The Dead And The Innocent: True Crime 1692 (Volume 3) Review

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(More customer reviews)Review of the Dead and the Innocent
Melrose Books, Cambridge
Austin Kehoe, Commissioning Editor
"Only a few pages in, the author has accomplished several key tasks. The situation of Mistress Vanwicke, her character, and that of Henry Harrison (both of them somewhat vain, and with irascible, even violent tempers) have been established. The plot premise is likewise well set out and its development got well under way. Similarly, the historical setting has been established, with an economy of description which nevertheless evokes the period very satisfactorily. The interview with the attorney is a startling scene. Horrified that Doctor Clenche expects a mortgage on her house as security on the loan, Mistress Vanwick attacks the attorney, to the savage amusement of Harrison.
In conclusion this is an unusual, indeed quite original approach to fiction. The fictionalisation of true historical stories has been done before, of course, but I have never before come across an example where the source material is included as part of the work. This is valuable on a number of levels. Allowing readers to make up their own minds about the unmediated testimony is a novelty. Likewise, one is able to compare the transcript with the fictionalised story. Finally, it is nice to have the opportunity to read a period transcript featuring characters whom we have grown to know with the intimacy only fiction can offer.
Altogether, this is a very well conceived novel, and the author has carried off her audacious concept with great aplomb. I found it absorbing and utterly fascinating.
Review from Discovered Authors of Mayfair:
I have just been reading the extracts from your novel The Dead and the Innocent, and have found your writing concise yet evocative, the key to good storytelling. The era you have chosen is a particularly interesting one, characterised by change in all spheres, and your story is a great snapshot of the time. You have clearly done your research on this, capturing the atmosphere of late seventeenth century London well. Crime is, of course, one of the most popular genres of literature, and your book's basis on truth adds an extra dimension, sure to appeal to many.
Review by Zoetrope Reviewer
You clearly have command of the tale, Barbara and the particular mannerisms and speech of the time. I love your very stylish writing and your artistic flair for the language; you're clearly a historical writer of some merit.

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The story takes place in a oneyear time span in 1692, and is based on a true story. Harrison, the accused, maintained that he wasplaying the card game, 'Penny A Corner', with friends in Chancery Lane, London,on the night of the murder of Doctor Andrew Clenche of Brownlow Street.Henry Harrison a Londongentleman, befriended Mistress Vanwicke, who also knew Doctor Andrew Clenche.A maid observed that Harrisoncarried a handkerchief made of a coarse material which she thought was notfitting for a man of his quality and she became suspicious of him, which formedthe basis of the accusation against Harrison.The doctor was murdered and HenryHarrison was accused, thrown into Newgate Prison to await trial, and was thenbrought before the Old Bailey criminal court in London. (The trial of HenryHarrison appears at the back of the book), courtesy of Old Bailey online.All evidence at the trial pointedto Harrison, but a second man was still at large. Harrison was tried at the Old Bailey.Evidence used against him was the aforementioned handkerchief. One of Harrison's crucialwitnesses, an apprentice shoemaker, was abducted by three soldiers one evening,after he had given evidence before the trial, to say that he would recogniseHarrison by his voice.Another man, Master Miller,confessed on his deathbed, to his wife, that he had committed the murder ofDoctor Clenche, and a second man was arrested and tried at the Old Bailey. Since a dead man is no evidencethe second man was set free. The twistto the story is that two men dressed as soldiers were seen drinking in The BlueBoar tavern, near Chancery Lane, London, on the night of the murder: (one ofthem was Mr. Miller), who had been absent from the tavern at the time of themurder.Was Henry Harrison convicted ofthe Murder of Doctor Andrew Clenche, or was he set free by the Judge and Jurorsof The Old Bailey, London?This book is also on sale under the title, The Innocent Master Harrison, 280 pages. isbn (13) 978-1456413538, and is also available on Kindle, Amazon.com, and Amazon.co.uk

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