Did She Kill Him?

A Victorian Tale of Deception, Adultery & Arsenic

By: Kate Colquhoun

Narrated by: Maggie Mash

In the summer of 1889, young Southern belle Florence Maybrick stood trial for the alleged arsenic poisoning of her much older husband, Liverpool cotton merchant James Maybrick. The ‘Maybrick Mystery’ had all the makings of a sensation and cracked the varnish of Victorian respectability. Florence’s fate was fiercely debated on the front pages of the newspapers and in parlours and backyards across the country. Historian Kate Colquhoun recounts an utterly absorbing tale that keeps you asking to the very last minute, did she kill him?

©2014 Oakhill Publishing (P)2014 Kate Colquhoun

Critic reviews

"The case is thrilling, the trial harrowing and Colquhoun does them justice." (Laura Freeman Daily Mail)

"Kate Colquhoun's fascinating history . . . critiques thoroughly and carefully the attitudes of the time." (Scotsman)

"Intriguing, forensic . . . a moral fable of the age, intelligently told by Colquhoun, who places her sources cleverly within historical and literary context . . . gripping." (The Times)

"Kate Colquhoun renders the story in a vivid, novelistic style . . . gripping." (Financial Times)

Fascinating true story

This well- researched analysis of a much-celebrated case is well written and thought provoking, providing and in-depth look at the lives of the women of the Victorian age, their treatment under the rules of society and the rule of law. A really fine true crime document, and a great read.

History with a Question Mark

Although it sounds a little grizzly to say so, I really enjoyed this book. I find true crime books in a historical context quite fascinating. The draw of studying the law and human psychology are the same as true crime set in the modern day, but the methods of crime solving and context are so different that it makes it all new. The writing and research are fluid and finely presented. The narrative voice is smooth and accent perfect, whether that accent is syrupy Southern or crisp upper-class british. The story is truly engaging. My only word of warning is that if you need to have every question answered at the end of your real life mysteries, this may not be the book for you. I won't say any more and ruin the story for you, but the book really does end on a question mark, as the title makes clear.

Victorian Travesty!

I listened to this story thinking how different the case would have been resolved if it was 100 years later.
Whether or not she "did it" we will never know. However, what we do know is the defendant was never really tried for the crime committed.
This was expertly read and the story was quite gripping.

interesting but....

great subject matter...but so many details and social points beaten to death. so so. C-

Flawed

No suspense, inadequate research, too "creative" for non fiction. I had hoped this was more like The Murder of Helen Jewett, but it is not at all that quality.