I did not know a huge amount about Dr Crippen and his crimes, so this was a real eye opener of a book. Once again, Hallie Rubenhold has really brought to life the victims of horrific crimes. Crippen comes across as a small horrid man, a crook and a scammer and Belle is illuminated as a woman who was loved, respected and fought for. I found myself cheering heartily for the women of the Music Hall Ladies' Guild as they insisted that Belle be found and avenged. The early part of the book is a bit slow because the sources are so scarce but it really picks up when Belle and Crippen move to London and meet Ethel.
Another real banger from a fantastic feminist historian.

I always go into non-fiction ready to be bored and am always happy when I'm not. This is another example of not being bored! I absolutely loved Hallie Rubenhold's "the Five", I really appreciated the life she was able to give back to the Jack the Ripper cases (something that is so rarely done). Seeing this book, and knowing it was also going to be more victim-centered than perpetrator-centered I was ready to dive in. I love historical true crime, mostly cause it adds that extra layer of mystery and "will it ever really be solved", but having it told in a way that positively displays the victim is also so enlightening. Another thing I truly appreciated was in the epilogue, Rubenhold spent most of the time showing how Bell was majorly labeled as a fiend, a harlot, a menace to society with her New Woman ways when in reality she was a progressive woman, a beloved sister and daughter who was robbed of her youth and life.

In terms of this book, there are only a few minor things I have fault with (please bare in mind that I was kindly provided with an uncorrected per-proof so nothing is official yet). Firstly I. WANT. PICTURES. I had to go on the deep dark web (read Wikipedia) so find photos of the cast of characters but I would have preffered seeing them as I was reading. I also found that Ethel was introduced a little too soon into the narrative and I was a little lost at who she and her sister Nina where and how they fit into the story. There were also a few spelling/grammar issues but I'm not too worried about that (unless they get published)

In terms of the story and my thoughts, Crippen totally did it. And if Ethel wasn't completely complicit she absolutely had some involvement. No woman is moving in with her lover after his wife ~mysteriously vanishes~ at an all too convenient time and doesn't think twice about it. Also, even if she didn't after a while the very strange smell coming from the Unfinished Cellar (TM) sure as heck would give something away. Not convinced still? Let's flee the country, but you need to dress as a boy!! For heaven's sake my girl, she knew something if not everything.

Thank you Netgalley for this super interesting read!!!

I was very interested in this - for what it proclaimed to be: the story of a murder. Instead, I found it to be primarily a story about women's lives in the 1900s - and while that is a worthy story to tell and interesting in its own right, it is not what I thought I was requesting... The blurb made this sound like it was primarily about the murder investigation, and it made it sound much more fast-paced and exciting than I found it to actually be. If I had known that it would be a more methodical exploration of the period, I would not have requested it. This was definitely a wrong book-wrong reader situation...

I don't think we, as a book loving society, give enough credit to historical true crime authors. Investigating crime is hard enough when it just happened. Trying to untangle names, aliases, and relationships and then presenting it to the reader in an understandable way is a tall task. When I saw that Hallie Rubenhold (who wrote The Five, one of the best historical true crime books of all time and yes, I said what I said) had a new book coming out, I was instantly excited. I was right to be!

Story of a Murder is about Dr. Hawley Harvery Crippen, his wife Belle Elmore, and the "other" woman Ethel Le Neve. A good amount of the names I just mentioned are not their born names, but it just goes to show the links Rubenhold has to go to make this entire story readable. Crippen was constantly moving around, changing titles, names, and, well, wives. His record in marriages would make even Henry VIII blush.

If you are looking for Rubenhold to turn the genre on its head once again like she did in The Five, then you will be disappointed. However, you shouldn't be. Rubenhold instead takes a notorious case and tells it completely. Each person is given the respect of a full backstory even if they don't deserve it. The first half of the book feels almost like a dual or even triple biography and then of course Belle disappears. What happened? Well, exactly what you expect. This isn't about whodunit. It is about understanding who these people are and how it happened. This narrative is thorough and readable. I highly recommend it.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Dutton Books.)

I like the way this author writes. Having read THE FIVE, I wanted to read this one based solely on how much I liked The Five and I was not disappointed. I will recommend this also when I recommend the Five. GREAT read.