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Vote For Murder
Suffragist Louisa Russell finds a forgotten diary while protesting in the 1911 census evasion. The diary chronicles the life of a woman executed for murdering her husband six decades earlier.
When Louisa's next-door neighbour dies under suspicious circumstances, the parallels between the two deaths become impossible to ignore.
But can crimes sixty years apart be connected? And can Louisa stop the murderer before an innocent woman is convicted?
Vote for Murder is fiction based on a true Suffolk crime.
When Louisa's next-door neighbour dies under suspicious circumstances, the parallels between the two deaths become impossible to ignore.
But can crimes sixty years apart be connected? And can Louisa stop the murderer before an innocent woman is convicted?
Vote for Murder is fiction based on a true Suffolk crime.
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First published September 18, 2015
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908 people want to read
About the author
Jacqueline Beard
45 books119 followersJacqueline lives in Gloucestershire with her husband, son & delinquent border terrier.
She spends her free time writing, researching her extensive East Anglian Family History and rambling through Gloucestershire’s beautiful countryside with border terrier in tow.
She spends her free time writing, researching her extensive East Anglian Family History and rambling through Gloucestershire’s beautiful countryside with border terrier in tow.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 26, 2016
Very happy about this book
I'm starting to look to reading new genres so for me things are a bit of a gamble.
I was impressed very early on with the book. Well researched and thought out. I really enjoyed the style of writing within the historical context of the late nineteenth century.
Nice layering and interwoven plots and there was some wonderful character development.
Great imagery conjuring both the affluent and bottom of the barrel low income way of life around that time.
There's a lot going on in this book.
Loved it!
ps >> A good indication of any decent book is that when you finish it you feel a sense of loss. I definitely felt that when I finished your book.
(As reviewed on Amazon.co.uk)
I'm starting to look to reading new genres so for me things are a bit of a gamble.
I was impressed very early on with the book. Well researched and thought out. I really enjoyed the style of writing within the historical context of the late nineteenth century.
Nice layering and interwoven plots and there was some wonderful character development.
Great imagery conjuring both the affluent and bottom of the barrel low income way of life around that time.
There's a lot going on in this book.
Loved it!
ps >> A good indication of any decent book is that when you finish it you feel a sense of loss. I definitely felt that when I finished your book.
(As reviewed on Amazon.co.uk)
March 30, 2024
After 2 years of gathering cyber dust on my Kindle, I finally read this. With 0 expectations I went into this book blindly.
I was intrigued by the murder mystery and found the switches between the diary accounts and Louisa and Sophia's story very interesting. Nicely done! The writing was enjoyable. It was sad to read Mary's account. She brought so much on herself that I had trouble sympathizing with her for most of her story. I would have liked to know what became of Clara.
I didn't like the mild language and it was hard to keep up with so many background characters. Not everything clicked for me while the mystery was being solved but when it finally dawned on me, I was impressed, to say the least!
All in all, a great read about a true crime.
I was intrigued by the murder mystery and found the switches between the diary accounts and Louisa and Sophia's story very interesting. Nicely done! The writing was enjoyable. It was sad to read Mary's account. She brought so much on herself that I had trouble sympathizing with her for most of her story. I would have liked to know what became of Clara.
I didn't like the mild language and it was hard to keep up with so many background characters. Not everything clicked for me while the mystery was being solved but when it finally dawned on me, I was impressed, to say the least!
All in all, a great read about a true crime.
January 24, 2018
Good idea, horrendous execution.
The author really needed to do more research into the time period before writing this book. The dialogue was awful, it was unnatural, and it was not reflective of the time period, or of the person speaking it. Every single character in the book spoke exactly the same, ridiculous way, using extremely proper grammar, and what I can only imagine the author thought were 'old timey' phrases and words ("but for" was a popular one), and never once speaking in a contraction. Never once. It was all "I did not", "you should not", "I cannot do it", "it is", "I will not"... you get the idea. I hate to break it to the author, but that does not make the dialogue accurate for the time period, nor for, you know, actual human beings, ever. It did not (ha!) matter whether the character was poor and illiterate, a maid, or a wealthy person of good breeding and education, in 1825, or 1911, they all spoke in EXACTLY the same manner. It took away from the story, and had me rolling my eyes constantly.
If the author ever reads this, please read some Sarah Waters if you ever plan on writing anything taking place in Victorian England again. Please.
In addition, the rest of the story outside of the main plot was boring and predictable.
I do really think that this had potential to be a really interesting book, and because the premise kept me interested enough to actually finish it, and as a genealogy fanatic, I appreciated the author's intentions and her attempt, I am going to give it two stars.
