Rick Geary’s graphic novel series A Treasury of Victorian Murder presents the details of famous murder cases from long-ago eras, several of which are unsolved or contain a number of questions still unanswered. because the mysteries are so old, instead of seeming creepy, the situations feel quaint, and the reader is flattered by having their interest assumed to be historical instead of prurient. Still, the motives are universal, and human nature no different from then to now. think of this as a literary CSI.
A Treasury of Victorian Murder
This anthology starts the series with three stories, as well as providing brief background on the era and its prominent personalities. The first story presents the unsolved Ryan murders, in which a quiet-living brother and sister are found with their throats cut. after that comes the longest piece, about Dr. Pritchard, arrested for poisoning his wife and mother-in-law. He appears to be a braggart and a fake, incompetent but too egotistical to realize it. The last story deals with a murderous widow seemingly driven mad by lust.
Jack the Ripper
Next, the series begins focusing on one case per volume, starting with the best-known unsolved series of Victorian murders, the story of Jack the Ripper. They’re presented in faux journal form, putting the emphasis on facts and details, including maps and the societal context of the region and the time. specific attention is paid to the activities of the police and other officials.
All the various theories and possibilities are noted, with none particular deemed the correct one. This book is a handy primer to the case, even though all we have left this many years later is speculation.
The Borden Tragedy
The Borden tragedy retells the slaying of Lizzie Borden’s parents, when a stifling Massachusetts summer was punctuated by the brutal double murder, with the story narrated by a hypothetical town inhabitant and friend of Lizzie. The contrast between the violence of the act and the reserve of a Sunday school-teaching spinster, combined with a number of mysterious happenings before the tragedy, add to the air of confusion surrounding the event.
After a list of questions that remain unanswered to this day, the book concludes with reproductions of newspaper articles from the time and a copy of Borden’s indictment. The back cover draws a number of parallels between this case and that of O.J. Simpson.
The Fatal Bullet
The Fatal Bullet is subtitled “a true account of the assassination, lingering pain, death, and burial of James A. Garfield, twentieth president of the United States, also including the inglorious life and career of the despised assassin Guiteau.” after that mouthful, what more to say?
How about the contrast Geary draws between the two? Both were born in the Midwest, with strong strains of religious thought affecting them. Both dreamt of a larger role for themselves on a national stage. Garfield worked hard, studied, and served his community in government and in the Civil War. Guiteau griped, ran out on debts, cheated others, and mistreated the women who cared for him.
Guiteau eventually became a hanger-on, buttonholing Republican officials and boasting of his non-existent prospects. He pestered anyone he could find. Clearly, his opinion of himself was extremely out of sync with reality. (I would have found it incredible if I hadn’t met people like that, people convinced that their two-sentence conversation with (say) Joe Quesada made them a candidate to become the next big comic book writer.) After a revelation that the president was the only one standing in his way, Guiteau bought a gun and stalked Garfield for a month. The president suffered for over two months after the shooting before finally passing away.
The mystery of Mary Rogers
This 1841 unsolved murder inspired Edgar Allen Poe’s “The mystery of Mary Roget”. Mary Rogers was a popular cigar salesgirl in new York City who had many suitors, some jealous. Her body was found floating off the jersey shore; she’d disappeared a week before.
Official mistakes began early, with delays and odd omissions in collecting basic evidence. new York and new jersey argued over who should handle the investigation, and the newspapers took up the case, fighting for sensational coverage. It wasn’t until a private reward was offered two weeks later that officials were goaded into beginning a proper investigation, which raised rumors of rape or a possible botched abortion.
If the reader wants an easy solution to the mystery, they will find this book (and series) frustrating. The concluding chapter sums up the many unanswered questions left sixteen decades later, and while several promising theories are presented, none is definitely shown as true. We’ll never know what happened to Mary Rogers; not all true-life stories have a conclusion or moral.
The Beast of Chicago
The Beast of Chicago, H.H. Holmes, popularly known as America’s first senullnull