A Very British Murder

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The last section of the book was on the Golden Age of mysteries and while I think The Golden Age of Murder is the book to read if you want to dive deep into the topic, I still appreciated the insights the book had. The Victorians believed that this new sophistication in the ‘art’ of murder was caused by the growing industry of life insurance.

It’s wonderful to see and listen to someone present a program with such ease, naturalness, and with a sense of humour like you have. This makes an excellent introduction to the morbid fascination with real-life murder that gripped nineteenth century Britain. Since 2003, while working at Historic Royal Palaces, she has continued publishing historical non-fiction for adults and historical fiction for 11-14 years olds. At first I found the general theme of the book a little unfocussed, but as I read on I was gradually drawn in. That’s right thirty thousand people went to see an execution and needed five hundred policemen to keep them in check!Our fascination with 'a good murder' -- from the Ratcliffe Highway Murders at the turn of the nineteenth century to Edith Thompson and Freddie Bywaters, hanged in 1922 for the murder of Edith's husband -- became a form of national entertainment, inspiring novels, plays and films, puppet shows and paintings, poetry and true-crime journalism. While the information presented wasn't new to me, I appreciated the excellent organization and thoroughness of Worsley's investigation. With the limiting of the death penalty to fewer crimes, a rise in literacy and the increasing urbanisation of society, Worsley argues that the perfect set of conditions were present for murder to become mass entertainment.

It wasn't really an issue, and I'd be glad to see the television series if it were available (some of the ballads, puppet shows, and dramas she describes would be interesting to see! I breezed through this one quickly, enthralled as always, by actual crimes and the evolution of British Crime novels through the years.She discusses the Golden Age authors in some depth, giving almost mini-biographies of some of them, particularly Dorothy L Sayers. If this book does nothing else it will introduce you to some classic crime fiction of the nineteenth and twentieth century and give you an understanding of how, and why, it exists.