One such phenomenon was William Harrison Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard, the story of an unrepentant criminal who escaped the gallows time and again. Even Dickens and Thackeray, both at the beginning of their careers, fell under the spell of these tales-Dickens publicly admiring them, Thackeray rejecting them. The best-selling titles were the most sensational true-crime stories. In the years just before the murder, new printing methods had made books cheap and abundant, the novel form was on the rise, and suddenly everyone was reading. And the missing clue lay in the unlikeliest place: what Courvoisier had been reading. The police suspected Russell's valet, Courvoisier, but the evidence was weak. The brutal murder had the whole city talking. In May 1840, Lord William Russell, well known in London's highest social circles, was found with his throat cut. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.My rating:įrom the prize-winning biographer-the fascinating, little-known story of a Victorian-era murder that rocked literary London, leading Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, and Queen Victoria herself to wonder: can a novel kill? I received an advance review copy of this book from First to Read. Murder by the Book: The Crime That Shocked Dickens's London
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