I don’t read an awful lot of true crime but this one really intrigued me – a true, locked-room murder mystery. And even better for me – one set in Victorian Dublin.
I was very excited to read this one – thanks to the lovely people at Vintage Huddle who sent me a copy for review. Opinions, as always, are my own.
This is the story of the murder of George Little, a railway cashier at Broadstone station in Dublin in 1856. What’s surprising about the murder is that it seems to take place in a locked room – his colleagues have to break down his office door when he is noticed to be missing. Cue a huge investigation, a fascinating trial and its aftermath – I don’t want to give too much away as it is a truly absorbing story that you need to read for yourself.
I liked the way that this book was written in quite a novelistic style. We get to know the main characters, the settings and the events in vivid detail and this is credit both to Morris’ engaging writing style and the amount of information that seems to be available on the case. I liked that Morris made the existing case papers into a coherent story – even if this must have meant filling in a few details.
The mystery itself is interesting – even if the investigation was a bit of a farce, it is more than made up for by the frankly bizarre trial and aftermath. I can’t go into details without giving spoilers, but there are some properly strange events recounted in the book – and some phrenology, which is pleasingly crazy!
I also loved that the book doesn’t end with the trial, but we follow some of the key people right through their lives. This becomes a tale of the times – the desperation to survive in the aftermath of the Irish famines, the high rates of emigration and the impact of sensationalist journalism on people are all evident.
There are also some illustrations in the book which help readers to picture the events and people involved. This was helpful as a lot of the trial depended on routes of access and exit from the office and the layout of the building. The cast list at the front of the book was also handy as there were a lot of people mentioned in the book!
As someone who loves anything Victorian, I particularly enjoyed the little historical details that made the story so vivid. I found out about railway latrines, how fares were collected and tallied, odd legal requirements and a whole lot more – and all of which brought the story to life.
My only little niggle was the fact that the start of the book (after the murder) was a little slow. There was a lot about the investigation which went round in circles a lot and didn’t yield much for a very long time. However, once a suspect was identified then it really picked up the pace and I found it hard to put down.
True crime fans will find a lot to enjoy here – as will historians interested in Victorian law and order. This is a gloriously detailed snapshot of a moment in 1850s Dublin – and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
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