Stephen Bates

Overall not bad. The main impression I have come away with was that the author researched the crap outta the subject material... But I also feel this book could have done with some serious culling. I noticed several (largely inconsequential or non essential) factoids were repeated in different places. I almost wonder if there was simply too much detail included that didn't need to be, like intense descriptions of minutiae that have limited bearing on Palmer's case. There also seemed an overabundance of quotes, letters, and speeches. It got kind of exhausting after a while. On the flip side, there were some things about social context that were glossed over only very briefly, or changes in the legal code that were mentioned in passing - why didn't they get more exploration? I find that far more interesting than how the judges/lawyers looked physically.

I'm giving three stars because I thought it was well researched, but it got tiresome and I felt like I was slogging through it. I would tentatively recommend it, but don't be surprised if you start skimming across some paragraphs. Fly my little pebble, fly!… (més)

Less a book about a murderer than a potted social history of England in the 1850s. The basics of the story are already well-known - William Palmer, surgeon by profession but an (unsuccessful) professional gambler by avocation was tried and executed in Stafford after the suspicious death of his friend John Cook, allegedly by strychnine (none was found in his body). Along way he was also accused of the murder of his mother in law, several of his children and two of his brothers. Palmer stubbornly protested his innocence to the end, and the simple fact is, regardless of his guilt or otherwise, he should never have convicted as the case was clearly not beyond reasonable doubt. Around this story Bates weaves a picture of England in transition into modernity, from the increasing spread of railways, to tabloid journalism and the national obsession with crime, to gradual breaking down of social barriers, and the increasing mass appeal of sport. In fact, only about half the book actually deals with Palmer's crimes. Fascinating and well-written regardless of whether your interest if brutal crime or social history… (més)

Much as I usually enjoy historical true crime books, I'm beginning to feel that they reached their apotheosis with The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and the genre is now being overloaded. Stephen Bates' research into the case of the Victorian poisoner, Doctor William Palmer, could not be more thorough. For me, it was rather too thorough, especially when it came to the stream of so-called experts on the effects of Strychnine and other poisons. The most interesting aspects of the book are the accounts of the newspaper reports (if we think the modern day press is intrusive it's got nothing on the Victorians) and how fascinated the great British public were in the case.… (més)