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amberbour's review against another edition
2.5
I was invested from the beginning but the interest died down when the author talked about the background of Jack Sheppard, Charles Dickens and so on and so on. I forgot about all the details of the crime and I don't know who is who and what is what anymore. At the end, I don't know what is going on anymore.
jillcaesar's review against another edition
3.0
Blaming popular media for an increase in crime is an age-old impulse. Nowadays video games take most of the brunt, but for a long time it was books, along with plays, at whose feet society laid blame for heinous acts. That perennial tendency is at the heart of Murder by the Book: The Crime That Shocked Charles Dickens’ London, which explores two intertwined narratives unfolding in early Victorian Britain: the rise of “Newgate” literature, which romanticized and championed the historical criminal, and the gruesome murder of a nobleman by the very last person that society, at the time, would expect.
Lord William Russell was about as inoffensive to Victorian society as any nobleman could be. He was widowed, lived alone with few servants, and spent a great amount of his time walking around his neighbourhood and reading memoirs. There was no one, as far as anyone knew, who would have found reason to be offended by him. So when he is found slain in his bed, his throat slit to the bone, genteel society is thrown into an uproar. There is no sign of a break-in, or of any struggle. So who could have been able to do this to him? Could it be – God forbid – one of his servants? And if so, what could have possessed them to commit such a heinous act?
The book goes into great detail about the murder and subsequent trial, as well as early Victorian society surrounding it at the time – the writers, such as Charles Dickens and Thackeray, who reacted to, and helped heighten, the trend in literature and drama for romantic villains and heroic criminals. Among them was the now obscure writer William Harrison Ainsworth, whose smash hit novel Jack Sheppard supposedly helped inspire Lord William’s slayer to commit his ghastly deed.
The book is a slim one, only a hair over 200 pages (sans index). Harman has clearly done her research, rendering the minutiae of the murder, investigation, and subsequent trial in detail. The same goes for her chronicle of early Victorian literary trends, including the early years and rise of Charles Dickens. However, I found the book’s weakest point to be its ‘readability’, so to speak – the book is so bogged down with facts and details about everything that it sometimes became hard to hold my attention, especially during the earlier parts of the book regarding the police investigation. However, I am not generally a true crime fan, so what may seem tedious to me may be a true crime lover’s bread and butter. I definitely did enjoy the detailed sections regarding the early Victorian writers and the mania surrounding Jack Sheppard and the rest of the “Newgate” novels.
Overall Murder by the Book is a solid work – a detailed and careful look at a certain moment in history. True crime fans and people interested in the Victorian era alike will surely find much to devour here.
More reviews at Napoleon's Pantaloons
Lord William Russell was about as inoffensive to Victorian society as any nobleman could be. He was widowed, lived alone with few servants, and spent a great amount of his time walking around his neighbourhood and reading memoirs. There was no one, as far as anyone knew, who would have found reason to be offended by him. So when he is found slain in his bed, his throat slit to the bone, genteel society is thrown into an uproar. There is no sign of a break-in, or of any struggle. So who could have been able to do this to him? Could it be – God forbid – one of his servants? And if so, what could have possessed them to commit such a heinous act?
The book goes into great detail about the murder and subsequent trial, as well as early Victorian society surrounding it at the time – the writers, such as Charles Dickens and Thackeray, who reacted to, and helped heighten, the trend in literature and drama for romantic villains and heroic criminals. Among them was the now obscure writer William Harrison Ainsworth, whose smash hit novel Jack Sheppard supposedly helped inspire Lord William’s slayer to commit his ghastly deed.
The book is a slim one, only a hair over 200 pages (sans index). Harman has clearly done her research, rendering the minutiae of the murder, investigation, and subsequent trial in detail. The same goes for her chronicle of early Victorian literary trends, including the early years and rise of Charles Dickens. However, I found the book’s weakest point to be its ‘readability’, so to speak – the book is so bogged down with facts and details about everything that it sometimes became hard to hold my attention, especially during the earlier parts of the book regarding the police investigation. However, I am not generally a true crime fan, so what may seem tedious to me may be a true crime lover’s bread and butter. I definitely did enjoy the detailed sections regarding the early Victorian writers and the mania surrounding Jack Sheppard and the rest of the “Newgate” novels.
Overall Murder by the Book is a solid work – a detailed and careful look at a certain moment in history. True crime fans and people interested in the Victorian era alike will surely find much to devour here.
