FROM BRITAIN'S TOP-SELLING TRUE CRIME WRITER

'The queen of Victorian true crime is back' MAIL ON SUNDAY

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

On 8 July 1895, thirteen-year-old Robert Coombes and his younger brother Nattie set out from their East London home to watch a cricket match. Over the next ten days they spend extravagantly, visiting the theatre and eating out. The boys tell neighbours their father has gone to sea, and their mother to visit family in Liverpool. But when a strange smell begins to emanate from the house, the police are called. What they find throws the press into a frenzy – and the boys into a highly publicised trial.

'An accomplished feat of research and storytelling . . . Wrapping controversial issues into a tense, fluent narrative' HILARY MANTEL

'Riveting . . . Once again the author proves a subtle pathologist, her scalpel slicing away the skin of late-Victorian Britain' DOMINIC SANDBROOK, SUNDAY TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR

'A remarkably heartening story' JOHN PRESTON, DAILY MAIL

'An extraordinary book which will stay with you' DAILY EXPRESS

'It would be impossible to read this dry-eyed' SPECTATOR

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