Crippen: A Novel of Murder - Softcover

Boyne John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0552777439 ISBN 13: 9780552777438

Publisher: BLACK SWAN, 2011

Synopsis

It's July 1910: The grisly remains of Cora Crippen, music hall singer and wife of Dr Hawley Crippen, are discovered in the cellar of 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden. But the Doctor and his mistress, Ethel Le Neve, have vanished, much to the frustration of Scotland Yard and the outrage of a horrified London. Across the Channel in Antwerp, the SS Montrose sets sail on its two week voyage to Canada. Amongst its passengers are the overbearing Antonia Drake and her daughter Victoria, who is hell-bent on romance, the enigmatic Mathieu Zela and the modest Martha Hayes. Also on board are the unassuming Mr John Robinson and his seventeen-year-old son Edmund. But all is not as it seems...

About this title

Book Description:

July 1910: a gruesome discovery has been made at 39 Hilldrop Crescent. Buried in the cellar are the remains of Bella Elmore, former music-hall singer and wife of Dr. Hawley Crippen. But the doctor and his mistress have already disappeared, and a full-scale hunt for them has begun. Across the Channel in Antwerp, the SS Montrose begins its two-week voyage to Canada and slipping unnoticed among its passengers is Mr. Robinson and his son Edmund...
The real-life case has become part of serial killer legend, earning Crippen a lasting place in London's Chamber of Horrors. Rising Irish writer John Boyne gives a surprising, personal look into the unassuming doctor's path to the gallows.

From the Inside Flap:

July 1910: A gruesome discovery has been made at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden.

Chief Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland Yard did not expect the house to be empty. Nor did he expect to find a body in the cellar. Buried under the flagstones are the remains of Cora Crippen, former music-hall singer and wife of Dr. Hawley Crippen. No one would have thought the quiet, unassuming Dr. Crippen capable of murder, yet the doctor and his mistress have disappeared from London, and now a full-scale hunt for them has begun.

Across the Channel in Antwerp, the S.S. Montrose has just set off on its two-week voyage to North America. Slipping in among the first-class passengers is a Mr. John Robinson, accompanied by his teenage son, Edmund. The pair may be hoping for a quiet, private voyage, but in the close confines of a luxury ocean liner, anonymity is rare. And with others aboard looking for romance, or violence, or escape from their past in Europe, it will take more than just luck for the Robinsons to survive the voyage unnoticed.

An accomplished, intricately plotted novel, Crippen brilliantly reimagines the amazing escape attempt of one of history's most notorious killers and marks the outstanding American debut of one of Ireland's best young novelists.

About this edition

• Publisher: BLACK SWAN
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0552777439
• ISBN 13: 9780552777438
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480