A true crime novel that turned into one of the many cold crimes of the 1800's. A boarding house filled with many immigrants that move in and out quickly is the scene of the crime. A woman's body is found under the coal in the cellar. She's been there two years while life in the boarding house went on unaffected by her disappearance. Without modern forensics, even figuring out who she was is a hard task. The book covers the police investigation and the trial of a suspect that was not convicted. The crime has never been solved but that does not keep this reader from enjoying this book. The author included many of the events that happened around the crime so it's fixed in the reader's mind. The investigation and subsequent trial are a fascinating look at police procedurals in history. Both true crime and mystery readers will enjoy this book.

The Lady in the Cellar is a new true-crime book from journalist & author Sinclair McKay. Released 30th Oct 2018 on Quarto's White Lion imprint, it's 320 pages and available in hardback and ebook formats.

This is a meticulously researched and written book. The narrative, as it is, it not fictionalized in any meaningful degree and is mostly written from historical records and court transcripts. It can be slow going and actually reads like a court transcript with a great deal of 'he said, she said, and do you recall'.

The biggest takeaway for me was in the descriptions of Victorian life and the living arrangements of otherwise relatively wealthy people in England at the time. The society was so rigid and set that people falling outside the 'norms' (i.e., wealthy unmarried women without close family supervision, girls/women who didn't conform to the life choices which were societally acceptable, some immigrants, etc) were often in complete free fall and vulnerable to exploitation and murder. The other really interesting aspect of this book for me came in learning more about the attitudes toward mental illness. The fact that several people who lived in the boarding house at the same time suffered from poor mental health to one degree or another which might have led to the murder and subsequent breakdowns of the people involved was handled deftly by the author.

The speculative conclusions offered seemed logical and even likely to me.

I found the book interesting but somewhat dry reading. It will likely appeal to lovers of true crime/court procedurals or die-hard fans of Victoriana.

Well done, four stars.

Normally I am only interested in true crime from 1900 on, but this book caught my eye and my interest. So, I read it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has many twists and turns. You have to remember, in Victorian times, there was no DNA or forensic testing as there is now. They had to rely on witnesses, confessions, and obvious evidence. This case was not a no brainer. They had to work for a solution. Great book. I really liked it.

Number 4 Euston Square was a respectable boarding house, well-kept and hospitable, like many others in Victorian London. But beneath this very ordinary veneer, there was a murderous darkness at its heart.

On 8th May 1879, the corpse of former resident, Matilda Hacker, was uncovered by chance in the coal cellar. The investigation that followed this macabre discovery stripped bare the shadow-side of Victorian domesticity, throwing the lives of everyone within into an extraordinary and destructive maelstrom. For someone in Number 4 Euston Square must have had full knowledge of what had happened to Matilda Hacker. Someone in that house had killed her. How could the murderer prove so amazingly elusive?

Bestselling author, Sinclair McKay delves into this intriguing story and sheds light on a mystery that eluded the detectives of Scotland Yard.

My thoughts:
Sadly I'm giving this a 3 star rating , while the story was good and the author give you a lot of information about the case , the people that was involved in it, and the their history as well as the history of the victim , and made you ask questions , there was times that it seemed that the author was writing a study of sociological then about a true crime that took place

I don't often go for historical crime accounts - I usually like my murder mysteries more fictional! However, I was drawn to this account of the actual Victorian-era murder of Matilda Hacker in a boarding house in Euston Square because it seemed to involve genuine intrigue: how could a body lie undiscovered in the coal cellar of a busy boarding house for such a long period?

The book covers the discovery of the body, the investigations to establish who it is and the subsequent trials of those accused of murder. It is really interesting because it's so far from being a straightforward case; what becomes apparent is that there were a lot of secrets being hidden in 4, Euston Square. It also details the rather limited and odd official investigations, the frankly bizarre trials, early forensic work, the contents of a lurid pamphlet published by one of the household and the way that the whole case captured the public imagination. It's all told in a lively way that sustains interest, except for occasionally when it gets a bit bogged down with some of the technicalities of the trials.

