Crippen: A Novel of Murder

I decided to read this novel because I enjoy historical fiction and had just finished reading his excellent novel “The Hearts Invisible Furies”. I understand that you do take liberties in historical fiction but some of it was annoying. This was a huge murder case in the early 1900’s the key players were made into celebrities of sorts so background information was plentiful. Ethel Le Neve even wrote a short story about her involvement. Anyway, my main complaint is that the author unnecessarily made up erroneous backgrounds and sexual tendencies. Inspector Drew (who was married with many children) was made into a lonely single man that wanted a friendship with Crippen. Ethel lived with her sister and later had a close friendship with her landlady but she made into an orphan with no family. The worst one was Kendall, the Capt of the Montrose, who was actually happily married with children was made into a lonely single man who had homosexual tendencies toward his first officer. Ethel kissing another woman and enjoying it. This went on throughout the book. So many more interesting things happened in the background of these characters that were never mentioned (i.e. Drew was involved with Jack the Ripper Case, Kendall went on to crash another ship killing thousands, Ethel remarrying & keeping her background life secret from her family). The back and forth of the timeline worked successfully with the other novel I read but not with Crippen. The overtelling of the story from every characters perspective was tedious, I personally became tired of hearing it over and over. As always the author does well with character development...they are interesting, especially Crippen and Cora. So there’s that at the least.

Boyne captures the sense of period so well in this novel. He also presents a very sensitive appraisal of a man who is among the ranks of the most infamous of criminals. It presents a challenge to the reader and ends up drawing sympathy for the principal character. An excellent read with some beautiful portrayals of British society at the beginning of the 20th century,

With any other author, I wouldn't have given this book a second glance. I thoroughly enjoy mysteries, but the idea of a fictionalized account of a real murder in which the perpetrator chops up the body certainly has limited appeal. But I trust John Boyne, and that trust was totally justified.Although the murder weaves its way throughout parts of the book, it is not by any means the central focus. Instead, plot and character dominate. This novel is somewhat different from other Boyne books, however. The others usually involve subtle development of character over the course of the entire book. In this case, however, the characters are who they are and virtually all are caricatures of personality types. What you see is what you get. The primary example of this is Antoinette Drake, the quintessential upper class British matron of the pre World War I period. Her statements and actions are so outrageous, clueless, and snooty that the reader may wonder if anyone in the world would ever act like that. Well, maybe they wouldn't, but Boyne has you believe that anything is possible, and Antoinette's persona, while far fetched, nevertheless mirrors a plausible type.Since the murderer is known from the beginning (or is s/he?) what's the point of reading? Well, Boyne does a 180 from Agatha, whose novels always center on determining who did the evil deed, while "Crippen" dives into related and unrelated subtle developments, so the reader can enjoy the book at multiple levels. Even the historical details are fascinating. For example, if you've been on a cruise, you can compare amenities and activities of, say, today's Holland America Eurodam to 1910's Montrose.

I thought this was a very good book. I had had a brief introduction to Hawley Crippen before getting this book, but I didn't really know much about him. Since finishing, I have looked into the man's history and found there were more historical facts than the author credits himself with. The book grabbed my attention from the beginning and held tight throughout the book. Many twists. I have already recommended this book to friends.

Disappointed , after reading John Doyle’s Hearts invisible Furies , this is a letdown , long & contrived .Hate mysteries solved too early .

Great novel and unable to put down. I read this book in three days!John Boyne is a master of suspense.

My first read for Mr. Boyne, and I will look for more. I expected a novelistic treatment of the Crippen case and I got a whole lot more. Subtle characterization, surprising psychological developments, atmospheric detail - a really good read.

Enjoyed the unique spin the author put on this book fictionalizing a true event.

Crippen is my second John Boyne novel and the second one to get a 5 star rating. The novel is a fictionalised alternative version of Hawley Crippen's life, from his early years with his overbearing mother, through his fascination with science and the human body, and onto his ultimate downfall, the monstrous Cora. The story is loosely based on actual events, blended with figments of Boyne's imagination, and should be read as such. And what a wonderful imagination Mr Boyne has. Along the way we meet some great characters, many of them on the voyage across the Atlantic, but some on land playing their part as well. Boyne has a simple but effective style that is a pleasure to read. It's a fabulously entertaining tale, often keeping just the right side of tongue-in-cheek, with more drama than a month of Eastenders (not that I watch it), keeping me riveted from start to finish. There is a twist of sorts, later in the book, that is handled a bit dubiously, which could have knocked a star off the rating. Then I remembered the scene in the dentist's chair, which was worth 5 stars all on its own, and realised it had to be full marks.

