This book covers a true life Victorian death under suspect circumstances and the Author's attempt to discover the true murderer.

In 1875, the wealthy widow Florence Ricardo marries ambitious barrister Charles Bravo. Less than six months later he was dead, as a result of poisoning by antimony.

Florence's first marriage was to a heavy drinker who was such a vile character that she left him and returned to her family, only to be put under terrible pressure to return to the marriage for the sake of appearences. He drinks himself to death and she retires to Malvern to recover under the direction of Dr James Gully. Older than her, they however have an intense affair which scandalises society. He aborts the baby that she ends up carrying.

She marries Charles Bravo as a way of restoring her social position. It was not a good marriage - she was headstrong, wishing to control her own substantial finances, and be in control of her own body (and knowing that the abortion had already weakened her system). He was a bully and typical Victorian male - seeing his wife, and her money and body as simple possessions that he could do with what he wanted. He drank heavily, sexually abused her (both raping and sodomising her), and demanding "conjical relations" whether or not she was phyiscally or emotionally ready for it after the failure of two subsequent miscarriages.

The inquest determined that Antimoney (a remedy still used today to make people sick when they've drunk alcohol) was used to kill Bravo, essentially in such a large quantity that it burned his insides. It was never determined who killed him, mainly because there were too many suspects. Ruddick attempts to pull things together, including the original inquest transcripts, letters to/from some of the suspects and their families, and testimony from their descendants. He presents what he believes is those responsible for the murder (and their motives) and it's up to you to decide whether he's correct. ( )

Excellently written, easy read. Hard to put this one down. Ruddick's insight and research bring this true story and it's characters to life. ( )

Death at the Priory by James Ruddick - good

What an interesting true story. Reminiscent of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher in that it reviews a Victorian Murder that no one was convicted for and tries to work out 'whodonit'.

Unlike Mr Whicher (which I found interesting but dry), this is a lively run through of the facts about the murder, the people involved and the possible culprits. The author comes to a conclusion based on his research and modern understanding which I found plausible.

Florence Campbell marries Alexander Ricardo and soon regrets it. Somehow she manages to extracate herself from the marriage and falls into the arms of Dr Gully her physician and a man somewhat older than her. Later she drops him to marry Charles Bravo and it is Charles who is our murder victim. He is poisoned and suffers an agonising and lingering death. So who killed him? Florence who suffers at his hands, her lady companion that Charles was threatening with dismissal, Dr Gully through jealousy, or the coachman that Charles dismissed? The author researched meticulously and reaches his own conclusion, but not before he has drawn back the lace curtains on the Victorian upper-classes and their marriages.

I thought it was fascinating.

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This is a non-fiction book in two parts: in the first half, the author tells what’s known about a murder that took place in 1875 England. In the second, he goes through the evidence and interviews descendants of the people involved and presents his theory of what happened.

Florence Campbell was the daughter of a well to do upper middle class family who had the worst luck in relationships. She married Alexander Ricardo, who was in the service, and demanded that he resign because she feared for his life in the military. He declined into total alcoholism and became abusive. When she left him and went home, her father refused to take her in, wanting her to ‘do the right thing’ and stand by her husband. For her to leave would reflect poorly on her family, of course, and he couldn’t have that. When she refused to go back to Ricardo, he agreed to send her to a sanitarium for a stay ‘for health reasons’. There she met Dr. Gully, the much older, married, owner of the sanitarium and they started an affair. During this time, Ricardo had the good grace to die, leaving Florence a rich widow. It did not do her much good, however, because word of her affair got out, ruining her in society. She was happy to marry Charles Bravo, as this made her acceptable to society again. He was happy to marry her, as she was very rich and let him spend her money freely. Bravo would have had it made had he not been a mean and greedy man, dismissing Florence’s servants and getting rid of everything that he personally had no interest in, such as the garden and the horses. He became emotionally, sexually, and physically abusive to Florence. Then one evening he became violently ill. Doctors were called and they realized he had swallowed poison. After three horrible days, he died. Was is suicide, as Florence’s paid companion claimed? Or had someone poisoned him? If so, who? There was no lack of people that he had angered. Despite an inquest, no one was ever charged with Bravo’s death.

Ruddick’s examination of the evidence convinced me pretty well that he has fingered the right suspect. He was able to find out things from the descendants that never came out at the inquest. There were also presumptions about what people of different classes and sexes would and wouldn’t do that colored the minds of the investigators. Had this same crime been committed today, there would have most likely have been a conviction. An interesting piece of Victorian true crime. ( )

The book was fascinating, but I wasn't so keen on the authors writing. He seemed to go for sensationalism over good writing, and his tone often seemed dismissive.

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