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On 7th November 1843, Harriet Monckton, 23 years old and a woman of respectable parentage and religious habits, was found murdered in the privy behind the dissenting chapel she had regularly attended in Bromley, Kent. The community was appalled by her death, apparently as a result of swallowing a fatal dose of prussic acid, and even more so when the autopsy revealed that Harriet was six months pregnant.
Drawing on the coroner's reports and witness testimonies, the novel unfolds from the viewpoints of each of the main characters, each of whom have a reason to want her dead. Harriet Monckton had at least three lovers and several people were suspected of her murder, including her close companion and fellow teacher, Miss Frances Williams. The scandal ripped through the community, the murderer was never found and for years the inhabitants of Bromley slept less soundly.
This rich, robust novel is full of suggestion and suspicion, with the innocent looking guilty and the guilty hiding behind their piety. It is also a novel that exposes the perilous position of unmarried women, the scandal of sex out of wedlock and the hypocrisy of upstanding, church-going folk.
On 7th November 1843, Harriet Monckton, 23 years old and a woman of respectable parentage and religious habits, was found murdered in the privy behind the dissenting chapel she had regularly attended in Bromley, Kent. The community was appalled by her death, apparently as a result of swallowing a fatal dose of prussic acid, and even more so when the autopsy revealed that Harriet was six months pregnant.
Drawing on the coroner's reports and witness testimonies, the novel unfolds from the viewpoints of each of the main characters, each of whom have a reason to want her dead. Harriet Monckton had at least three lovers and several people were suspected of her murder, including her close companion and fellow teacher, Miss Frances Williams. The scandal ripped through the community, the murderer was never found and for years the inhabitants of Bromley slept less soundly.
This rich, robust novel is full of suggestion and suspicion, with the innocent looking guilty and the guilty hiding behind their piety. It is also a novel that exposes the perilous position of unmarried women, the scandal of sex out of wedlock and the hypocrisy of upstanding, church-going folk.
From the award-winning and bestselling author of Into the Darkest Corner comes a delicious Victorian crime novel based on a real murder that shocked and fascinated the nation.
Elizabeth Haynes is a police intelligence analyst. She started writing fiction in 2006 thanks to the annual challenge of National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) and the encouragement of the creative writing courses at West Dean College. She lives in a village near Maidstone, Kent, with her husband and son. Her first novel, 'Into the Darkest Corner', was the winner of Amazon's Rising Stars and has been translated into 30 languages. Her second novel, 'Revenge of the Tide,' was published in March 2012. Lisa Coleman has been working as an actress on TV and radio since the age of six. Her more notable roles were Jude Kocarnik in Casualty for three years and Cam Lawson in Tracy Beaker from 2001 to date. She has done many radio performances including playing Eli Reardon in Ed Readon’s Week and has narrated over 100 audiobooks. She is also a writer and singer and plays the ukulele. Joe trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has worked regularly at Shakespeare’s Globe, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Southwark Playhouse, the Bristol Old Vic and the Ustinov in Bath. Joe’s work includes The Hot Kid and The Shootist (both for BBC Radio 4), the film adaptation of Great Expectations and several audiobook recordings, including the Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell and James Craig's Inspector Carlyle stories. David Thorpe has appeared in numerous stage plays, in repertory and on tour. Twice a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company, David has been heard in many radio plays and readings. An award-winning audiobook narrator, he has voiced several fantasy and science fiction books, including a number of the original Doctor Who books and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Becky Wright trained at Bristol University and Mountview in the UK. Theatre work includes The Witches and appearing as Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, and radio includes Becky Cranford in the BBC Radio Drama Series Children of Witchwood. She is currently playing Nic Hanson in The Archers.
'Elizabeth Haynes completely transported me to that time and place
... an absolute triumph.'
*Elly Griffiths, author of The Stranger Diaries*
'... charged with compassion, wisdom and a modern understanding of
human nature and psychology. It is both a humane defence of women
of all eras who choose not to conform and a celebration of their
trailblazing.'
*Julia Crouch, author of The Daughters*
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