still considered himself a moral authority for the middle class. Dude, excellent books you wrote but NO.

#BookMail No2 is this non-fiction book about the evolution of murder-from a frowned upon subject in polite company to Jack The Ripper, Sherlock Holmes, then the golden age of the murder mystery which has made Murder into a fascination instead. It‘s the companion book to The History Channels series A Very British Murder which I‘ve seen part of. I can‘t wait to dive right in. #NewYearNewBooks #SoManyBooksSoLittleFunds

“So, what have you been doing tonight Liz?” “I thought I‘d have a look at what I could spend my Xmas book money on & fell into a black hole of book depository for five hours!” I made this order, then was doing some idle window shopping an ended up making a second order of more books! #bookdepositoryaddict #stepawayfromtheinternetslowly

I don't consider myself much of a mystery reader, but my interest in Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie led me to this book. In chronological order, it provided an interesting mix of investigations of real murders and a description of how accounts of murder have changed over time in British fiction. It introduced several authors I was only vaguely aware of and definitely added to my TBR list.

#nonfiction #audiobook #booksaboutbooks

I started listening to this today on my drive to and from school, and so far I‘m enjoying it. She‘s already described some interesting history and mentioned Mysteries of Udolpho which I just finished. I‘m definitely looking forward to continuing it.

#nonfiction #audiobook

I liked this - an entertaining (mostly) literary history of the English Murder from 1800~1950 as only Lucy Worsley can do. Beware: Read Wilkie Collins‘ The Moonstone and Agatha Christie‘s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd before reading this one as there are spoilers...

Yes, please! 🤓 I only had time for the first chapter this morning before work but I‘m eager for more!

I'm only 15 min in so far, but I'm enjoying it!

Easy to read little survey of the British fascination with murders. Nice stuff of Dorothy Sayers -- wanted to cheer at the championing of Gaudy Night.