Customer Reviews

The Murder of Dr. Chapman: The Legendary Trials of Lucretia Chapman and Her Lover

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There was a delicious scandal making the news in 1831, leading to a standing-room-only trial. Someone surely dubbed it the "trial of the century," as we do even now, with our own interest in contemporary murder and adultery. Then those involved died off, and the years dimmed even collective memories of the trials of Lucretia Chapman and her lover Lino Espos y Mina for the murder of her husband. A good story won't die, and a good story indeed is in _The Murder of Dr. Chapman_ (HarperCollins) by Linda Wolfe. Wolfe has written on true crimes before, but has previously concentrated on contemporary subjects. She has superbly given historical context for this story, however, and produced a satisfying work full of period detail and comparisons of those times and our own.

Lucretia Winslow moved to Philadelphia in 1813. She was 25 years old, an age that marked her as liable to spinsterhood. She was tall and striking, and smart, and she moved to Philadelphia to accept a teaching position, one of the respectable ways unmarried women could make it in the world. Of course, she probably made the move to increase her marital prospects, too, and in 1818 she indeed married William Chapman. William was ten years older than Lucretia and several inches shorter. He was an accountant, but studied ways to cure stuttering. They may not have had a passionate marriage, but it began with respect and affection. The stolid William eventually ceased to satisfy her. Enter the third vertex of the triangle. Lino was 23 years old, a superb conman and criminal deported from Havana. He had bilked plenty of others before wandered to the Chapman's house, told a tale of how he had been robbed, and entranced both William and Lucretia, who decided that he should stay with them until his affairs were straight and his wealthy family started sending him money again. Within a month, Lino and Lucretia were lovers, and William was dead. It seemed that he had died of natural causes, food poisoning or cholera. Nine days later, Lino married Lucretia, who took a heartbreakingly long time eventually to realize she was being conned and stolen from. Eventually it became clear that Lino had bought arsenic days before William first turned ill. When he was arrested for William's death, so was she. Naturally, their trials form the climax of this riveting book.

So, was it murder, and if so, who did it? It would be wrong to tell how the juries for their separate trials decided on the issue, even though there is a gallows and coffin on the cover of the book. Wolfe has recreated the trials in fascinating detail. The newspapers enjoyed scandal then and now, but scandals as domestic news were a zesty novelty. The papers called Lino "a villain of no ordinary character" and Lucretia "a woman of violent passions." Wolfe herself concludes that probably Lucretia did not take part in her husband's murder, but that "probably" is going to have to be judged by every reader. It is an assignment that no one interested in thrilling true-crime narratives will want to pass up.

The Murder of Dr. Chapman is an intriguing book for mystery lovers, psychology buffs and history afficionados.
Ms. Wolfe is a brillant researcher and her rendering of Philadelphia in the 1800's makes me feel as if I were there.
This is , amoung other things, an account of one of the first documented "cons" in U.S. history.

I like the way that the author unfolded the story, piqueing my interest to find out more about the characters(although they were real live people!) and their actions.

The trial scenes are riveting.

Although the writing is gripping, I think that one forgets when reading it all of the hours of original research that had to go into it.

I particularly liked the reference to historical figures that put it all into a larger context.

I would definitely recommend this book!

Scandal, hot sex and murder in old Pennsylvania!
(Uhh...the hot sex is only alluded to, so dont get your hopes up.)
Mina was the son of Cuban Spaniards from South America,
pretty clearly a con-man and a compulsive liar.
Lucretia was a large "manly" woman, a schoolmistress who dreamed of love, lust and social prominence beyond what her fat hubby could deliver.

Whats not to like? Well, the writing is a bit turgid, but I think you should expect that from a historical treatise. I would have liked pictures, maps, old newspaper clippings, maybe a bit more on how the whole country decided Lucretia was in on the murder and how no one noticed that Mina was a huge liar.

I guess it was the OJ trial of the 1830's.

This is your typical criminal case drudged up from the past and written in a style more befitting a true crime novel than history. Well researched, but with the added vagaries to create suspense and entice, Linda Wolfe manages to do a successful job with this piece.

It is extremely easy to read, short, and written clearly. The flow of the story makes it difficult to put it down.

The case itself is incredible. Lucretia Chapman seemed to have lived a charmed life until her husband dies. Or did she? As a stranger persists in her home (and her bed?), he arouses suspicion ... Was Dr. Chapman murdered? Who is this stranger? And who is Lucretia Chapman really? By exposing these once living people with all that remains of their lives, Wolfe is able to create a compelling and almost complete picture of their lives. Wolfe bewitches readers in this fascinating story with excellent background information to ease you into this time (1830s northeastern America).

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was nice--nothing ground breaking here, but a pleasure to read. I am glad I read it, and will probably read it again. Recommend.

This book read like a badly written mystery novel. The problem with that is it is basically a book on history, though they classed it in true crime. I cannot say it enough for authors of this type of book, or any type of history...enough with the speculation.

The book is written in the form of a qualitative study. Yes, the author did her research, but she has placed herself into the story as an 'unbiased observer' as the incidents happen. First of all, no one can be totally unbiased in a situation like this, and especially when you are dealing with a woman in the early 18th century (who is considered part and parcel of her husband's possessions) and second, a Mexican scoundrel. The people reading the book will come across enough early information about the Mexican impostor to paint him with a very wide patronizing, and inflammatory brush. Given the problems we have today with immigrants from Mexico, everyone already has an opinion of Mexican immigrants, whether it be good or bad, so this book just plays on obvious prejudices. Even before half of the book is written we've already concluded the Mexican to be at the center of all this.

The man murdered is viewed as the 19th century version of a couch potato, while his wife is painted as a bored woman. For someone as smart as she was considered, she was pretty bad judge of character, and also pretty obvious with her affair. It's not just that the servants saw her, it's the fact her children most probably figured things out early. I don't altogether believe in her innocence in many things, though she may not have directly used the poison. It's very hard to write about the woman of those days without more information written as history and not an aside, concerning their place in society. Even though she had her own school, does not mean that she actually felt as being in a position of authority or power. That feeling may have come about had she been coniving with the Mexican (whatever his name was...it got changed so often) to murder her husband.

The information given at the end of the book concerning the Mexican's behavior and writing as well as his many stories he used on his trips, indicate to me that he may well have had a mental illness, just not epilepsy. It sounds a little manic-depressive to me. He was just chock full of glorious things he was going to do and become, became a pretty good martyr, and tended to laugh inappropriately and behave inappropriately. I strongly suspect that if he was before a court today with the information they had, they might have found him guilty, but with an insanity defense. We will never know now...

More history, and less speculation make for better books...

Karen L. Sadler