**PRE-ORDER: The gripping, groundbreaking historical true crime from the award-winning#1 Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FIVE**
This is the story of a murder, not a murderer ...
Throughout the 20th century, the infamous 'Crippen murder' was told in such a way as to cast doubt on Crippen's guilt and to victim-blame his wife Cora, a musichall actress, for her own murder. It also astonishingly depicted Crippen's younger mistress Ethel as innocent of any involvement in the killing of her love rival.
Not so, says Rubenhold. In fact, Ethel got away with murder, and the same Edwardian beliefs about women that demonised his wife also blinded society to Ethel's guilt.
By telling the story through the women's eyes, we see clearly who this lying, deceitful, misogynistic criminal doctor was. He was not 'the mild-mannered murderer' as everyone from Raymond Chandler to Dorothy Sayers has suggested, but a dead-eyed, unrepentant killer.
STORY OF A MURDER is a grand experiment in subverting a famous history. With a galloping narrative at its centre, it explores the late Victorian and Edwardian era, class aspiration, the transatlantic world and the incredible period of social revolution for women.
BY THE AUTHOR OF MULTI-AWARD-WINNING #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER: THE FIVE, THE WOMEN KILLED BY JACK THE RIPPER
Page-turning true crime story of infamous wife-murderer Dr Crippen in Edwardian England, brought to justice by an extraordinary group of strong women
'Gripping and eye-opening' I-news, Book to Watch out for
'I couldn't put it down' Bonnie Garmus
'Reads like a great thriller. I inhaled it' Bella Mackie
'A unique combination of sleuthing, storytelling and compassion' Lucy Worsley
'An exceptional achievement. I was gripped from the very first page' The Secret Barrister
'Under her pen, history comes alive' Professor Dame Sue Black
'Fascinating. It's about time Belle became the hero of her own story' Val McDermid
'As compelling as any crime drama' S J Parris
'I had my hand over my wide-open mouth' Rachel Joyce
'Takes us beyond the world of Dr Crippen into the lives impacted by him and the society in which he moved. Terrific' Ian Rankin
'Compelling to the very last page' Denise Mina
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No murderer should ever be the keeper of their victim's story ...
On 1 February, 1910, vivacious musichall performer, Belle Elmore, suddenly vanished from her north London home, causing alarm among her circle of female friends, the entertainers of the Music Hall Ladies' Guild who demanded an immediate investigation.
They could not have known what they would provoke: the unearthing of a gruesome secret, followed by a fevered manhunt for the prime suspect: Belle's husband, medical fraudster, Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen.
Hiding in the shadows of this evergreen tale is Crippen's typist and lover, Ethel Le Neve - was she really just 'an innocent young girl' in thrall to a powerful older man as so many people have since reported?
In this epic examination of one of the most infamous murders of the twentieth century, prizewinning social historian Hallie Rubenhold gives voice to those who have never properly been heard - the women.
Featuring a carnival cast of eccentric entertainers, glamorous lawyers, zealous detectives, medics and liars, STORY OF A MURDER is meticulously researched and multi-layered, offering the reader an electrifying snapshot of Britain and America at the dawn of the modern era.
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'Does for the Crippen Murder case what THE FIVE did for the victims of Jack the Ripper. Forensic research and insistent sympathetic writing. I loved it' PROFESSOR DAVID WILSON, BBC 1, The Crime Squad
