The Trial of Elizabeth Cree

A literary star returns with an addictive tale ofmurder in Victorian London. Peter Ackroyd is"our most exciting and original writer... one ofthe few English writers of his generation who willbe read in a hundred years' time." --The Sunday Times (London) TheTrial Of Elizabeth Cree is without adoubt Peter Ackroyd's breakout book. It has all theerudition and literary brilliance we expect ofAckroyd, yet it is as vivid, scary, and spellbindingas the best of Edgar Allan Poe. The year is 1880,the setting London's poor and dangerous Limehousedistrict, home to immigrants and criminals. Aseries of brutal murders has occurred, and, as Ackroydleads us down London's dark streets, the sense oftime and place becomes overwhelmingly immediateand real. We experience the sights and sounds of theEnglish music halls, smell the smells of Londonslums, hear the hooves of horses on the cobblestonestreets, and attend the trial of Elizabeth Cree, awoman accused of poisoning her husband but who maybe the one person who knows the truth about themurders. The wonderfully rhythmic shifting of focusfrom trial to back alleys, where we come uponGeorge Gissing, author of New GrubStreet, and even Karl Marx, gives the story atremendous depth and resonance beyond its page-turningthriller plot. In The Trial Of ElizabethCree, Peter Ackroyd has once againconfirmed his place as one of the great writers of ourtime.