• Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane

  • A True Story of Victorian Law and Disorder
  • By: Paul Thomas Murphy
  • Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
  • Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (34 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane  By  cover art

Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane

By: Paul Thomas Murphy
Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.56

Buy for $15.56

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

A vivid and violent investigation into the first unsolved murder case of the Victorian era, by the author of the New York Times Notable Book Shooting Victoria.

On April 26, 1871, a police constable walking one of London's remotest beats stumbled upon a brutalized young woman kneeling on a muddy road - gashes were cloven into her skull, her left cheek was slashed open and smashed in, her right eye was destroyed, and above it a chunk of the temporal bone had been bashed out. The policeman gaped in horror as the woman held out her hand before collapsing into the mud, muttering, "Let me die", and slipping into a coma. Five days later she died, her identity still unknown.

Within hours of her discovery on Kidbrooke Lane, scores of the officers of the Greenwich Division were involved in the investigation, and Scotland Yard had sent one of its top detectives, John Mulvany, to lead it. After five days of gathering evidence, the police discovered the girl's identity: Jane Maria Clouson, a maid in the house of the renowned Pook family...and she was two months pregnant with Edmund Pook's child when she died.

Murphy carefully reviews the evidence in the light of 21st-century forensic science in order to identify Jane's killer as Edmund Walter Pook. Using a surprisingly abundant collection of primary sources, Murphy aims to re-create the drama of the case as it unfolded, with its many twists and turns, from the discovery of the body to the final crack of the gavel - and beyond.

©2016 Paul Thomas Murphy. Photographs courtesy of Pegasus Books (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

More of a Blib than a Main Point

This seemed interesting at first. Chapters 1,2, & 8 are only the ones relatable to the title of this story. It was okay, but could have been more focused on the main crime than the ones included (that had no connection to the Jane Coulson case).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting

I love this book. It does sort of take you on a rollercoaster of facts/hearsay evidence.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interminable

Way to long and chatty. The story is interesting but the book would have been so much better with a little editing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!