More reviews at Napoleon's Pantaloons
karenleagermain's review against another edition
4.0
In Murder by the Book, Claire Harman explores a horrific Victorian England crime that captivated the country. In 1840, Lord William Russell, a well-to-do senior citizen, was found nearly decapitated in his bed at his London residence. The hunt for the murderer focused heavily on Russell’s servants and finally yielded a confession from his valet, a Swiss national named Francois Benjamin Courvoisier. Courvoisier admitted guilt, but his testimony was often conflicting and although he was ultimately sent to the gallows for the crime, there has been doubt as to whether or not he was the actual murderer, or if so, did he have an accomplice?
Harman’s book doesn’t only focus on the murder, but also puts the crime in context of other events during the era. Much as there is a current trend for blaming video games, music, and movies for violence in our society, there was a similar situation occurring in Victorian England. In the mid 1800’s, people were captivated by crime novels. There was a popular book genre called the “Newgate Novel.” Named for the infamous Newgate prison ( where Courvoisier was held and hung), the novels romanticized criminals.
In particular, there was one Newgate Novel that rose to controversy with the murder of Russell: Jack Sheppard. Written by William Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, is the true crime tale that Courvoisier claims gave him the idea to murder Russell. Jack Sheppard was a huge part of pop-culture, which beyond the book, also was told through multiple stage plays, may of which were an inexpensive form of entertainment that all segments of society could enjoy and did so, by seeing the productions multiple times. The idea of a servant turning on their employees, especially in such a brutal fashion, was a panic at the time and led to even more criticism of Jack Sheppard and the Newgate Novel genre.
Other famous authors, like Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray, closely followed the Courvoisier trial. Dickens in particular became a strong opponent of public hangings, his thought being that the damage done by the public witnessing an execution, is greater than its act as a deterrent against criminal behavior. He witnessed Courvoisier’s execution and used his writings to speak out against the act. The last public hanging in the United Kingdom would occur just a few decades later. The way Harman describes the festival atmosphere around the execution is chilling.
A very interesting fact that Harman mentions is that a doctor wrote to Scotland Yard with an idea that finger prints might be used to identify the true murderer. This was before finger printing was used and the idea was dismissed, not be used until fifty years later. Harman mentions that had finger printing had been around, other Victorian era crimes, such as Jack the Ripper, might have been solved.
Murder by the Book took me about 1/3 to really feel invested in the story, but as soon as I reached that point, I couldn’t put it down. The crime is shocking, but the real fascinating element is how the crime informed public debate over art and social policy, such as executions. Violence has always been part of culture and art has always included violence, making this shocking case from 1840, just as relevant in today’s conversation. Does glorifying violence lead to violence? I don’t advocate censorship or banning art, but somewhere in all of this there does seem to be a problem that has been occurring for generations. I think mental health is likely the missing puzzle piece and by his own admittance, Courvoisier claimed to have been in a rage. At the time Phrenology, the pseudoscience of studying skull shapes to analyze mental traits, was all the rage. Of course now, Phrenology is not only disproven, but also associated with racism and the goal of proving superiority with certain races. However, it is interesting to note that even if the Victorians were on the wrong track with Phrenology, the idea of exploring mental imbalance and its association with violent behavior was of importance.
Harman’s book leaves the reader with much to consider and would be a great pick for book clubs or classrooms. It’s great for true crime enthusiasts and history buffs, as well for lovers of Victorian England authors. Murder by the Book is a compelling read for people who can handle the gory details!
Like my review? Check out my blog!
Harman’s book doesn’t only focus on the murder, but also puts the crime in context of other events during the era. Much as there is a current trend for blaming video games, music, and movies for violence in our society, there was a similar situation occurring in Victorian England. In the mid 1800’s, people were captivated by crime novels. There was a popular book genre called the “Newgate Novel.” Named for the infamous Newgate prison ( where Courvoisier was held and hung), the novels romanticized criminals.
In particular, there was one Newgate Novel that rose to controversy with the murder of Russell: Jack Sheppard. Written by William Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, is the true crime tale that Courvoisier claims gave him the idea to murder Russell. Jack Sheppard was a huge part of pop-culture, which beyond the book, also was told through multiple stage plays, may of which were an inexpensive form of entertainment that all segments of society could enjoy and did so, by seeing the productions multiple times. The idea of a servant turning on their employees, especially in such a brutal fashion, was a panic at the time and led to even more criticism of Jack Sheppard and the Newgate Novel genre.
Other famous authors, like Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray, closely followed the Courvoisier trial. Dickens in particular became a strong opponent of public hangings, his thought being that the damage done by the public witnessing an execution, is greater than its act as a deterrent against criminal behavior. He witnessed Courvoisier’s execution and used his writings to speak out against the act. The last public hanging in the United Kingdom would occur just a few decades later. The way Harman describes the festival atmosphere around the execution is chilling.
