It is superbly researched, vividly written, and captivating from first to last. Narrator Andy Secombe presents this mixture of true crime and literary history set in Victorian England as if he were performing a novel. Murder By the Book combines this thrilling true-crime story with an illuminating account of the rise of the novel form and the battle for its early soul among the most famous writers of the time. When Lord William's murderer finally confessed his guilt, he would cite this novel in his defense. One such phenomenon was William Harrison Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard, the story of an unrepentant criminal who escaped the gallows time and again. 'In May 1840, writes literary biographer Claire Harman, Londoners were shocked to learn of the gruesome killing of an 'unobtrusive minor aristocrat whose throat was cut. WHY: An endlessly fascinating, bookish tale of true crime in Victorian England. 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. WHO: Claire Harman WHAT: MURDER BY THE BOOK WHEN: Published by Knopf MaWHERE: The story takes place in London. 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. Unabridged Download-9781984840110 - Apple Books Audible Barnes & Noble Google Play Libro.fm Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price. The missing clue, it turned out, lay in the unlikeliest place: what Courvoisier had been reading. Murder by the Book Written By: Claire Harman.

The police suspected Russell's valet, Courvoisier, but the evidence was weak.

The brutal murder had the whole city talking. From the acclaimed 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?In May 1840, Lord William Russell, well known in London's highest social circles, was found with his throat cut. : Murder by the book (9780241315224) by Claire Harman and a great selection of similar New, Used and Collectible Books available now at great.

Murder by the book claire harman