Customer Reviews

The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey: A Nonfiction Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The most interesting mysteries are those of a different generation. After Bland Simpson learned this simple lesson, he applied it, turning out an absorbing and true tale of murder, love and damning coincidence taken from the Victorian Age. The story takes place in remote Elizabeth City, N.C., and focuses upon the murder of a beautiful young woman and the possible involvement of her spurned lover. It follows the footsteps of those closest to the story and builds to a climax of uncertainty and mystery.

I thought this book was very well written. I just wanted to keep reading and reading. I also enjoyed the pictures and maps. Great book. It is definately one I will read again.

What a great and tragic story Simpson tells! Having moved to Elizabeth City three years ago, I'd heard the history and legend of the Cropsey murder, but this book brought so much life to it. Now when I jog by the old Cropsey place on Riverside, the Courthouse and Baptist Church on Main St, the bend on Road Street where Wilcox took his own life years later, Williams Circle (site of the old Fairgrounds where Nell visited the circus weeks before her death), the story is real and vivid. I also heartily recommend Simpson's "Ghost Ship of Diamond Shoals". Mr. Simpson affection for the North Carolina low-country is contagious. What a treat!

Book arrived as promised and when expected. I wanted to check the book out personally because my family members were mentioned in the book and I wanted to see how closely the book depicted the stories that I had heard over the years. Unfortunately the mystery has never been solved and the ones that knew what happened carried the secret to their graves.

I'm a North Carolina resident who was orginally interested in this mystery after reading several North Carolina legends and ghost stories.
I'm still highly interested in the story, however, I do NOT recommend THIS writer's version.

While there are many people speaking in the story, the writer/editor choses not to use quotations, instead starting quotes with arbitrary dashes.
Weather or not the speaking style would have been "red neck" or "backwoods" for the location and era, the writer makes nearly every speaking person sound ignorant with phrases like "They ears this long!" ... a bit too much liberty taken with the dialect.

Long, unorganized run-on sentences cloud the details of the story and slow down the plot considerably. The map of the area and pictures are interesting, but don't make the reading any better.

I still haven't gotten more than 1/2 way through - and I generally don't stop reading a book, but I may have to in this case.

As I sad, it's an interesting mystery, but one I'd rather read or research elsewhere.

This book was poorly written, poorly organized and poorly researched. If you are looking for a cure for insomnia, then I would recommend it!