Overall, this is an engaging account of a real life crime. It raises as many questions as it answers, but it is a good read for those with an interest in historical crime.

Thankyou to NetGalley, White Lion Publishing and the author, Sinclair McKay, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Lady In The Cellar in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was well written and thoroughly intriguing
I was hooked from the start.
Well worth a read in my opinion.

In Victorian London the rich owned houses and the rest rented. For the aspirant lower middle class renting a large house and subletting it as a boarding house was one way to move up the ladder. Boarding houses ranged from the genteel to the salacious but Number 4 Euston Square was a smart address on the northern fringes of Bloomsbury and outwardly seemed respectable. The landlord was a Germanic foreigner who ran a successful furniture business in the studio at the back of the house whilst his wife oversaw the tenants and her many children. Everything seemed normal until the day that the partially decomposed body of a former tenant, Matilda Hacker, was discovered in the coal cellar. The scandal that ensued rocked Victorian society, shed a new light on the development of Scotland Yard and remains unsolved to this day.
Every year there are a few books produced about true-life historical crime, particularly from this era, and this is actually a really good one. The facts of the case are not in doubt but McKay doesn't focus on them, rather the attention is drawn to the aftermath. Firstly the background and trial of the accused housemaid and , following her acquittal, the effects of her ghost-written account of life in middle-class houses. The whole point is that although Hannah Dobbs was acquitted and she in turn accused her employer, in fact the truth has never emerged and the success of this story is more about the morals of the age and the way that the love of a good scandal never got in the way of a good tale.

This is a well-researched true crime that took place in Victorian England in the 1870s. It offers up just what the subtitle promises; murder, scandal and insanity. Gives a glimpse of the life in a boarding house, as well as of the maid, boarders and immigrant family. Lots of focus on the investigation and trials, giving insight into the rules and procedures and frustrations of the times.

A fun, historical and dramatic look into a true crime: a murdered woman found in the coal cellar of a Victorian boarding house. The Lady in the Cellar follows this investigation, and aftermath, in all of it's bizarre plot twists and turns. This is a fun true crime novel that will keep you guessing!

Thank you to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of The Lady in the Cellar.

I'm not a big fan of nonfiction; okay, I barely read nonfiction unless its hyped but when I read the description of The Lady in the Cellar, I was intrigued.

In 19th century London, in the cellar of a boarding house in a respectable neighborhood, the dead body of a woman in her late fifties to early sixties is discovered.

The author traces the origins of the murder victim and the people in her social orbit; the landlord and his wife, his growing family and the sly maid by the name of Hannah Dobbs, who is later accused and acquitted of the old woman's death.

But the story doesn't stop there; the repercussions of finding a dead body in the cellar has negative consequences to almost all involved, including the immigrant landlord, who was forging a decent and respectable life for himself and his family.

The first half of the book sets the tone and setting of industrialized London, the growing misconceptions of urban and suburban life and boarding houses, and always, the difficult adjustment period all immigrants face when emigrating to a new country with strange food, customs and rules.

The second half of the book deals with the aftermath of the trial, the negative consequences and impact of it, mental institutions, mental illness and the continuing stigma of living with such a disease.

I enjoyed the tone and background of 19th century London and the old timey, fun timey feel but I felt the narrative was bogged down in repetition; constant summarizing of Hannah Dobb's testimony, the libel suit that was filed; it all felt dragged out, much like an actual court case.

I was more intrigued by Hannah herself; what happened to her? Did she assume a new identity? Go back to her hometown and become a farmer?

Did he try looking for her whereabouts? I do realize its much easier to disappear back then than it would be to do so now.

What about the strange relationship between the landlord and his brother, Peter? What was up with that?

I was hoping for a more true crime recap about the lady in the cellar, but this read more like a sociological study of the mores and customs of 19th century London, which is fine, if you're into that.

I'm not.

