The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse

The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse PDF Author: Piu Marie Eatwell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781856093
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description

The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse

The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse PDF Author: Piu Marie Eatwell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781856093
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse

The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse PDF Author: Piu Marie Eatwell
Publisher: Head of Zeus
ISBN: 9781781856086
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The extraordinary story of the Druce-Portland affair, one of the most notorious, tangled and bizarre legal cases of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. In 1897 an elderly widow, Anna Maria Druce, made a strange request of the London Ecclesiastical Court: it was for the exhumation of the grave of her late father-in-law, T.C. Druce. Behind her application lay a sensational claim: that Druce had been none other than the eccentric and massively wealthy 5th Duke of Portland, and that the – now dead – Duke had faked the death of his alter ego. When opened, Anna Maria contended, Druce's coffin would be found to be empty. And her children, therefore, were heirs to the Portland millions. The legal case that followed would last for ten years. Its eventual outcome revealed a dark underbelly of lies lurking beneath the genteel facade of late Victorian England.

The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse: An Extraordinary Edwardian Case of Deception and Intrigue

The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse: An Extraordinary Edwardian Case of Deception and Intrigue PDF Author: Piu Eatwell
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 1631491245
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 183

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Book Description
A Book Riot Best Book of the Year Goodreads Choice Award Finalist (History/Biography) “It’s Downton Abbey meets The Addams Family in [this] delightfully offbeat history.” —Library Journal At the close of the Victorian era, as now, privacy was power. The extraordinarily wealthy 5th Duke of Portland had a mania for it, hiding in his carriage and building tunnels between buildings to avoid being seen. In 1897, an elderly widow asked the court to exhume the grave of her late father-in-law, T. C. Druce, under the suspicion that he’d led a double life as the 5th Duke. The eccentric duke, Anna Maria contended, had faked his death as Druce, and her son should inherit the Portland millions. Revealing a dark underbelly of Victorian society, Piu Marie Eatwell evokes an era when the rise of sensationalist media blurred every fact into fiction and when family secrets and fluid identities pushed class anxieties to new heights.

The Invention of Murder

The Invention of Murder PDF Author: Judith Flanders
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1250024889
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 570

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Book Description
"Superb... Flanders's convincing and smart synthesis of the evolution of an official police force, fictional detectives, and real-life cause célèbres will appeal to devotees of true crime and detective fiction alike." -Publishers Weekly, starred review In this fascinating exploration of murder in nineteenth century England, Judith Flanders examines some of the most gripping cases that captivated the Victorians and gave rise to the first detective fiction Murder in the nineteenth century was rare. But murder as sensation and entertainment became ubiquitous, with cold-blooded killings transformed into novels, broadsides, ballads, opera, and melodrama-even into puppet shows and performing dog-acts. Detective fiction and the new police force developed in parallel, each imitating the other-the founders of Scotland Yard gave rise to Dickens's Inspector Bucket, the first fictional police detective, who in turn influenced Sherlock Holmes and, ultimately, even P.D. James and Patricia Cornwell. In this meticulously researched and engrossing book, Judith Flanders retells the gruesome stories of many different types of murder in Great Britain, both famous and obscure: from Greenacre, who transported his dismembered fiancée around town by omnibus, to Burke and Hare's bodysnatching business in Edinburgh; from the crimes (and myths) of Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper, to the tragedy of the murdered Marr family in London's East End. Through these stories of murder-from the brutal to the pathetic-Flanders builds a rich and multi-faceted portrait of Victorian society in Great Britain. With an irresistible cast of swindlers, forgers, and poisoners, the mad, the bad and the utterly dangerous, The Invention of Murder is both a mesmerizing tale of crime and punishment, and history at its most readable.

They Eat Horses, Don't They?

They Eat Horses, Don't They? PDF Author: Piu Marie Eatwell
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1466854936
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 556

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Book Description
They Eat Horses, Don't They?:The Truth About the French tells you what life in France is really like. Do the French eat horses? Do French women bare all on the beach? What is a bidet really used for? In this hilarious and informative book, Piu Marie Eatwell reveals the truth behind forty-five myths about the French, from the infamous horsemeat banquets of the nineteenth century that inspired an irrepressible rumor, to breaking down our long-held beliefs about French history and society (the French are a nation of cheese-eating surrender monkeys, right?). Eatwell lived in France for many years and made the most of long French weekends, extended holidays, and paid time off to sit on French beaches, evaluate the sexual allure of the French men and women around her, and, of course, scan café menus for horses and frogs. As a result, They Eat Horses, Don't They? reveals a fascinating picture of historical and contemporary France—a country that has both changed radically in the twenty-first century, but yet still retains much of the mystery, romance, and allure that has seduced foreigners for decades. Truth, as always, is stranger than fiction. . . .

