In the Interests of Science

The nineteenth century has provided true crime writers with some of the most fascinating murder cases in criminal history. One of the most intriguing is that of Adelaide Bartlett - it remains officially unsolved thus adding a special appeal to readers of True Crime.

On 17th April, 1886, an attractive young woman called Adelaide Bartlett walked free from the dock of the Old Bailey, cleared of the charge of murdering her husband by administering a lethal dose of liquid chloroform. After her sensational acquittal Sir James Paget, Sergeant-Surgeon to Queen Victoria at the time, was said to have remarked:

'Mrs Bartlett was no doubt quite properly acquitted, but now it is hoped that in the interests of science she will tell us how she did it ' and the comment in The Times was that 'Whether on the theory of guilt or innocence, the whole story is marvellous'.

This book gives full coverage of this extraordinary case and suggests a possible identity of Adelaide's un-named biological father, a man of wealth and prestige in Victorian England.