This is a Victorian True Crime story about a body found in the cellar of a respectable house. The author has done a lot of research and really details what life was like back then. The Victorian background is what makes this book interesting. There are of theories of why she was found in the cellar and who killed her but the case remains unsolved. Enjoy

I am not a fan of this book. I felt it lacked depth both in characterisation and plot. I was bored and didn’t feel any tension

I do dislike that I couldn't read this on my kindle For me, it really affects the reading experience.
Apart from that, it was an interesting and informative book, but it look me a long time to read, due to it having limited accessibility.

Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, Aurum for the arc of Murder at No 4 Euston Square by Sinclair McKay.

4 stars- Sinclair talks about this true crime story about what happened to Matilda Hacker in her own house.. he first handly looks at the sources of evidence and this is his account of it all

Such a interesting informative read! Recommend

Thank you Netgalley for a digital copy of this book.

True crime is my forte. I enjoyed this book. As a writer in this genre myself, I know what research and work have gone into it. A great account of an old story. Recommended.

This is a re-issue of the book previously entitled “the Lady in the Cellar – Murder, Scandal and Insanity in Victorian England” and thus gives a good idea of what this true crime history will tell. But a good history of crime inevitably has to include more than murder (aberrant in itself) and investigation, but a solid understanding of the social history background of the characters and the place of the crime. This book in addition has some rather bizarre characters involved too – and McKay an author who handles and presents the facts and analysis with great skill.
In 1879 the body of an “unknown” elderly woman is discovered in the coal cellar of 4 Euston Square, Bloomsbury, London and a police investigation followed. The house was rented by Mr & Mrs Bastendorff – she English working class with family in the area and he an immigrant from the Belgium/Germany border. He and his brothers have a furniture workshop across the backyard. Most of the house is let out to lodgers both sort stay and longer term. Mrs B claims that the responsibility for much of this lies with her servant Hannah Dobbs. Bizarrely – as a number of the victim’s belongings are found scattered around the house - all deny knowing the victim. But ultimately she is identified as an eccentric visitor to London. She could not have been in the house long before being, killed apparently about 3 years previously. A police investigation will follow.
Hannah Dobbs the ex-servant is by now in prison for pilfering and will be tried for the murder and will ultimately be found not guilty. Once she is free she will take her revenge on the family who landed her in this perilous position. It will be claimed that she was the mistress of Mr B, and pregnant, was persuaded to start an affair/engagement with his younger brother to hide this. She, in conjunction with a publisher will print lurid claims that she helped cover up the killing by Mr B (including selling the victim’s belongings) but that this was just one of three murders. One was of another (now missing) lodger and one of derelict child in the workshop. Mr B decides to sue for defamation/libel and a contested legal process starts. But in the meantime he – having made various statements relating to the trial of Hannah and the libel finds himself charged with perjury. He found guilty will be sent to prison on hard labour and his mental state will start to unravel. Finally freed from prison he will find himself committed to an asylum. Although initially “recovered” and released he will relapse and be housed in Colney Hatch Asylum for the rest of his life as his condition became more extreme.
This is just a slight coverage of issues and actions that are dealt with in great depth in this book. The sheer scale of the bare faced effrontery of the crime and cover up are breathtaking. McKay feeds that into analysis of the growth of London in the latter part of the 19th century and the increasing use of “lodging houses” supposedly of the better kind. He shows the public response to these as areas going down market, but otherwise regarded as essential to the new London lifestyle for so many. In parallel with this he describes the vulnerabilities of female servants working away from the support of their families on short term contracts and the abuse they might suffer. Hannah is a classic example of this. Mrs B’s claims of the scale of her responsibility for running somebody else’s lodging house are eye-opening as indeed is her belief that her story would be believed.
But behind all these issues are the people – Mr B, although close to many of his brothers, shows the risks that immigrants took and how it could place stresses leading to serious mental illness. Hannah, possibly pregnant and with no husband was in serious financial trouble. The odd but vulnerable victim Matilda (65) had been killed with nobody apparently even noticing or caring. Life could be very grim and coping strategies for those even seemingly alright can only be hinted at in this book, but the astute reader can see them emerging. So this is both a challenging and seriously interesting book that looks at the complexities of life in an open eyed way, but pulling no punches

My takeaway is I am not a fan of the Victorian language. This reads like a lecture. At this moment, I cannot recall any dialogue. While the synopsis is interesting, the true crime element, including finding the body all interesting. I didn't get attached to anyone. So many times I read blah blah blah.

If you like true crime, the Victorian era, and lectures this is for you.

I also want to note domestic abuse is present and handled much like today.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this true crime story.

