Dancing for the Hangman (Five Star First Edition Mystery) [Hardcover]

Martin Edwards (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While this fictional recreation of one of the early 20th century's most notorious crimes ranks among Edwards's best work, it has the misfortune to follow two superior books on the subject: Erik Larson's nonfiction Thunderstruck (2006) and John Boyne's Crippen: A Novel of Murder (2007). In a nice framing device, Dr. Hawley Crippen, as he sits in his jail cell in 1910 awaiting his date with the executioner, describes his life and the events that are bringing him to the scaffold, in particular the vicissitudes of his marriage to his second wife, Cora, of whose murder he was convicted. Edwards (Waterloo Sunset) offers an alternative, if somewhat implausible version of how Cora died that supports Crippen's claim of innocence. Many readers, however, will find Crippen, who abandoned his son and took up with his mistress shortly after Cora's death, a far from sympathetic narrator. Those looking for more depth should turn to Larson and Boyne. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

For a time, the name Dr. Crippen immediately conjured up images of depravity and murder. In 1910, Hawley Crippen, a homeopathic doctor from Michigan, was hanged in London for the murder of his wife, Cora. Crippen, or so the story went, decided to replace his wife with his lover, killing Cora and burying her body in his basement. In this imaginative novel, told mainly in the first person by Crippen himself, Edwards, author of the Harry Devlin series, offers up a clever reappraisal of the case. Edwards’ Crippen is not the coldhearted murderer of legend; he’s a patsy, easily swayed by the promise of sex or financial success, a weak and pathetic man who claims that he did not kill his wife. (There is some small possibility, based on recent DNA evidence, that Crippen may not have bumped off Cora after all.) Alternately funny and unsettling, the book examines the historical record, filling in some of the gaps and offering up new answers for some of the case’s key questions. An excellent example of the nonfiction novel. --David Pitt

Product Details

• Hardcover: 343 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (ME); 1 edition (December 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594148481
• ISBN-13: 978-1594148484
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,306,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Martin Edwards is an award-winning crime writer whose fourth and most recent Lake District Mystery, featuring DCI Hannah Scarlett and Daniel Kind, is The Serpent Pool, published in February 2010. Earlier books in the series are The Coffin Trail (short-listed for the Theakston's prize for best British crime novel of 2006), The Cipher Garden and The Arsenic Labyrinth (short-listed for the Lakeland Book of the Year award in 2008.) He has written eight novels about lawyer Harry Devlin, the first of which, All the Lonely People, was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first crime novel of the year. In addition he has written a stand-alone novel of psychological suspense, Take My Breath Away, and a much acclaimed novel featuring Dr Crippen, Dancing for the Hangman. The latest Devlin novel, Waterloo Sunset, appeared in 2008. He completed Bill Knox's last book, The Lazarus Widow. He has published a collection of short stories, Where Do You Find Your Ideas? and other stories; 'Test Drive' was short-listed for the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2006, while 'The Bookbinder's Apprentice' won the same Dagger in 2008. A well-known commentator on crime fiction, he has edited 16 anthologies and published eight non-fiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill .In 2008 he was elected to membership of the prestigious Detection Club. In his spare time he is a partner in a law firm and blogs daily at 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fascinating biographical fiction, December 25, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dancing for the Hangman (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

In 1910 in London, stunned American physician Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen awaits execution as he has been convicted of the murder of his second wife Cora. He swears he is innocent, but no one believes him except the real killer.

However, he also believes a jury of his peers found him guilty of her homicide due to his flaunting of acceptable grieving. He abandoned his son so he could move in with no hindrances with his mistress. Now he confesses to his side of what has led to his wrongful date with the scaffold.

This is a fascinating ethnographical fiction of a real life person as Crippen tells his side of the tale in which he insists he is not a killer, but convicted of an unacceptable lifestyle. Fans will enjoy his narration though he comes across as an unsympathetic person as he pulls no punches. Apparently in (see Crippen by John Boyne), Crippen was an intriguing person whose behavior was unsavory but did he commit murder?

Harriet Klausner