Awards

• Short-listed for CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2011
• Shortlisted for CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2011.

Overview

‘We are a trading community, a commercial people. Murder is doubtless a very shocking offence, nevertheless as what is done is not to be undone, let us make our money out of it.’ Punch Murder in the 19th century was rare. But murder as sensation and entertainment became ubiquitous – transformed into novels, into broadsides and ballads, into theatre and melodrama and opera – even into puppet shows and performing dog-acts. In this meticulously researched and compelling book, Judith Flanders – author of ‘The Victorian House’ – retells the gruesome stories of many different types of murder – both famous and obscure. From the crimes (and myths) of Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper, to the tragedies of the murdered Marr family in London’s East End, Burke and Hare and their bodysnatching business in Edinburgh, and Greenacre who transported his dismembered fiancée around town by omnibus. With an irresistible cast of swindlers, forgers, and poisoners, the mad, the bad and the dangerous to know, ‘The Invention of Murder’ is both a gripping tale of crime and punishment, and history at its most readable.

Full Product Details

9780007248896

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Engrossing!Flanders excels at following the trends in detection and how this was reflected in writing' Sunday Times 'Riveting and meticulous!Flanders balances judicious facts with lively story-telling!the research behind this book is phenomenal!THE INVENTION OF MUDER is what great non-fiction should be; as erudite as it is entertaining, as gripping as fiction despite being stranger than fiction ' Scotland on Sunday 'Compelling!remarkable!in this intelligent and comprehensive compendium of murder, she has left no gravestone unturned' Sunday Telegraph 'Want to be appalled by a book? Then try this one!In more than 400 blood-soaked pages Judith Flanders lovingly traces the progression of notorious Victorian murders and the public's taste for them!with her expert knowledge and guidance we can shudder at the violence or the cold-calculation of murderers!excellent, well-written and hugely well-informed' Daily Mail 'This is so much more than a compendium of famous crimes!Flanders's knowledge of the period is both wide and extraordinarily deep. She writes incisively, and often with dark wit. Best of all, she had a wonderful ability to make connections and to show us familiar sights from unexpected angles!in this unrelievedly excellent book' Independent 'Flanders ably and entertainingly picks through all this!Her book is part social history, part literary history, and part penny-blood itself. In the fine tradition of its subject it both has its cake and eats it.' Spectator 'This book should be of interest to a wide variety of readers!Flanders has done a service in pointing out just how the Victorian public!created modern murder, and in showing how their fascination with it became ours' The Times 'Entertaining!it's a fascinating narrative and there's some lovely Victorian language to enjoy along the way!the real gems here lie!in what is to be discovered about the changing nature of the response to murder' Evening Standard 'An infallible guide!a penetrating study!full of high-grade period detail' Independent on Sunday 'Compellingly readable' Scotsman 'The book is full of gory details, has an appropriate overview, and is delivered in a tone that is at once seriously attentive and sympathetically appalled' Guardian

'Engrossing...Flanders excels at following the trends in detection and how this was reflected in writing' Sunday Times 'Riveting and meticulous...Flanders balances judicious facts with lively story-telling...the research behind this book is phenomenal...THE INVENTION OF MUDER is what great non-fiction should be; as erudite as it is entertaining, as gripping as fiction despite being stranger than fiction ' Scotland on Sunday 'Compelling...remarkable...in this intelligent and comprehensive compendium of murder, she has left no gravestone unturned' Sunday Telegraph 'Want to be appalled by a book? Then try this one...In more than 400 blood-soaked pages Judith Flanders lovingly traces the progression of notorious Victorian murders and the public's taste for them...with her expert knowledge and guidance we can shudder at the violence or the cold-calculation of murderers...excellent, well-written and hugely well-informed' Daily Mail 'This is so much more than a compendium of famous crimes...Flanders's knowledge of the period is both wide and extraordinarily deep. She writes incisively, and often with dark wit. Best of all, she had a wonderful ability to make connections and to show us familiar sights from unexpected angles...in this unrelievedly excellent book' Independent

