This true crime tale chronicles the sensational 1875 murder trial of Victorian businessman Henry Wainwright. Leading a double life with his wife and a secret mistress, he soon faced financial ruin. When the murdered body of his mistress Harriet Lane was discovered, he was immediately arrested. But was he the killer? Or was his brother Thomas more involved than the investigators suspected?

Meticulously detailing the police investigation and scandal-filled trial, this engaging and easy-to-read book transports readers into the seedy underworld of 1870s London. A riveting glimpse of love, deception, and betrayal, the book is a must-read for fans of Victorian history and true crime.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

AS a true crime writer myself (Bloody Yorkshire series) I understand the importance of research and facts when compiling a true crime book. I think the author has done a great job with this book. Well-written, intriguing and great research. A recommended read.

I enjoyed reading this true crime book. With vivid descriptions that helped me visualise Victorian London clearly during this dark time. Great to see this side before Jack The Ripper.

This is the meticulously researched story of the murder of Harriet Lane in 19th century London. I don't read much true crime, but I have watched quite a few TV series, and this is fascinating to read about, but with all the references to go backwards and forwards on a Kindle did slow my reading down. This would be better read in print, for that reason.

This is great historical True Crime about a brush maker who tried to hide murder of his mistress and even drug his brother and on his treacherous crime. He was a well-known womanizer but was still seen as a respectable businessman in his Whitechapel neighborhood but after committing murder it seems that was the beginning of the end for his affluent family. This is the whole story and it’s aftermath and all the tail it is. Oh I love historical True Crime and this one certainly tells a tale of woe hidden sins and the sins of the father. This is a really good book and something I have come to expect from the publisher I highly recommend this book to any True Crime fan. I want to think Pin and Sword history and NetGalley l for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The author has done an amazing job of uncovering details otherwise lost in archives and gives this case the attention it, and the victim, deserves. Written in such a way as to blend seamlessly fact and reasonable supposition, this is a very well put together account of an interesting case.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book

I’ll start by saying I’m not a big non-fiction reader. Non-fiction has to be written in narrative form for it to hold my attention.

But I requested this advanced copy because of the subject matter. Who wouldn’t want to read the fascinating story of a wealthy man who, once his mistress starts demanding too much, decides to rid himself of her by committing murder?

Set in Victorian-era London before Jack the Ripper is even heard of, the murder of young mother Harriet Lane and the subsequent arrest and trial of Henry Wainwright is an interesting story.

Although the story fascinated me, I did not enjoy the style of writing. It attempted to be narrative, but there was quite a bit of repetition in details.

I appreciated the research the author did, but it just was a bit too stuffy for me.

Meh. *shrug*