Woman at the Devil's Door cover art

Woman at the Devil's Door

The Untold Story of the Hampstead Murderess

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Woman at the Devil's Door

Written by: Sarah Beth Hopton
Narrated by: Kate Mulligan
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About this listen

On October 24, 1890, a woman's mutilated and lifeless body was discovered on a pile of rubbish in Hampstead, North London. Her arms were lacerated, her face crushed and bloodied, and her head almost completely severed from her body. A mile away a blood-soaked stroller was found leaning against a residential gate. The dead baby's body, hidden beneath a nettle bush, was not located until the following morning.

So began the incredible story of the Hampstead Tragedy.

Eventually, Scotland Yard knocked on the door of 2 Priory Street, home to Mary Eleanor Pearcey, the pretty 24-year-old mistress of the victim's husband, whose crimes inspired speculation that Jack the Ripper was a woman, and whose dying request was as bizarre and mysterious as her life.

The first full-length examination of the extraordinary case, Woman at the Devil's Door is a thrilling look at a notorious murderess and the webs she wove.

©2018 Sarah Beth Hopton (P)2018 Blackstone Publishing
True Crime Exciting True Crime Women

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Presentable True Crime

Author Sarah Beth Hopton explores the murder of a woman & child in 1890 England. The jealous "other woman" was convicted of the crime and hung for it. Hopton pours through forensic reports, court transcripts, and contemporary memoirs written by participants to provide a well-researched exposé. It was a reasonable investment of a few hours.

Less fortunately, reader Kate Mulligan delivers the book with a mechanical cadence and an uncharacteristic indifference to the text. She sounds like she's collecting a paycheck on this project.

Altogether, 'Woman At The Devil's Door: The Untold Story of the Hampstead Murderess' rates 6.5 stars out of 10. I have some suspicions that Hopton takes a modicum of artistic license - given that the case took place 130-plus years ago - and the subpar presentation weakens the audiobook.. but it was a serviceable free listen.
When they ask for a Credit, however, you should spend it on something else.

[Incidentally: If this documentary is accurate, I'm not sure that Mary Pearcey did it]

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Interesting

It's interesting to see the differences between the legal system then (1890) and now. She was condemned to hang and was actually hanged about 2 and half weeks later. Now it takes them years to actually execute someone. I'm not entirely convinced that she actually committed the crime. She was very stoic. Quite the strong woman.

The narrator pronounced some of the words wrong which was really weird, but overall she wasn't too bad.

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Boring

I tried , really tried but found this very boring.
There was way too much description of non necessary information and hardly any story.

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