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Mary Ann Cotton: Dark Angel: Britain s First Female Serial Killer Kindle Edition
A true crime account of the life, trial, death, and aftermath of Britain’s first female serial killer.
A female thief, with four husbands, a lover and, reportedly, over twelve children, is arrested and tried for the murder of her stepson in 1872, turning the small village of West Auckland in County Durham upside down. Other bodies are exhumed and when they are found to contain arsenic, she is suspected of their murder as well. The perpetrator, Mary Ann Cotton, was tried and found guilty and later hanged on 24 March 1873 in Durham Gaol. It is claimed she murdered over twenty people and was the first female serial killer in England.
With location photographs and a blow-by-blow account of the trial, this book challenges the claim that Mary Ann Cotton was the “The West Auckland Borgia,” a title given to her at the time. It sets out her life, trial, death, and the aftermath and also questions the legal system used to convict her by looking at contemporary evidence from the time and offering another explanation for the deaths. The book also covers the lives of those left behind, including the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton in Durham Gaol.
Mary Ann Cotton’s crimes were the subject of the 2016 ITV drama, Dark Angel, starring Joanne Froggatt.
Praise for Mary Ann Cotton, Dark Angel
Recommended as one of the Evening Standard’s “Best biographies and memoirs to read in 2016”
“For true crime historians, fans of intriguing crime tales, and those interested in how criminal justice operated in the Victorian era, this is a well-presented book on a complex case. Furthermore, it is a book which explores all the evidence available and questions whether or not the conviction and execution of Mary Ann Cotton in 1873 was the correct outcome.” —Crime Traveller
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPen & Sword History
- Publication dateOctober 14, 2016
- File size10659 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Crime Traveller
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B01M0LDR8G
- Publisher : Pen & Sword History (October 14, 2016)
- Publication date : October 14, 2016
- Language : English
- File size : 10659 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 234 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #793,052 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #977 in Biographies of Serial Killers
- #1,333 in Biographies & Memoirs of Criminals
- #1,413 in Historical British Biographies
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Martin Connolly, was born in Belfast in 1951. Married with seven grown up children, he has researched in Psychology, Theology, Judaism and the Holocaust. He has published in magazines, and produced teaching materials in the three disciplines. A retired Pastor, he is particularly delighted with his book on the founding of Israel, which drew this comment, "Very readable, incisive and well documented....Great telling of the Jewish story. Highly recommend".
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Top reviews from the United States
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Leaving home at 16 years old, Mary secured a job as a nurse for mine owner Edward Potter. When the Potter children left for boarding school, Mary's taste of a rich lifestyle abruptly ended. Mary was determined, despite
her strict Methodist upbringing, to use her feminine wiles to find a rich husband. In this quest she married four times and had twelve or more children. Most suffered untimely deaths while Mary collected money from their life insurance policies. Were the deaths caused by disease, natural causes or the work of a murderer?
Thoroughly researched and meticulously presented one can view birth records, death certificates, and census records of Mary Cotton's various living arrangements. Author Martin Connolly makes the true crime story of "Mary Cotton-Dark Angel" come to life. The reader experiences the 1870's arrest, incarceration and murder trial of Mary Cotton. A fascinating, totally engrossing read.
Thank you Pen and Sword Publishing and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Mary Ann Cotton-Dark Angel".
Oof, extremely Gothic dour noir. If you're a fan of The Knick and want to swim across the Pond for some overcast storytelling and late Victorian physik, this is definitely the true, real-life, murder most foul story you must read, posthaste.
Top reviews from other countries
The writing style will be fairly familiar to anyone who has ever done any family history research. Connolly has opted for a factual trip through the official documentation that proves various events in Mary Ann’s life. Beautifully illustrated by photos and maps of the local area he includes copies of local census entries and birth marriage and death records from the local Methodist churches. I originally had a digital copy of the book as my review copy from the publisher but ended up buying the printed version because of these superb photos and illustrations.
Connolly does take a very fair approach to the story refusing to speculate on what might have happened – leaving much of that to the excerpts from local newspapers etc. The inclusion of some of these sensationalist reports is interesting and gives you an idea of what Mary Ann was up against in her attempt to defend herself.
This was a time with high infant mortality and outbreaks of typhoid and cholera were frequent as well as the childhood diseases like measles and chicken pox. Any family history research in this area and at this time will reveal high numbers of children not making it to adulthood although in Mary Ann’s case it is particularly damning. A female thief with four husbands, a lover and over twelve children she was only arrested after the death of her step son. After this accusation other bodies were exhumed and the case against her began to build.
It is a fascinating story of the English legal system in the nineteenth century and indeed the sensationalist newspaper coverage that was clamouring for her head long before any conviction. This is a riveting read and one that will leave you with as many questions as there are answers.
Supplied by Net Galley and Pen and Sword in exchange for an honest review.
Interesting how the legal system worked in that era. Kept you guessing as to whether she was innocent or guilty.