A Greater Guilt: Constance Emilie Kent and the Road Murder Case

by Noeline Kyle

A brutal murder of a child in the English village of Road in 1860 which remained an unsolved crime until the sensational confession of Constance Emilie Kent in 1865. If you are a true crime enthusiast, if you wonder about what happens to a woman, a human being, after they confess, are tried and then imprisoned for twenty years you will enjoy Noeline Kyle’s tracing of Constance Kent’s extraordinary life before, during and after this awful crime. Constance Kent trained as a nurse at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, worked at the Coast Hospital at Little Bay, was matron of the notorious Parramatta Industrial School for girls and matron of a nurses’ home in Maitland, she was a convicted murderess but lived to the grand old age of 100 under an assumed name and not once did anyone in the Antipodes suspect her true identity.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

263 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Denise Rawling · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many books on this murder but none I think till this that look at the life Constance Kent made for herself in Australia after serving twenty years for murder. Ms Kyle pulls together the more credible research and summarises it clearly without a lot of rehashing. Her own careful and extensive research reveals many aspects of this really extraordinary life previously unknown. Her clarity and balanced analysis is refreshing and very readable.
With the passing of Miss Kent and later her niece Olive the last living links with the terrible night in 1860 are gone .
I first read of this murder in Saint-with red hands? By Yseult Bridges and Kyle’S research is a perfect follow up. Though there are others out there that also come recommended So may not be done with this mystery yet.
A fine example of careful history research and engaging writing.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

quite informative about Constance Kent's years in Australia