Often when you read a true crime it's a case of dotting 'is' and crossing 'ts' as we know most of the facts, but I'd never heard of this crime before. The story is told fully and in an interesting way. The murder of an old lady remains unfound for over a year. She is found in a coal cellar and there is no way of telling how she died or who killed her - it's not likely to be natural causes as no-one would head into a cellar, put a clothes line around their neck and then die. The police of the 1870s are allowed to use circumstantial evidence, but their main suspect is acquited as the circumstantial evidence could really fit anyone in the house. This is the story of how the crime takes its toll on all the adults present.

Well written and interesting.

Based on a real-life Victorian Murder in London.

A Boardinghouse Mistress goes missing, only to be found some years later, in her own cellar. Though never solved and interwoven with relevant to the dates actual occurrences. For me this is still unsolved and I was left with even more questions to answer. A Good read, but not as enthralling as some.

I really enjoyed this book. Sinclair McKay has an amazing writing style, bringing the historical mystery to life and giving enough background information without it feeling like you’re being bogged down with too much information.

The mystery is so engaging and kept me guessing the whole time, which is not something I can say about too many mysteries these days. They tend to be predictable and the twists and turns aren’t actual twists and turns. This one had me at the edge of my seat, so definitely no complaints there.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good yet quick read.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. The Lady In The Cellar by Sinclair McKay is a meticulously researched Victorian true crime story. In 1879 the corpse of Matilda Hacker was discovered in the coal cellar of a respectable boardinghouse on Easton Square. It was not until her corpse was found quite some time after her death was it even realized that Matilda Hacker was missing and that someone in the house had murdered her. Sinclair McKay painstakingly recreates the events surrounding her death and sheds new light on an old unsolved mystery. Publishing Date October 30, 2018 #NetGalley #TheLadyInTheCellar

I could not get through this one. McKay spends too much time setting everything up and, to be frank, that's not even that interesting.

I really struggled with this book. The description of the murder was intriguing enough that I kept reading just to know what happened. I wish I hadn't. The ending is so anticlimactic it's maddening. I should have stopped reading and googled the case.

The author took a lot of liberties with the documents given. It was highly annoying. These are not direct quotes, but he would say things like, "There are no documents that explain how Serverin felt but surely he would have been upset by blah, blah blah." I don't like suppositions because it's putting a modern thought and interpretation into people and events that happened in the 1870s. There is absolutely no way to know how a person felt or thought about an event or person if it's not written in a document (letter, diary, etc.) they authored. The book is full of these suppositions. It felt like the author had an agenda or bias and that was the only lens through which the story was told. I don't like that. A "true crime" should be facts about the crime. This felt like a fictionalized version of true crime.

Lastly, the author went on so many tangents that I would skip numerous pages. I understand that to tell a story you need context. However, I don't need multiple pages on the history of London or of boarding houses. Giving a context doesn't have to include that much detail on a subject. If you want to add that much detail, then it should be a footnote to read later, not woven into the story.

I love this type of mystery wherein a crime from some time past, with an unsatisfactory conclusion, is dusted off to see if further light can be shed on the mystery at hand. This is not a fictional account of what may or may not have happened; it is an open factual investigation which looks at the crime, the suspects, the criminal investigation at the time, and the conclusion.

Sinclair McKay gives us an overview of the times, in which the population was moving from a closed style of social system, to one in which was often transient, diverse, and anonymous. From an investigative perspective, the CID section of Scotland Yard was newly established and forensic science was developing yet rudimentary. Inspector Charles Hagen was selected due to his close associations and work with the German immigrant community (I liked that fact that he was a contemporary of Inspector Abbeline - later of Ripper fame).

The story as presented was fairly lengthy - I felt some of the components could have quite easily have been condensed: social commentary; family, witness, suspect backgrounds; the investigations and trials (in which the same evidence was presented thrice over). A number of possible scenarios are put forward at the end (though again inconclusive) after a wrap of of where everyone connected to the case ended up.