#NetGalley
#MurderAtNo4EustonSquare
#TrueCrime
#SinclairMcKay

True crime is a genre that has become very popular over the past few years, but it is a genre that I as a reader and reviewer can struggle with investing in and reading it. There has been a lot of discussion around the genre of true crime and the spotlight that it puts on the perpetrators/instigators versus the victims and others that were affected by the event.
As for this book, I found the idea of a true crime story based on something from the 19th century (1867) to be an interesting concept. However, I think that it also limited the book in some ways as well. But first lets mention some good things.
-the author did a good job on writing impartially and casting suspicion on everyone involved in the story which as the case was never solved - it let the readers make their own decisions about each persons guilt.
-there is a section towards the middle of the book that the author included newspaper clippings, photographs and other historical bits from that time
Some things that I did not enjoy -
-I found the writing style a little hard to get into in parts of the book. There were some parts that really drew me in and I couldn't put it down and other parts where I really struggled to get through.

I would recommend this book if you like true crime and want to try another style of true crime. This is good for any crossover of history and true crime fans.

There is an extended review on my blog linked in my bio.

This book is an amazing read! It sweeps you from page one and the story is very well developed. This is a crime novel, in addition to being a trial by the people and how it affects the characters. The historical details are accurate and very well researched. The writing is fluid. I felt I was reading a work of history. I enjoyed it and thought that a book like that could be assigned to any class dealing with 19th century England, the social classes, and crime. You really can't put the book down!

A marvellous and very compelling affair brilliantly told. A must read for anyone interested by a juicy and strange slice of Victoriana. I absolutely relished this strange and elegant story and it should definitely be enjoyed without any moderation whatsoever! Bravo👍👍👍

Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto for this terrific ARC

This was a very interesting book. It had lots of information about a case I have never heard of before.

Un'appassionante, dettagliata, ma a volte inquietante immersione nella vitalissima Londra vittoriana e in un mondo, quello delle camere in affitto che nella sua mobilità rappresentava davvero i "tempi nuovi". Tempi in cui una donna poteva sparire nel nulla e venir ritrovata cadavere anni dopo, senza che nessuno si chiedesse che fine avesse fatto; in cui le accuse infamanti di una donnina a caccia di notorietà potevano rovinare gli affari, la famiglia e la salute di un uomo; in cui la città cambiava volto, nelle sue strade e nei suoi abitanti con la volatilità che accompagna il progresso, e in cui la vicinanza forzata della coabitazione con estranei non portava necessariamente interesse e vicinanza, ma spesso un'esasperata solitudine.
Ben ricercato e ben scritto, il saggio ricrea un mondo lontano con chiarezza e fascino.

This would have been a far more interesting story had it been told more efficiently, coherently, and cohesively. It meanders into tedium regularly and, as unfortunately with many older true crime stories, ends in a rather unsatisfactory manner. This is not a cut and dry recounting of the facts, as there do not seem to be a great dearth of facts to begin with. I managed to finish the book, but I really had to force myself.

I was given a free copy of the e-book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book for free on Netgallery for a honest review.

Rating System in Stars:
1 Star – Didn’t enjoy the book
2 Star – Enjoyed the book well enough, but wouldn’t buy a physical copy or if I own a physical copy, wouldn’t read it again. May recommend it to others, but would state I had trouble reading it myself.
3 Star – Enjoyed the book and would read it again
4 Star – Thoroughly enjoyed the book and will be read again and again
5 Star – Loved Loved Loved this book and will go onto my Favourites Shelf

This one didn’t grab me. I am not the biggest fan of Crime, though I will find myself seeking out certain murders/incidents and so forth a few times a year. Yet I don’t think that is what has pulled down the number of review stars. While I did end up enjoying this book, there were certain parts that really made this book drag for me and I had to put it down several times.
I’ll start with what I enjoyed, because I would tell someone who likes books on murder and intrigue to read it. I would add that they may need to push themselves through it over certain parts.
Once the story got going, such as when the victim’s identity was discovered, I found myself flying through. Reading pages after pages, not wanting to go to bed or to sleep, and eagerly devouring it. As I stated above, I liked the backstory of the victim; of the paragraphs spent on it, on her personality, of her interactions whether true or not (only so much could be believed by Dobbs) with other people, etc. It gave such an extra bit of flavour, bringing the story to life and making the people involved even more real.
This occurred with multiple different people, and it didn’t break the flow of the story in my eyes. It made the entire book enjoyable and kept me going back for more. I commend the author for being able to find out such information on a crime that happened so long ago.
I also enjoyed how this book was more than just the murder and the mystery surrounding it. It continued with how it affected the characters involved. The way some of the people’s lives fell apart, how others disappeared, and how even after those years, the police were still trying to figure out how to solve this murder.
That’s where this book really shines: the characters and the murder, but it takes pages for it to reach it. While setting up the scene, describing how boarding houses ran and how people viewed them, is important, I felt that certain bits of information were duplicated. There was too much information given on this, and not all of this was expanded on in later pages. It was simply re-iterated again. I won’t say that this happened often, for the most part the author gave further examples, but it occurred often enough that it jarred me out of the story. I felt that tighter editing may have caught this and made it better.
So, this review gives the book 2 Star. I’d recommend this book with a caveat to anyone who enjoys books on crime, but I would warn them that it may be a bit of a hard book to get through.