I have already encountered John Boyne’s expertise at blending fact and fiction, and strewing his novels with historical events and people. This worked especially well in The Thief of Time, recounted by the extraordinary Matthieu Zela, and peppered with colourful episodes from his very long life in which he encountered a vast number of celebrated figures. He takes it to a higher level in this book, in which Zela features again, although this time in a relatively minor role.As the title suggests, the book tells the story of Hawley Crippen. Crippen is now recalled for the murder and dismemberment of his wife, his attempt to escape across the Atlantic to start a new life with his mistress, Ethel Le Neve, and the valiant pursuit by Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland Yard. In the brief acknowledgment note at the end of the book, Boyne remarks that people are often surprised to learn, or at least to be reminded, that Crippen had only committed one murder. Of course, as he immediately conceded, even one murder is one murder too many, and Boyne makes no attempt to vindicate him. The point is worthy of mention, however, because I think that Crippen has become fixed in the minds of many people, who remember the name but not the details of his crime, as one of the more prolific serial murderers.Boyne gives us an account of Crippen’s early life in America, where he struggled to free himself from the domineering influence of his devout mother. From an early age he became enchanted by science, and longed to be come a doctor. Unfortunately, circumstances conspired to thwart these aspirations, and he had to make do with pursuing correspondence courses while working night shifts in an abattoir (although this gave him ample scope to practice his surgical skills). His obsessive striving for a medical career dominated his life to the exclusion of almost everything else, and he struggled to form relationships. He did, however, find a wife, with whom he had a son, although they both quickly came to realise that they were unsuited to each other. That first marriage did not last long, with his wife succumbing to a tragic accident, after which their son was brought up by her parents. Crippen soon lost touch with his son, and seemed to find his wife’s death as much a release as a tragedy.Through an instance of great serendipity, I discovered a new word today: cacoethes, the [often desperate] urge to do something inadvisable. Crippen succumbed to a further bout of cacoethes, which led him, after having relocated to New York, to marry Cora Turner, a n aspiring music hall entertainer who had made a minor name for herself as Belle Elmore. Shortly afterwards they emigrated to London, where Crippen held down a couple of jobs, including managing an early homeopathic store. His relationship with Cora deteriorated, in parallel with her failures to fulfil her ambitions to establish herself as a leading star of the London stage. She embarked upon several affairs while Crippen himself met, and fell deeply in love with Ethel Le Neve, whom he had hired to help him in the store.And the rest is history … or mystery .. or just misery.Boyne weaves this rather sordid tale with great deftness, succeeding in overcoming the reader’s prejudice and making Crippen a largely sympathetic character. The narrative flits around, leaping forwards and backwards in time. Rather than being distracting or irksome, as can so often be the fate of stylistic flourishes, this lends the story greater depth. Boyne also lends great depth to some of the more ephemeral characters, such as Inspector Dew and Captain Kendall, master of the SS Montrose on which Crippen and Le Neve sought to escape to Canada. The overall effect is to breathe new life into a story that is already broadly familiar, and is another great success for John Boyne.

I am a big fan of John Boyne and have enjoyed all his books on the great war , especially The Absolutist, so I was looking forward to a similar experience with Crippen. No such luck I’m afraid. I found the characters weak and the plot unbelievable. It was so not true to anything I had read of his before. Even the twist at the end, although the author explains it in his notes, is not a believable twist. I was disappointed with this but it won’t stop me reading John Boyne.

I came to this expecting a fairly straight run through of the Crippen story. I discovered something very different. And so much better. It is a real page turner in the old tradition, with engaging characters and lots of twists and surprises. I was a little disturbed by some of the mysogeny - the Cora character comes across as deserving death - but perhaps in the intervening 16 years morality has changed a little. All the female characters also come across ultimately negatively, with ulterior motives, while the male characters are much more nuanced.But these are niggles. A great read that is well worth buying.

Given the title and the subject this is a surprisingly not so much gruesome as extremely interesting and well written story which certainly provides an interesting angle on a singular event and very evocative of this period in history - the description of voyage on the Montrose and the characterisation is a highlight and a description of the early days of dentistry both fascinating and extremely powerful