The author really needed to do more research into the time period before writing this book. The dialogue was awful, it was unnatural, and it was not reflective of the time period, or of the person speaking it. Every single character in the book spoke exactly the same, ridiculous way, using extremely proper grammar, and what I can only imagine the author thought were 'old timey' phrases and words ("but for" was a popular one), and never once speaking in a contraction. Never once. It was all "I did not", "you should not", "I cannot do it", "it is", "I will not"... you get the idea. I hate to break it to the author, but that does not make the dialogue accurate for the time period, nor for, you know, actual human beings, ever. It did not (ha!) matter whether the character was poor and illiterate, a maid, or a wealthy person of good breeding and education, in 1825, or 1911, they all spoke in EXACTLY the same manner. It took away from the story, and had me rolling my eyes constantly.
If the author ever reads this, please read some Sarah Waters if you ever plan on writing anything taking place in Victorian England again. Please.
In addition, the rest of the story outside of the main plot was boring and predictable.
I do really think that this had potential to be a really interesting book, and because the premise kept me interested enough to actually finish it, and as a genealogy fanatic, I appreciated the author's intentions and her attempt, I am going to give it two stars.
January 2, 2016
I received this from Goodreads and was very pleased. I especially enjoyed the more historical parts that happened in the past. Indeed, it's a good lesson on "If you haven't walked a mile in their shoes...." but even though it's historic, so much of it applies even today. What a great way to start the new year -- with a pleasant surprise of a book. Thank you, Jacqui and Goodreads!
September 23, 2015
An enjoyable read
January 10, 2016
Really enjoyed this book, particularly as someone with an interest in genealogy and history.
It had everything... Great characters, great dialogue, suspense, deceit and a "who dunnit"!
It had everything... Great characters, great dialogue, suspense, deceit and a "who dunnit"!
March 13, 2020
Very entertaining.
Louisa's find in an abandoned museum brings the life of Mary Cage into stark contrast with life in 1918. Women still had no right to stop there husband from treating them as objects for their own gratification and this didn't change until really quite recently.
As Louisa notices similarities between the journal she's reading and the situation her friend Sophia who lives next door is going through she tries to help. Blurting it out only sends Sophia running shocked and ashamed, but reflection and her mother's arrest makes Sophia see that it's not going away and she accepts the friendship and support so freely given.
Beard paints a clear picture of life in both periods drawing on historical fact alongside creative license. The different attitude towards gaining the vote for women shown by the suffragette and suffragist movements. The suffragist were peaceful demonstrations with no law breaking while the suffragette movement went all out and were breaking the law. Many well born women ended up imprisoned as Clara does and were force fed. They were treated as if they were hardened criminals by a patriarchal society that wasn't ready to accept the change it needed to make. How many genealogists have found women missing from the 1911 census? Plenty I should think! It was a grand scheme but can be a nightmare when you are trying to trace female family members! I'm glad they did because I wholeheartedly agree but also wish they hadn't!
Louisa's find in an abandoned museum brings the life of Mary Cage into stark contrast with life in 1918. Women still had no right to stop there husband from treating them as objects for their own gratification and this didn't change until really quite recently.
As Louisa notices similarities between the journal she's reading and the situation her friend Sophia who lives next door is going through she tries to help. Blurting it out only sends Sophia running shocked and ashamed, but reflection and her mother's arrest makes Sophia see that it's not going away and she accepts the friendship and support so freely given.
Beard paints a clear picture of life in both periods drawing on historical fact alongside creative license. The different attitude towards gaining the vote for women shown by the suffragette and suffragist movements. The suffragist were peaceful demonstrations with no law breaking while the suffragette movement went all out and were breaking the law. Many well born women ended up imprisoned as Clara does and were force fed. They were treated as if they were hardened criminals by a patriarchal society that wasn't ready to accept the change it needed to make. How many genealogists have found women missing from the 1911 census? Plenty I should think! It was a grand scheme but can be a nightmare when you are trying to trace female family members! I'm glad they did because I wholeheartedly agree but also wish they hadn't!
April 5, 2020
I was stunned to find out that the key starting event of the story, i.e. the poisoning of James Cage, is not only based around a true story, but actually part of the author's own family history. She has cleverly woven fact and fiction into a gripping murder mystery, and at the same time gives us a history lesson about life in extreme poverty in England in the 19th century, life of middle-class women at the beginning of the 20th century and the suffrage movement. Not to forget there is a little romance thrown into the mix for good measure, to lighten things up.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book although it is a little grim at times. It is well written with twists and turns and two unlikely strands of narrative, set about 60 years apart, coming together in the end. Admittedly the onset of the story is based on a rather unlikely coincidence (i.e. Louisa, one of the protagonists, stumbling upon the diary) but I am willing to forgive this for the sake of a great story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book although it is a little grim at times. It is well written with twists and turns and two unlikely strands of narrative, set about 60 years apart, coming together in the end. Admittedly the onset of the story is based on a rather unlikely coincidence (i.e. Louisa, one of the protagonists, stumbling upon the diary) but I am willing to forgive this for the sake of a great story.