Twilight of Empire

Twilight of Empire PDF Author: Greg King
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250083036
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
On a snowy January morning in 1889, a worried servant hacked open a locked door at the remote hunting lodge deep in the Vienna Woods. Inside, he found two bodies sprawled on an ornate bed, blood oozing from their mouths. Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary appeared to have shot his seventeen-year-old mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera as she slept, sat with the corpse for hours and, when dawn broke, turned the pistol on himself. A century has transformed this bloody scene into romantic tragedy: star-crossed lovers who preferred death together than to be parted by a cold, unfeeling Viennese Court. But Mayerling is also the story of family secrets: incestuous relationships and mental instability; blackmail, venereal disease, and political treason; and a disillusioned, morphine-addicted Crown Prince and a naïve schoolgirl caught up in a dangerous and deadly waltz inside a decaying empire. What happened in that locked room remains one of history’s most evocative mysteries: What led Rudolf and mistress to this desperate act? Was it really a suicide pact? Or did something far more disturbing take place at that remote hunting lodge and result in murder? Drawing interviews with members of the Habsburg family and archival sources in Vienna, Greg King and Penny Wilson reconstruct this historical mystery, laying out evidence and information long ignored that conclusively refutes the romantic myth and the conspiracy stories.

Black Dahlia, Red Rose

Black Dahlia, Red Rose PDF Author: Piu Eatwell
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 147366635X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
******* A TIMES 'BOOK OF THE YEAR' ******* ***Shortlisted for the CWA Dagger for non-fiction*** 'A magnificent, meticulous and startling re-examination of a crime that haunts the world's imagination' Geoffrey Wansell, author of An Evil Love: The Life of Frederick West 'Eatwell writes brilliantly . . . [she] has finally offered [Elizabeth] Short a type of belated justice. Her book reads like a thriller' Sunday Times 'A compelling read, in both style and substance . . . A must-read for anyone with an interest in the Black Dahlia - or indeed any fan of the true-crime genre' Rod Reynolds, author of The Dark Inside 'Compulsively readable, impeccably researched and heart-rending at times . . . Superb' Sarah Lotz, author of The Three and The White Road ************* On 15th January 1947, the naked, dismembered body of a black-haired beauty, Elizabeth Short, was discovered lying next to a pavement in a Hollywood suburb. She was quickly nicknamed The Black Dahlia. The homicide inquiry that followed consumed Los Angeles for years and the authorities blew millions of dollars of resources on an investigation that threw up dozens of suspects. But it never was solved. Until now. In this ground-breaking book, Piu Eatwell reveals compelling forensic and eye witness evidence for the first time, which finally points to the identity of the murderer. The case was immortalised in James Ellroy's famous novel based on the case, in Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon and Brian de Palma's movie The Black Dahlia. This is a dark tale of sex, manipulation, obsession, psychopathy and one of the biggest police cover ups in history.

What the Duke Desires

What the Duke Desires PDF Author: Sabrina Jeffries
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451693516
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
From the New York Times bestselling author who “delivers lively lovers” and “entertaining, sensual historical romance” (Booklist) comes the first in her new series The Duke’s Men, featuring the Duke of Lyons and the illegitimate daughter of a viscount. They are the Duke’s Men—an investigative agency born out of family pride and irresistible passion...and they risk their lives and hearts to unravel any shocking deception or scandalous transgression. Maximilian Cale, the Duke of Lyons, accepted long ago that his kidnapped brother was dead. When a cryptic note from investigator Tristan Bonnaud claims otherwise, Max seeks out Tristan’s sister, Lisette—and is infuriated to learn that Tristan has mysteriously vanished. Have the siblings perpetrated an elaborate hoax? Or is the fiercely protective beauty as innocent as she claims? Fearful that the powerful duke will destroy Tristan’s career in his zeal for the truth, the clever Lisette convinces Max to accompany her to Paris in a joint search for their loved ones. But their journey takes a seductive twist when they pose as an ordinary husband and wife—not an English duke with a tarnished family name and the illegitimate daughter of a viscount—and discover an exhilarating passion free from the damning secrets of the past. With the line between danger and desire enticingly blurred, they discover that some mysteries, like those of the heart, are answered tenfold in the bliss of a true and trusting love.

A Lady for a Duke

A Lady for a Duke PDF Author: Alexis Hall
Publisher: Forever
ISBN: 153875374X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
From the bestselling author of Husband Material comes a lush, sweeping queer historical romance where sparks fly between childhood friends after a life-changing separation—perfect for fans of Bridgerton, Evie Dunmore, and Lisa Kleypas!​ When Viola Carroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood. Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become. As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again.

Her Counterfeit Husband

Her Counterfeit Husband PDF Author: Ruth Ann Nordin
Publisher: Ruth Ann Nordin
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 137

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Book Description
A conspiring duchess. An amnesiac doppelgänger. Can hearts be true in the midst of double deception? Anna feels little anguish when she sees the dead body of her husband. The young widow has no plans to mourn over the cruel Duke of Watkins, but she knows that his untimely death will put her at the mercy of his malicious younger brother. With help from her loyal butler, Anna smuggles away the body in the dead of night… Anna hopes to keep her husband’s death a secret until she’s settled far from the reach of her spiteful brother-in-law. When she stumbles upon an unconscious, wounded man who bears an uncanny resemblance to the Duke, she wonders if she’s found the solution to all their problems. The stranger wakes up with no memories of his life, and Anna wastes no time convincing him of the lie… As her husband’s doppelgänger begins to treat her like true royalty, Anna succumbs to his affections. Just when she thinks the charade is in the clear, the truth bubbles to the surface. Can Anna convince the amnesiac of her love before losing her husband a second time? Her Counterfeit Husband is an enthralling Regency romance. If you like steamy sex scenes, suspenseful twists, and sizzling chemistry, then you’ll love Ruth Ann Nordin’s duplicitous tale.