Today’s
nonfiction post is on The Peculiar case
of the Electric Constable: A True Tale of
Passion, Poison &
Pursuit by Carol
Baxter. It is 391 pages long including notes and an index. The
cover
is like a old time newspaper cover with a train in the center. There is no
language, no sex, and
no violence
in this book. The story is told from newspaper articles, dairies, and other
historical
documents.
The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime, whodunit’s, and
history.
There Be
Spoilers Ahead.
From the
back of the book- The
electrifying story of a criminal Quaker, a poisoned mistress, and the
dawn of the
information age John Tawell was a sincere Quaker but a sinning one. Convicted
of
forgery, he
was transported to Sydney, where he opened Australia’s first retail pharmacy
and made a
fortune.
When he returned home to England after fifteen years, he thought he would be
welcomed;
instead he
was shunned. Then on New Year’s Day in 1845 Tawell boarded the 7.42 pm train
from
Slough to
London Paddington. Soon, men arrived chasing a suspected murderer- but the 7.42
had
departed.
The Great Western Railway was experimenting with a new-fangled device, the
electric
telegraph,
so a message was sent: a ‘KWAKER’ man on the run. The trail became a
sensation,
involving no
apparent weapon, much innuendo, and a pious man desperate to save his
reputation-
and would
usher in the modern communication age. Told with narrative verse and rich in
historical
research,
this is a delicious true tale of murder and scientific revolution in Victorian
England.
Review- This was a great read. The
murder is interesting and very cruel. The details and manner of
how the
murderer was caught is the root of how we catch them now. There is so much
going on here.
There is
legal drama, religion, new sciences, and a man who just wanted it all. I do not
find Tawell to
be very
sympathetic. I did not like him and I think that is because he was hiding
behind religion for
all his
crimes. He had committed forgery with plans to continue to do so. He had
relations a maid in
his service
for years then tossed her aside for a Quaker woman, who would her place in her
religion
if she
married him but he did not care. His actions made it very clear to me that he
only cared about
himself.
Baxter’s writing and research are solid. She presented the case without
much personal input
until the
very end. Her notes are easy to follow and I will be reading more of her stuff.
I recommend
this
interesting true crime book.
I give this
book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this
book from
my local
library.
No comments:
Post a Comment