The Dublin Railway Murder
The sensational true story of a Victorian murder mystery
By Thomas Morris
Published 11 November 2021 | £14.99 | Hardback | ebook
Harvill Secker is part of Vintage
A thrilling and perplexing investigation of a true Victorian crime at a Dublin railway station.
Dublin, November 1856: George Little, the chief cashier of the Broadstone railway terminus, is found dead, lying in a pool of blood beneath his desk.
He has been savagely beaten, his head almost severed; there is no sign of a murder weapon, and the office door is locked, apparently from the inside. Thousands of pounds in gold and silver are left untouched at the scene of the crime.
Augustus Guy, Ireland's most experienced detective, teams up with Dublin's leading lawyer to investigate the murder. But the mystery defies all explanation, and two celebrated sleuths sent by Scotland Yard soon return to London, baffled.
Five suspects are arrested then released, with every step of the salacious case followed by the press, clamouring for answers. But then a local woman comes forward, claiming to know the murderer....
The Dublin Railway Murder tells the story of the extraordinary 1856 murder mystery that gripped a nation - and the sensational trial that followed. Thomas Morris discovered a treasure trove of contemporary documents in the Irish national archives - including original police interviews, surveillance reports and secret government memos, undisturbed for years - that have allowed him to reconstruct the twists and turns of a complex nineteenth-century murder inquiry in unprecedented detail. The Dublin Railway Murder is a fascinating in-depth investigation that reads like a mystery novel.
Talking Points
Britain’s ‘spying scoundrels’ – the ambivalent role of the Dublin detective force, the eyes and ears of the British state.
Phrenology and Frederick Bridges – how one Victorian scientist used this case to test his theory that he could identify a murderer by the shape of their skull (supported by the prime minister Lord Palmerston)
Reconstructing a murder inquiry – how the discovery of a cache of secret government documents made it possible to piece together the processes of a 19th-century murder investigation, including extraordinary details never before revealed to the public.
The imperfect art of detection – how the flaws in this investigation reveal how detective methodology was changing (awareness of forensics, use of the press, criminal psychology)
The role of the press in Victorian murder inquiries – revealing hugely sensitive information, but also spreading unsubstantiated rumours.
The corporate fraud epidemic of the 1850s, and the larger-than-life characters who embezzled vast sums from their employers.
Selected praise for The Matter of the Heart: A History of the Heart in Eleven Operations
'Thrilling… The “dizzying” story of heart surgery is every bit as important as that of the nuclear, computer or rocket ages. And now it has been given the history it deserves.' James McConnachie, Sunday Times
‘The research that has gone into this book is simply staggering… a wonderful book’.
Frances Wilson, Daily Telegraph
‘Gripping... breath-taking.’ John Crace, Guardian
‘Morris has made something unique: a history less of people than of procedures, but lively, enthusiastic and brimming with detail.’ Gavin Francis, New Statesman
‘pulse-thumpingly gripping.’ Mark Lawson
‘Tremendous…It’s rich in extraordinary detail and stories that will amaze you. A wonderful book.’
Melvyn Bragg
ABOUT Thomas Morris
Thomas Morris is a writer and historian. His first book The Matter of the Heart (Bodley Head, 2017), a critically-acclaimed history of cardiac surgery, won a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award for non-fiction. He is also the author of The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth (Bantam, 2018). He was previously a BBC radio producer for 18 years, and his freelance journalism has appeared in publications including The Times, The Lancet and the TLS.
@thomasngmorris / http://www.thomas-morris.uk