This was a nonfiction book detailing the infamous murder at no. 4 Euston square in 1879. The author has provided details of not just the police investigation procedures, but also the court trial, what the prosecution and the defence contended, the evidence and witnesses examined, background of each person involved in the case, from the victim and her family, to the police officers involved. The book also contains other information about the time period such as societal changes with respect to boarding houses, morality with respect to extra-marital sex, societal expectations from women, and the treatment of women killers etc. There are also some references to Charles Dickens and other authors of that time. The book also elucidates the treatment of servants and the prevalence of "white slavery" in middle and upper class households. My only qualm with the book is that it's too tedious and boring at times. The book felt as if it could've shorter and some points were repetitive.

The book covers the story of the unsolved murder of Matilda Hacker, whose body was discovered concealed in the cellar of the boarding house where she had resided prior to her death. It is well researched and covers interesting historical details of the time, particularly of the living circumstances of Victorians who used boarding houses; some details about the relationships between servants and their employers; the love of lurid tales in the tabloids, and something about the treatment of mental health conditions and the criminal justice system. It was all very interesting - but unfortunately, the answer as to who it was who did murder Matilda Hacker can only remain speculation, which makes the story feel somewhat unfinished - but of course cannot be helped as it is a true story!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed elements of this book. Some parts were really interesting and seemed a vital part of the book, however some of it seemed to drag a little bit which meant I struggled to stay focused and had to take quite a few breaks from reading this. Overall, I think this was an intriguing read, well-written and something different.

I feel I learned a lot about Victorian England while reading this book. It painted a clear picture of what life was like in the late 1800’s. It is a true story of a murdered elderly woman and it was very interesting and mysterious . And in trying to solve the case, oh so many secrets come to the surface. Some of the reading is a little tedious, but overall a very enjoyable read!

A period in time that fascinates me, and the opening immediately set up the premise of a world where respectable surface behaviour might not always be quite what it appears. This was not a case I knew anything about, and the details revealed in this were shocking but also deeply upsetting in terms of how things developed.
The case was, I assume, a much talked about one at the time. The discovery of a body in the cellar of a respectable lodging house. Who had been killed? Who was responsible? How could such an occurrence not have been seen by the residents prior to this?
Initially the writer is keen to establish the setting and this is important to understand exactly how such a crime would have been regarded. We are told the home belonged to a married couple, with three children, who took in lodgers and who seemed to run a respectable and much applauded furniture-making business. The crime was investigated by a growing detective team, starting to incorporate what we see as more modern methods of policing.
From the outset it is evident that this was a crime that might not be adequately explained. They discovered the victim was an older woman, Matilda Hacker, but nobody seemed able to offer any clear explanation for the crime. What McKay's research lays out for us is a hotbed of deceit and intrigue, where nobody is quite sure who to trust.
We are given details of the court case suggesting a former maid might have killed Hacker. The owner of the house is found not guilty initially, but what shocked me was the lurid details printed in the press and his subsequent trial for perjury and incarceration. We never know for certain what his involvement was, but his treatment appears to have contributed greatly to the mental health issues that plagued him for the latter parts of his life.
Perhaps it is because of the unresolved nature of this crime but it felt like we got no closure fo rate main victim in this, but it was also evident that few affected by these events went untouched.
Thanks to NetGalley for granting me access to this in return for my honest thoughts.

I want "elderly maiden" inscribed on my tombstone. And my obituary to read 'she was "colourful, aggravating, and often madly impetuous,".... "prone to quarrelsome chaos," and possessed of "a streak of pure, almost reflexive irresponsibility...."
Bless Matilda Hacker's heart, she was eccentric in life and remained odd and unusual even in the manner of her death and discovery. More than just your average true crime story, this book had me questioning how long I could be dead before my brother missed me (Matilda's brother hadn't heard from her in a while--she'd been dead for TWO YEARS!) and go off on innumerable little side quests to find out more about Victorian life (imagine a blazing coal fire in the middle of summer because that's the only way you have hot water).

This book will appeal to both true crime fans and history buffs. I was putting patrons on hold for it before I'd even finished it! For a librarian, this book is gold. As a reader, I did find the recounting of witness statements and testimony a bit tedious. However, that nitty gritty detail is one of the things that sets this book apart many other retellings of historic crimes. McKay doesn't just rely on old newspaper reports for his recounting. Very well-researched and a fascinating read!