September 7, 2022
Well written with interesting characters and 2 murders 60 years apart. The story is based on the true story of a woman who was hanged for the murder of her husband. 60 years later, a husband is poisoned and, of course, the police latch on to the wife as the perpetrator without looking any farther into it. The second murder happens at the turn of the 20th century and height of the suffrage movement. Really shows how women were treated for centuries, how so many men thought of women as stupid when the men were more apt to gamble the family fortune away. This is a clean mystery with a good ending.
March 5, 2022
Fact and fiction merged seamlessly to provide a most engaging story.
I could not walk away from the story until the end. Even then I was left wondering "WHO" had murdered James Cage.
I won't spoil your anticipation by revealing the end, but I will say: If you like/enjoy(?) a murder based in historic times (the Suffragettes) with a background of well-to-do families and their down trodden domestic staff, I would be very surprised if you are disappointed with this book.
This is the first of Jacqueline Beard's books that I have read, and it will not be the last!
I could not walk away from the story until the end. Even then I was left wondering "WHO" had murdered James Cage.
I won't spoil your anticipation by revealing the end, but I will say: If you like/enjoy(?) a murder based in historic times (the Suffragettes) with a background of well-to-do families and their down trodden domestic staff, I would be very surprised if you are disappointed with this book.
This is the first of Jacqueline Beard's books that I have read, and it will not be the last!
June 20, 2022
It's a well-written story, set in 19th century England, written in Victorian English, a bit uncommon these days.
It's a real coincidence for murder in present times to be identical to the one the diary describes.
It's rather convenient to link the two families together over 3 generations, and as the author mentions it's part truth, part fiction and part of her lineage.
The pace is very slow, measured calls for a little patience to persist with the plot but well worth it.
As typical of most fiction, it has a happy ending with every strand neatly tied up
It's a real coincidence for murder in present times to be identical to the one the diary describes.
It's rather convenient to link the two families together over 3 generations, and as the author mentions it's part truth, part fiction and part of her lineage.
The pace is very slow, measured calls for a little patience to persist with the plot but well worth it.
As typical of most fiction, it has a happy ending with every strand neatly tied up
March 14, 2021
Brilliantly Written Double Mystery
A double mystery set 60 years apart. Based on true events of a woman hanged for the murder of her husband and a similar event at the turn of the 20th century and the height of the suffrage movement. A compelling read with a lovely twist at the end.
A double mystery set 60 years apart. Based on true events of a woman hanged for the murder of her husband and a similar event at the turn of the 20th century and the height of the suffrage movement. A compelling read with a lovely twist at the end.
April 10, 2022
Easy read
I found the 1851 section more gripping than 1911 section. The 1911 section felt a little flat. There's a romance thrown in that feels unrealistic and underdeveloped. It obvious who the most likely suspect is for the 1851 murder. Overall the story's a little too twee and simple while entwining women's rights and a murder mystery. I did enjoy the book though.
I found the 1851 section more gripping than 1911 section. The 1911 section felt a little flat. There's a romance thrown in that feels unrealistic and underdeveloped. It obvious who the most likely suspect is for the 1851 murder. Overall the story's a little too twee and simple while entwining women's rights and a murder mystery. I did enjoy the book though.
April 8, 2020
In 1911 Louisa Russell discovers a journal, portraying the life of a female who sixty years previously was hanged for the murder of her husband. Meanwhile in her time another woman is accused of the murder of her husband. Is she also guilty.
An interesting story
An interesting story
April 24, 2020
Enjoyable story and an easy read. I know Ipswich well, so could picture the places mentioned. A few spelling errors and mistakes in the text, but the story was absorbing enough to keep the interest going.
Read
June 5, 2022Really struggled with this - not sure why as the subject is of interest but l abandoned it.
October 10, 2016
Brilliant
This book is gripping from the beginning to the end. Very cleverly written, the two stories blended so well. Mary's suffering at the hands of the abusive husband and her in turn turning into a lunatic who neglected her children and drugged and killed some of them. In the end Mary gets hanged for poisoning her husband which she vehemently denied to a friend but not to the authorities to protect whoever did, who can only be one of her children. Decades later someone stumbled upon Mary's diary, at the same time as man dies and it looks like he's been poisoned. The question is by who?
On the other hand the author shows the struggles women went through to be granted the right to vote
This book is gripping from the beginning to the end. Very cleverly written, the two stories blended so well. Mary's suffering at the hands of the abusive husband and her in turn turning into a lunatic who neglected her children and drugged and killed some of them. In the end Mary gets hanged for poisoning her husband which she vehemently denied to a friend but not to the authorities to protect whoever did, who can only be one of her children. Decades later someone stumbled upon Mary's diary, at the same time as man dies and it looks like he's been poisoned. The question is by who?
On the other hand the author shows the struggles women went through to be granted the right to vote
July 11, 2016
Really enjoyed this book, particularly as someone with an interest in genealogy and history.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews