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  • Woman at the Devil's Door

  • The Untold Story of the Hampstead Murderess
  • By: Sarah Beth Hopton
  • Narrated by: Kate Mulligan
  • Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (120 ratings)

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Woman at the Devil's Door

By: Sarah Beth Hopton
Narrated by: Kate Mulligan
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Summary

On October 24, 1890, a woman's mutilated and lifeless body was discovered on a pile of rubbish in Hampstead, North London. Her arms were lacerated, her face crushed and bloodied, and her head almost completely severed from her body. A mile away a blood-soaked stroller was found leaning against a residential gate. The dead baby's body, hidden beneath a nettle bush, was not located until the following morning.

So began the incredible story of the Hampstead Tragedy.

Eventually, Scotland Yard knocked on the door of 2 Priory Street, home to Mary Eleanor Pearcey, the pretty 24-year-old mistress of the victim's husband, whose crimes inspired speculation that Jack the Ripper was a woman, and whose dying request was as bizarre and mysterious as her life.

The first full-length examination of the extraordinary case, Woman at the Devil's Door is a thrilling look at a notorious murderess and the webs she wove.

©2018 Sarah Beth Hopton (P)2018 Blackstone Publishing
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What listeners say about Woman at the Devil's Door

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

True historical crime well told ...

Neatly conveyed and easy on the ear narration. Very much my cup of tea. Gothic non-fiction Victorian murder at its gruesome best.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mary Pearce case

I had never heard if Mary Pearce before and found this account of her life and fate gripping and moving.Thank goodness we now live in more enlightened times.Highly recommended.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So interesting

I didn’t previously know of this event and found it to be well researched and well narrated. An interesting tale leaving some unanswered questions. Well worth a listen.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very Interesting

I love true crime and cannot believe that I haven’t heard about this case before. The author has obviously done a lot of research and, unlike some other reviewers, I enjoyed listening to all the background information. Having said that, I did find it difficult to follow at times - it seemed to “jump” around which I found confusing. The narrator was good, speaking at a steady pace and pausing when needed. However, it may benefit from being read by someone from the UK.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Over padded

This is a story I know nothing about, so I was looking forward to listening to this book, I was especially happy that it was free from the wonderful Audible.com
My pleasure didn't last long. This is a seven hour book which should have been three hours at most. It is heavily padded with extraneous details which add nothing to the story, which is largely taken from newspaper articles of the time.
The narrator was also a massive disappointment. If you are looking for someone to narrate a story about a Victorian British murder, why pick an American to voice it? I will look for other book with this narrator, she really has a lovely voice, just not suitable for a traditional good old British Jack the Ripper type story.
Disappointing all round.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Poor pronunciation let's this down.

This is a fascinating story but would have been better read by someone from the UK that would pronounce the names correctly. I found this quite distracting from the story. Otherwise it was an interesting story.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An eye opener

I enjoyed this book very much but the narrator was not right I think she was American and some of the words that she spoke just didn't sound like. It would have been so much better with a cockney accent I think.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

why an American reader.

This is an account of a murder and subsequent trial of a woman in London. I found the American reader a major distraction with mispronounced place names or Americanised intonation. This was crying out for an Enlish reader with knowledge of these places.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Poor Narration

A very interesting story but was confused by the narration when I heard they were not British. The names of places were mispronounced.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting

An interesting, sad and frustrating account of a story I hadn't heard before. The narration was easy to listen to and although I noticed a couple of mispronunciations of English place names (Bury STREET Edmunds instead of Bury SAINT Edmunds and NorWITCH for Norwich), she didn't do too badly for an American!

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