'Engrossing!Flanders excels at following the trends in detection and how this was reflected in writing' Sunday Times 'Riveting and meticulous!Flanders balances judicious facts with lively story-telling!the research behind this book is phenomenal!THE INVENTION OF MUDER is what great non-fiction should be; as erudite as it is entertaining, as gripping as fiction despite being stranger than fiction ' Scotland on Sunday 'Compelling!remarkable!in this intelligent and comprehensive compendium of murder, she has left no gravestone unturned' Sunday Telegraph 'Want to be appalled by a book? Then try this one!In more than 400 blood-soaked pages Judith Flanders lovingly traces the progression of notorious Victorian murders and the public's taste for them!with her expert knowledge and guidance we can shudder at the violence or the cold-calculation of murderers!excellent, well-written and hugely well-informed' Daily Mail 'This is so much more than a compendium of famous crimes!Flanders's knowledge of the period is both wide and extraordinarily deep. She writes incisively, and often with dark wit. Best of all, she had a wonderful ability to make connections and to show us familiar sights from unexpected angles!in this unrelievedly excellent book' Independent

'Engrossing!Flanders excels at following the trends in detection and how this was reflected in writing' Sunday Times 'Riveting and meticulous!Flanders balances judicious facts with lively story-telling!the research behind this book is phenomenal!THE INVENTION OF MUDER is what great non-fiction should be; as erudite as it is entertaining, as gripping as fiction despite being stranger than fiction ' Scotland on Sunday 'Compelling!remarkable!in this intelligent and comprehensive compendium of murder, she has left no gravestone unturned' Sunday Telegraph 'Want to be appalled by a book? Then try this one!In more than 400 blood-soaked pages Judith Flanders lovingly traces the progression of notorious Victorian murders and the public's taste for them!with her expert knowledge and guidance we can shudder at the violence or the cold-calculation of murderers!excellent, well-written and hugely well-informed' Daily Mail 'This is so much more than a compendium of famous crimes!Flanders's knowledge of the period is both wide and extraordinarily deep. She writes incisively, and often with dark wit. Best of all, she had a wonderful ability to make connections and to show us familiar sights from unexpected angles!in this unrelievedly excellent book' Independent 'Flanders ably and entertainingly picks through all this!Her book is part social history, part literary history, and part penny-blood itself. In the fine tradition of its subject it both has its cake and eats it.' Spectator 'This book should be of interest to a wide variety of readers!Flanders has done a service in pointing out just how the Victorian public!created modern murder, and in showing how their fascination with it became ours' The Times 'Entertaining!it's a fascinating narrative and there's some lovely Victorian language to enjoy along the way!the real gems here lie!in what is to be discovered about the changing nature of the response to murder' Evening Standard 'An infallible guide!a penetrating study!full of high-grade period detail' Independent on Sunday 'Compellingly readable' Scotsman 'The book is full of gory details, has an appropriate overview, and is delivered in a tone that is at once seriously attentive and sympathetically appalled' Guardian

`Engrossing...Flanders excels at following the trends in detection and how this was reflected in writing' Sunday Times `Riveting and meticulous...Flanders balances judicious facts with lively story-telling...the research behind this book is phenomenal...THE INVENTION OF MUDER is what great non-fiction should be; as erudite as it is entertaining, as gripping as fiction despite being stranger than fiction ' Scotland on Sunday `Compelling...remarkable...in this intelligent and comprehensive compendium of murder, she has left no gravestone unturned' Sunday Telegraph `Want to be appalled by a book? Then try this one...In more than 400 blood-soaked pages Judith Flanders lovingly traces the progression of notorious Victorian murders and the public's taste for them...with her expert knowledge and guidance we can shudder at the violence or the cold-calculation of murderers...excellent, well-written and hugely well-informed' Daily Mail `This is so much more than a compendium of famous crimes...Flanders's knowledge of the period is both wide and extraordinarily deep. She writes incisively, and often with dark wit. Best of all, she had a wonderful ability to make connections and to show us familiar sights from unexpected angles...in this unrelievedly excellent book' Independent

Author Information

Judith Flanders is the author of critically acclaimed A Circle of Sisters (2001) – a biography of Alice Kipling, Georgiana Burne-Jones, Agnes Poynder and Louisa Baldwin – which was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award, the bestselling The Victorian House – Domestic Life from Childbirth to Deathbed and the widely acclaimed Consuming Passions: Leisure and Pleasure in Victorian England (2006). She is a frequent contributor to the Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Evening Standard, Spectator and the TLS. She lives in London.

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