The Trial of Elizabeth Cree

Poisoning, murder, music hall, artistry, dramaturgy, science, journalism, progress, sociology, poverty: all this miscellany Peter Ackroyd alloys into a homogenous panorama of place and time – London in the nineteenth century on its last legs. But it is the great thoroughfare, Oxford Street itself, wh......more

I have to say that this is one of the finer Victorian mysteries I've read and it kept me on the edge of the chair until the end. Once in a while I would get this idea that something is dreadfully wrong here, but couldn't quite put my finger on it. However, the true beauty of this novel is the atmosp......more

CRITIQUE: "Let Us Begin, Friends, at the End" In retrospect, this is a superb work of Victorian-era historical crime fiction. Structurally, there's just enough going on, to make it interesting from a literary point of view as well. There are four initial crimes (all murders, including one of the entire......more

This is my third Ackroyd and really the first one I have got along with. In fact it is one of those books you read where you get so pally with it it is sad to finish. As is customary the author looks back on the murderous history of a part of London but this time he has peopled his re-telling with a......more