The Invention of Murder- How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"Wonderful… (Flanders) shines in her readings of literary novels containing criminal and detective elements, such as Oliver Twist, Mary Barton and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, but can be sharp and very funny about the vagaries of melodramatic and sensational plotting. " –Wall Street JournalIn this fascinating exploration of murder in the nineteenth century, Judith Flanders examines some of the most gripping cases that captivated the Victorians and gave rise to the first detective fictionMurder in Britain in the nineteenth century was rare. But murder as sensation and entertainment became ubiquitous, transformed into novels, into broadsides and ballads, into theatre and melodrama and opera—even into puppet shows and performing dog-acts. Detective fiction and England's new police force developed in parallel, each imitating the other—the pioneers of Scotland Yard gave rise to Dickens's Inspector Bucket, the first fictional police detective, who in turn influenced Sherlock Holmes and, ultimately, even P. D. James and Patricia Cornwell. In this fascinating book, Judith Flanders retells the gruesome stories of many different types of murder—both famous and obscure—from the crimes (and myths) of Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper to the tragedies of the murdered Marr family in London's East End.
- Suggested age range- Adult
- Format- Paperback
- Product dimensions- 5.5" W x 8.2" H x 1.6" D
- Genre- True crime
- Publisher- St. Martin's Publishing Group, Publication date- 07-15-2014
- Page count- 576
- ISBN- 9781250048530
Web ID: 1659448
For those with a much stronger constitution than I
I had high hopes for this book. The subject matter is a fascinating thing, however my hopes were robbed for me even before I reached page 2 and not because of the subject matter. Flanders has written this with a voice that seems to want to portray itself as from the Victorian Era, however she lacks all sense of personality in her writing. It reads like a boring documentary, or an informational manual. It is as dry as sand in the middle of a summer's day. What information is there is overwhelmed, for me, by her dry style.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Interesting but bland writing
“Crime, especially murder, is very pleasant to think about in the abstract; it is like hearing blustery rain on the window pane when sitting indoors.” The Invention of Murder by Judith Flanders tells about the infamous and lesser known gruesome crimes of the nineteenth century, and how it shaped the book and entertainment industries of the time. Many parts of this book were fascinating, especially the way the crimes are written about. I really disliked the awkward flow of the book though. It seemed really jumpy from subject to subject and it was hard for me to feel engrossed in the writing. It almost reminded me of reading text books in college. It was interesting material and I wanted to know it, but it was a dull read. I wanted to love this one, I just didn’t. I did learn a lot though so I am giving this book 3 stars.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com