From Publishers Weekly
This latest in Geary's lovingly researched and illustrated Treasury of Victorian Murder series relates the case of Madeleine Smith, a well-to-do architect's daughter who is willingly courted by Emile L'Anglier, a man of lesser means. Perhaps influenced by the flowery depictions of love found in overwrought romantic novels and certainly longing to escape the strangling mores of the day, Madeleine's fantasies come true during her affair with L'Anglier, thrills that burgeon when spurred by her family's disapproval of the situation. Things take a sinister turn when Madeleine finds a more appropriate suitor and tires of L'Anglier's attentions. She continues the fantasy-driven relationship with the added spice of slowly poisoning her lover via arsenic in his tea, a crime that she would most likely get away within the stringently class oriented society of Victorian Glasgow. Saying more would spoil the true-life outcome for those unfamiliar with the case, but as always Geary provides a quaintly drawn time warp that is both entertaining and educational, including maps and diagrams that bring the case to life. Every bit as much fun as its predecessors, this volume is a welcome and intelligent change of pace from the usual comics fare.
(July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–Gearys story, set in 19th-century Scotland, tells of the scandalous affair between an upper-class woman and a lower-class man that ended with his gruesome death. Smith was an architects daughter and the graduate of a London finishing school. Emile LAnglier was a seed merchants son, a clerk with a history of bad relationships. Their attraction to one another was instantaneous, and they began to correspond. The book is filled with excerpts from their letters; as much as Madeleine pushed Emile away, she clearly needed him, since nearly 200 of her letters were later found in his possessions. But their love was doomed because of the tension involved in keeping their relationship private. After years of turmoil, Madeleine became engaged to another man and Emile threatened to send her letters to her father. The poisoning began in cups of hot chocolate that she gave to Emile. The pen-and-ink images artfully convey this gripping story, notably in the scene in which the lovers eyes first meet and later when a veiled Madeleine walks up a staircase through a door in the courtroom floor. This book maintains the level of excellence set by the other volumes in this series, and would be an asset to any collection.
–Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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