A very interesting fact that Harman mentions is that a doctor wrote to Scotland Yard with an idea that finger prints might be used to identify the true murderer. This was before finger printing was used and the idea was dismissed, not be used until fifty years later. Harman mentions that had finger printing had been around, other Victorian era crimes, such as Jack the Ripper, might have been solved.
Murder by the Book took me about 1/3 to really feel invested in the story, but as soon as I reached that point, I couldn’t put it down. The crime is shocking, but the real fascinating element is how the crime informed public debate over art and social policy, such as executions. Violence has always been part of culture and art has always included violence, making this shocking case from 1840, just as relevant in today’s conversation. Does glorifying violence lead to violence? I don’t advocate censorship or banning art, but somewhere in all of this there does seem to be a problem that has been occurring for generations. I think mental health is likely the missing puzzle piece and by his own admittance, Courvoisier claimed to have been in a rage. At the time Phrenology, the pseudoscience of studying skull shapes to analyze mental traits, was all the rage. Of course now, Phrenology is not only disproven, but also associated with racism and the goal of proving superiority with certain races. However, it is interesting to note that even if the Victorians were on the wrong track with Phrenology, the idea of exploring mental imbalance and its association with violent behavior was of importance.
Harman’s book leaves the reader with much to consider and would be a great pick for book clubs or classrooms. It’s great for true crime enthusiasts and history buffs, as well for lovers of Victorian England authors. Murder by the Book is a compelling read for people who can handle the gory details!
Like my review? Check out my blog!
balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
A delightful mashup of true crime and my favorite genre, books about books. It also gets at the class worries of upper class London with the grisly murder of a harmless old man (in the ways of British aristocracy, Lord William Russell was pretty innocuous) by his valet (GASP). In among this is the discussion of the unbelievably popular Newgate novels romanticizing criminals’ exploits, particularly that of Jack Sheppard, which has many echoes today in the fraught discussion of the effect of violent and/or radicalized media on consumers. Harman perhaps should have left off the “I shall try to suss out what really happened” epilogue since it’s pretty thin and doesn’t add much to the book.
dexychik's review against another edition
5.0
A nice short slice of (true) Victorian melodrama with a literary bent
horthhill's review against another edition
3.0
"Murder by the Book: The Crime That Shocked Dickens's London" by Claire Harman is a true crime story of the 1840s. I wished it were written more like a mystery with a bit of suspense to the narrative. Instead, there is a fair amount of repetition. The case is not as exciting as it could have been. People were indeed shocked in 1840. From the vantage point of today, the story isn't that shocking at all. Charles Dickens does indeed make an appearance.
berlinbibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It takes an interesting moment from history, a brutal murder, and uses it as an occasion to not only talk about the murder itself, but about the influence of the emerging mass media and the way the event influenced public opinion on popular culture.
The murderer in this case, in one of his many contradictory statements about his crime, said that he had been driven to commit the murder by a popular book about a criminal, Jack Sheppard. A media frenzy about morality in popular culture followed. I thought it was especially interesting in comparison to today, when the new mass medium of video games is often blamed for violence, instead of popular novels, as it was then. The more things change, the more they stay the same. And one thing that stays the same is that Claire Harman writes excellent and entertaining books.
2021 re-read: There are so many unanswered questions at the end of this book, but it's still an excellent examination of popular culture in the early Victorian era. I guess that's one of the frustrations of reading about a murder that was never really solved.
The murderer in this case, in one of his many contradictory statements about his crime, said that he had been driven to commit the murder by a popular book about a criminal, Jack Sheppard. A media frenzy about morality in popular culture followed. I thought it was especially interesting in comparison to today, when the new mass medium of video games is often blamed for violence, instead of popular novels, as it was then. The more things change, the more they stay the same. And one thing that stays the same is that Claire Harman writes excellent and entertaining books.
2021 re-read: There are so many unanswered questions at the end of this book, but it's still an excellent examination of popular culture in the early Victorian era. I guess that's one of the frustrations of reading about a murder that was never really solved.
mwesterma's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
0.5
Very slow paced. Lots of tangents that didn't really seem to make sense. A lot of jumping around chronologically, especially when starting a new chapter. An interesting writing style I just wasn't able to adjust to.
In the end, just not for me. But I do know people who would love it.
