Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen [Hardcover]

*The International Bestseller*

*Winner of the Clue Award - True Crime Book of the Year*

This is the story of a murder, not a murderer . . .

In this epic examination of one of the most infamous murders of the twentieth century, bestselling author of The Five, Hallie Rubenhold, gives voice to those who were never properly heard--the women.

On February 1, 1910, the vivacious, diamond-adorned music hall performer Belle Elmore suddenly vanished from her home, causing alarm among her friends, the entertainers of the Music Hall Ladies’ Guild. Their demands for an investigation would lead to the unearthing of a gruesome secret and trigger a fevered international manhunt for Belle’s husband, medical fraudster Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen.

Ethel Le Neve, Crippen’s typist and lover, who fled with Crippen in disguise, has always hidden in the shadows of this tale--was she really just an innocent young girl in thrall to a powerful older man? And was there an equally sinister story behind the death of Crippen’s first wife, Charlotte?

Brimming with twists and featuring a carnival cast of eccentric entertainers, star lawyers, zealous detectives, medics and liars, Story of a Murder offers an electrifying snapshot of Britain and America at the dawn of the modern era. Astonishing and deeply researched history... Story of a Murder entrances, speeding us along on journeys of female empowerment, complete with fascinating details of life as a woman living in the early 20th century, then delivers a murder mystery with all the thrill of a manhunt. —Wall Street Journal

Story of a Murder is essential reading for anyone who lW