Death in Disguise

A real-life London double murder mystery worthy of Agatha Christie's penVictorian Chelsea was a thriving commercial and residential development, known for its grand houses and pleasant garden squares. Violent crime was unheard of in this leafy suburb. The double murder of an elderly man of God and his faithful housekeeper in two ferocious, bloody attacks in May of 1870 therefore shook the residents of Chelsea to the core. This volume examines this extraordinary case, the solving of which relied upon the discovery of a packing box dripping with blood, and the capture of a mysterious French nephew. Compiled by a former detective, this book looks at the facts—no direct evidence to place the suspect at either of the crime scenes, no weapon recovered, no motive substantiated—and asks the reader if they, on the evidence presented, would have sent the same man to the gallows.