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Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane: A True Story of Victorian Law and Disorder: The First Unsolved Murder of the Victorian Age
Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane: A True Story of Victorian Law and Disorder: The First Unsolved Murder of the Victorian Age | Paul Thomas Murphy
7 posts | 7 read | 51 to read
A vivid and violent investigation into the first unsolved murder case of the Victorian Era, by the author of the New York Times Notable Book Shooting Victoria. On April 26th, 1871, a police constable walking one of Londons remotest beats stumbled upon a brutalized young woman kneeling on a muddy roadgashes were cloven into her skull; her left cheek was slashed open and smashed-in; her right eye was destroyed; and above it a chunk of the temporal bone had been bashed out. The policeman gaped in horror as the woman held out her hand before collapsing into the mud, muttering let me die and slipping into a coma. Five days later, she died, her identity still unknown. Within hours of her discovery on Kidbrooke Lane scores of the officers of Greenwich Division were involved in the investigation, and Scotland Yard had sent one of its top detectives, John Mulvany, to lead it. After five days of gathering evidence, the police discovered the girls identity: Jane Maria Clouson, a maid in the house of the renowned Pook family . . . and she was two months pregnant with Edmund Pooks child when she died. Murphy carefully reviews the evidence in the light of 21st century forensic science in order to identify Janes killer as Edmund Walter Pook. Using a surprisingly abundant collection of primary sources, Murphy aims to recreate the drama of the case as it unfolded, with its many twists and turns, from the discovery of the body to the final crack of the gaveland beyond.
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jillrhudy
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Pickpick

Victorian true crime is really interesting. Another TBR from Litsy—ex library from Lancashire! #truecrime #england #anglophilesoflitsy

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Reviewsbylola
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What a fascinating story of Victorian crime and it‘s aftermath. Jane Clouson was a young maid-of-all-work when she was murdered. All clues pointed to her employer‘s son being her lover—and killer—but many mishaps along the way impeded justice. I thought the author did a fantastic job weaving together all aspects of this story. #bathandbook

emilyhaldi Glad your kids finally went to bed 😆 6y
Reviewsbylola I‘ve been in the bath for an hour and a half. It was daddy‘s night to put them to bed. ☺️ @emilyhaldi 6y
ElishaLovesBooks This looks good!! 6y
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Mdargusch Looking back on this, I changed my rating from 2 stars to 3 stars. I just got bogged down in the details. 6y
Reviewsbylola Sometimes I am not in the mood for that at all but it worked for me this time. @Mdargusch 6y
Reviewsbylola @kaye you‘d probably like this one! 6y
139 likes13 stack adds6 comments
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Reviewsbylola
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Guys, I did something momentous tonight. It came time to start a new book and I decided to just grab a book off my actual shelves on a lark. Crazy idea, I know! I‘m always so bogged down by various books that are on my “immediate TBR” that I ignore those on my actual shelves. So I chose this one. And I feel like it was destiny, seeing as tomorrow is 4/26. 😳

Hollie Hope it turns out to be a good one! 6y
emilyhaldi This looks so good!!! 👏🏻 6y
Kalalalatja 👏👏 6y
AceOnRoam What a novel idea 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 6y
127 likes4 comments
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irregularreader
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New #bookreview at www.theirregularreaderblog.wordpress.com! Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane is a fascinating historical true crime story!

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MeJeMiller
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Very intriguing case and a well written book. It made piecing a quilt together go quick. I really want justice for Jane. I find it amazing that no one was convicted of this. It would be amazing to have this case looked at by today's detectives. I want to know what really happened.

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Sue
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So good! A Victorian legal drama this is an interesting examination of how the English police and prosecution failed the victim of an awful, vicious murder. As an ex- law student, this was a really interesting look at evidence law at the time.

22 likes9 stack adds
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Sue
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Next up, thanks to Liberty and book riot.

BookishBron This looks cool! 8y
Sue I've just realised that today (April 30) is the 145th anniversary of her death. 8y
25 likes11 stack adds2 comments