I realise a lot of research goes into the fleshing out these stories; however, sometimes less is more. When the reader is bombarded with too much information, attentions wander, pages are skipped, and the anticipated enjoyment of reading is lessened. Unfortunately, this is what I experienced. I think the inclusion of some visual aids - street plans, newspaper clippings, etc may have heightened my reading pleasure (I do look forward to these - my edition did not have these, however they may appear in the final published version). And, I wonder if presenting in a more abridged version (ie: adapted for television) may have conveyed enough information for a still engrossing story.

Having said that, there are many who will definitely love this story in the format presented - though I will add that I did not dislike the book itself just felt a little more subjective editing was required.

Victorian London is almost synonymous with murder thanks to the infamous Ripper murders.  However, our image of such a place is often in the din and squalor of the slum boroughs, the middle and upper class districts are the preserve of Mary Poppins and A Christmas Carol in our public consciousness.  Grizzly murders never happen here, don't they?

In The Lady in the Cellar, Sinclair McKay takes readers on a guided tour of the world surrounding 4, Euston Square where the body of an elderly woman was discovered, mostly decomposed, in the coal cellar of Severin and Mary Bastendorff's boarding house.  McKay documents both the discovery and trial of the crime, but also the fallout for the suspects involved.  Not only a briefing of a tangled criminal case, McKay builds a detailed history of those involved, whether recreating the journey of an idealistic country born housemaid with music hall stars in her eyes, or the challenges faced being an immigrant in the bedlam of in one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world.

Written in prose it is fairly easy read, however, around halfway where McKay more or less transcribes and paraphrases court transcripts, and pamphlets the pace does lull to a drag as descriptions give way to 'he said, she said'.  The book was at its greatest strength when McKay's attention was given the freedom to examine the details that were not included in court or police reports.  For fans of true crime that prefer their books to have a single minded focus on the crime it may feel like a detour, or tangent, to explore the tense between wives and maids, or the social hierarchy in boarding houses; but for me it provided vital context and a view in to an alien time period.

Unlike many true crime books McKay does not linger on his own theories, rather the reader is directed to the actions and circumstances of those involved in the years that followed the trial.  The information is laid out for us to draw our own conclusions without dramatic suppositions.  There are gaps, for which I assume is the fault of time, and the reaction of press and public who were more interested the macabre details of the body, and suggestions of sexual scandal.  As such, I think it was appropriate for McKay not to throw theories around, and add to any sense of morbid exploitation of a woman's death.  Perhaps that would bother you, not to have a concrete answer but that's never stifled interest in the Ripper case, now has it?

Yet I feel something was missing, like McKay was asked to trim his word count by several thousand words.  As the book stands it's a fantastic glimpse in to the Victorian world, and McKay's descriptive prowess is remarkable.  I would heartily recommend this to any one interested in the Victorian period as it is more than just a 'whodunit', and fans of historical true crime alike.

The Lady in the Cellar is a nice view into the world of Victorian rooming house life. The story moves very quickly. I realized that I still had half a book to read and I already knew the verdict in the murder case. I was very concerned that the second half was going to be filled with boring generic information but it was not. There is so much to this "simple" case that you just can't believe the drama.

If you are interested in microcosms like this you might enjoy the book.

I am glad I was given a chance to read this book since it is the first of its kind that I have happened to attempt reading. I have always read along the murder mystery lines. This however, was the first(that I can recall reading) that I read about an actual event. It is a piecing together of events that took place in a house in Victorian England, with multiple unknown factors. There is a body found in the cellar, and with the limited knowledge and resources of the time an investigation occurred. This book provides more information of the cross-section of the people involved, their lifestyles and what the economic and political situations were present at the time. It gives an immersive experience more into the time and place rather than just focus on the case at hand. This was both a positive and negative thing for me. It gave me new insight into a world I never knew about but it dragged the case too much, so much so that I started to lose the connection with the happenings related to the death.

There was so much to unpack regarding the legal procedures and the repercussions faced by all the 'players' that I had to take breaks before I could continue, and complete the tale. I think people who have some fascination for the goings-on in the time period will find this book a fascinating study. I think it would make a pretty interesting book club/ reading group topical discussion but for me, I do not think I will be reading many of this kind in the near future.