A Prescription for Murder: The Victorian Serial Killings of Dr. Thomas Neill Cream

by Angus McLaren

From 1877 to 1892, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream murdered seven women, all prostitutes or patients seeking abortions, in England and North America. A Prescription for Murder begins with Angus McLaren's vividly detailed story of the killings. Using press reports and police dossiers, McLaren investigates the links between crime and respectability to reveal a remarkable range of Victorian sexual tensions and fears. McLaren explores how the roles of murderer and victim were created, and how similar tensions might contribute to the onslaught of serial killing in today's society.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Mystery, Crime

234 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Angus McLaren is professor emeritus of history at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and a leading historian of sexuality.

Reviews

[Hollowspine]

This book was a little more dry than the other non-fiction accounts I had read this crime month. Unlike the others the focus wasn't on the crimes themselves, but on the greater social context that had a part in bringing the crimes about.

this book was similar to the Poisoner's handbook in that it contained a serial killer who used Strychnine in his murders. However, unlike the Handbook it wasn't completely about the detectives, toxicologists and medical examiners who made it possible to catch the crim, but about women who, although completely unrecognized, acted as witnesses and at times bait to catch the man who was hunting them.

I found a lot of frightening similarities between the culture at the time of these murders to the current climate in the United States. In part Cream must have felt his murders were justified and in fact called for by the society in which he lived, where the women he preyed upon (those seeking abortions or working as prostitutes) were marginalized and criminalized by society.

I'm sure much violence towards marginalized groups within the United States are thought of by their actors to be justified within this social landscape. Very frightening.

I found this a very interesting study, based completely in fact, unlike similar works on the more famous "Jack the Ripper."

[Dawn Tessman]

The true story of Dr. Thomas Neill Cream, a 19th century serial killer whose weapon of choice was to poison by strychnine and whose victims were women of ill repute. Be warned this book is more one scholar’s statement of society than a true-crime story and is in no way captivating in its telling. The first half of the book is dedicated to Cream’s killings and has a disappointingly scattered and rushed-job feel to it, while the second half is a better-written but very detailed, thesis-like look at the societal influences McLaren believes bred monsters like Cream, Jack the Ripper, and Dr. Edward William Pritchard. In this manner, the author uses the history of women’s roles, medicine, police work and law, and even the environmental landscape in his claims as to what may have compelled Cream’s actions - but, are those really justifications?

To sum up, a pedantic yet intriguing case study in which I wish Part One was as gripping as Part Two was educational.

[Elle Hartford]

A thorough history of a scandalous case. The organization of the book was interesting, with the facts about the murders discussed first and context discussed afterward; but the fact-relaying was a little hard to follow. The author jumps around in time and has a tendency to switch quickly from one set of people to another, so it takes some work to form a clear picture of the story.

[Keith Bowden]

Cream is one of the multitude of suspects for the Jack the Ripper murders, so I've included this on my JtR shelf.