Arsenic Under the Elms: Murder in Victorian New Haven by Virginia A. McConnell

McConnell (English, literature, and speech, Walla Walla Community Coll.) believes that "murder provides us with a mirror of an era." A specialist in researching historical crimes, she sees the newspaper coverage of the murders of Mary Stannard in 1878 and of Jennie Cramer in 1881 as a "time machine" that allows a reader "to eavesdrop on the people of Victorian New England, to listen to their speech patterns, their opinions, and to see the clothes they worethe tools they usedthe food they ateAnot as examples in a history text or artifacts in a museum, but as vibrant and real." Her painstaking reconstruction, both of the murders of these two young women and of the trials in which their alleged killers were acquitted, reveals fascinating insights about law, justice, and the position of women in post-Civil War Connecticut. Recommended for larger public libraries and academic libraries.ARobert C. Jones, formerly of Central Missouri State Univ., Warrensburg
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
I bought this book on a Saturday and once I started I couldn't put it down. Ms. McConnell writes about two obscure murders in Victorian Connecticut in a style that compels the reader to keep turning the pages. Learning about the mores and workings of the criminal justice system during this period was fascinating! I highly recommend it!