In the end, just not for me. But I do know people who would love it.
graciado's review against another edition
3.0
Claire Harman’s true crime/pop-history account of an aristocrat’s shocking murder has some strong historical detail, is well researched, and picks out a variety of key themes that influenced the early development of the detective fiction genre, from deathly suspicions about servants, to lurid sensationalism in the media, and the ‘market’ for death and horror, such as Madame Tussaud’s wax works of executed murders and the death-mask casts that were put on sale. However, the book does not really tackle the central question of its blurb: could a novel really lead someone to kill?
Harman takes us through the sensational murder of Lord William Russell in 1840. (You probably won’t have heard of him. Wikipedia has a rather tart description of him as having done “little to attract public attention after the end of his political career until, in 1840, he was murdered in his sleep by his valet”. Kudos to whichever editor wrote that!) The trial as well as the murder was contentious, with the valet’s barrister, Charles Phillips, likely going too far in his attempted defence of his client even after Courvoisier, the valet, had confessed to him.
Because Harman’s interest is in how literature, and certain famous authors, such as Dickens and Thackeray, were affected by the case, I find the actual account of the crime, investigation, and trial somewhat underwhelming for a true crime book. The mode seems to switch between genuine interest in the crime—there is lots of scene-setting and introductory material for us to get to know the victim—and interest in the case as a particular touchstone amongst many lurid crimes and executions. There are two interesting stories to be told here, but they don’t quite come together. The novel that may have inspired the killer, William Harrison Ainsworth’s Jack Sheppard (1839-40), is not mentioned in the blurb, instead allowing a strong implication that a novel by one of the more famous authors might have been at issue.
There are some genuinely interesting facts here about how this specific case affected various canonical authors’ thinking and careers, such as Dickens using the execution experience to inform the hanging seen in Barnaby Rudge. The way in which the wider media landscape affected the case is of real interest, but begins only 120 pages in. For example, the rapid-fire of letters between Ainsworth and Sheriff William Evans about the veracity of Courvoisier’s confession puts one in mind of Twitter spats and is a nice reminder that there is nothing really new under the sun. For those who are interested in Dickens and his long literary career, the ways in which he might be said to have pivoted in response to market forces after the case and the media coverage of literature’s possible influence is also fascinating. Similarly, those who are interested in criminology and investigative methods’ developments in parallel with crime and detective fiction will also find interesting historical nuggets here, such as Dr Robert Blake Overton’s proposal to use fingerprinting to detect the killer from a bloody hand print on the bed. (Fingerprinting wasn’t to be used to help solve criminal cases until 50 years later.) Overall, however, the organisation of the material doesn’t quite allow these to shine.
Harman takes us through the sensational murder of Lord William Russell in 1840. (You probably won’t have heard of him. Wikipedia has a rather tart description of him as having done “little to attract public attention after the end of his political career until, in 1840, he was murdered in his sleep by his valet”. Kudos to whichever editor wrote that!) The trial as well as the murder was contentious, with the valet’s barrister, Charles Phillips, likely going too far in his attempted defence of his client even after Courvoisier, the valet, had confessed to him.
Because Harman’s interest is in how literature, and certain famous authors, such as Dickens and Thackeray, were affected by the case, I find the actual account of the crime, investigation, and trial somewhat underwhelming for a true crime book. The mode seems to switch between genuine interest in the crime—there is lots of scene-setting and introductory material for us to get to know the victim—and interest in the case as a particular touchstone amongst many lurid crimes and executions. There are two interesting stories to be told here, but they don’t quite come together. The novel that may have inspired the killer, William Harrison Ainsworth’s Jack Sheppard (1839-40), is not mentioned in the blurb, instead allowing a strong implication that a novel by one of the more famous authors might have been at issue.
There are some genuinely interesting facts here about how this specific case affected various canonical authors’ thinking and careers, such as Dickens using the execution experience to inform the hanging seen in Barnaby Rudge. The way in which the wider media landscape affected the case is of real interest, but begins only 120 pages in. For example, the rapid-fire of letters between Ainsworth and Sheriff William Evans about the veracity of Courvoisier’s confession puts one in mind of Twitter spats and is a nice reminder that there is nothing really new under the sun. For those who are interested in Dickens and his long literary career, the ways in which he might be said to have pivoted in response to market forces after the case and the media coverage of literature’s possible influence is also fascinating. Similarly, those who are interested in criminology and investigative methods’ developments in parallel with crime and detective fiction will also find interesting historical nuggets here, such as Dr Robert Blake Overton’s proposal to use fingerprinting to detect the killer from a bloody hand print on the bed. (Fingerprinting wasn’t to be used to help solve criminal cases until 50 years later.) Overall, however, the organisation of the material doesn’t quite allow these to shine.