The Murders of Annie Hearn : The Poisonings that Inspired Agatha Christie

Title: The Murders of Annie Hearn : The Poisonings that Inspired Agatha Christie
Author: Jonathan Oates
Publisher: Pen & Sword True Crime
Release Date: April 30, 2024
Page Count: 304
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

After a day spent in the coastal town of Bude on the north coast of Cornwall, followed by tea and sandwiches, Mrs. Alice Thomas fell seriously ill and later died on November 4, 1930. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas were accompanied by their neighbor Annie Hearn, who prepared the sandwiches, and after it was determined that Mrs. Thomas had perhaps died of arsenic poisoning, an investigation was begun. 

What followed was an inquest, a disappearance, a trial, and questions still remain over 90 years later. Agatha Christie used the poison sandwiches as a plot device in her 1940 novel Sad Cypress but the case in general has been lightly covered in true crime movies, videos or books. 

In a nutshell, Annie Hearn claimed she was married and quickly widowed, but it appeared none of this was true. Annie was a caregiver for her family, several of whom may have died due to arsenic poisoning. After Mrs. Thomas died, Annie disappeared, leaving the impression that she is going to commit suicide. She was found, was tried for Mrs. Thomas' murder .... and was found not guilty. 

The author has done extensive primary research, uncovering newspaper articles, inquest and trial transcripts in order to piece together the events and the bibliography is very extensive. 

But I sorely missed a cohesive narrative throughout this book. At times, the lawyer's cross examinations of witness are basically reprinted, without any commentary or insight. An in-depth examination of Annie Hearn's personality and psyche is needed, as we get details about what she did and said, but not why . There is a list of arsenic poisoning symptoms, but no discussion of what arsenic does to the human body, how it kills, why some symptoms are not always understood or correctly perceived by doctors, etc. The account of the horrific death of Annie's sister is heartbreaking, especially since the doctor who examined her didn't have a clue about what was causing her symptoms, and didn't suspect poisoning. 

 3.5 stars for The Murders of Annie Hearn. The mere facts of this case are compelling and disturbing, and while the author's research is admirable, a strong narrative would have greatly improved this true crime re-telling. 

I received an ARC from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

A Murder on the Hill

Title: A Murder on the Hill: The Secret Life and Mysterious Death of Ruth Munson
Author: Roger Barr
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
Release Date: April 2, 2024
Page Count: 320
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

In December of 1937, the body of Ruth Munson was discovered in the derelict Aberdeen Hotel, a once-grand luxury apartment hotel, felled by the stock market crash and the Depression. This was the St. Paul of John Dillinger and Babyface Nelson, where bootlegging and prostitution flourished, and in 1935 the City finally started cracking down on rampant police corruption within the St. Paul Police Department. 

There was every reason to hope that the murderer would be brought to justice, yet the Munson murder remains unsolved. I found the book very frustrating in that the police hopped from one theory of the case to another without uncovering much of anything. It was a boyfriend or former lover, it was someone who left three small metal shear pins at the site, it was the black porter at the Union Depot, it was someone from Munson's "secret life" involved two mysterious women who were often seen at local bars with Ruth, it was a vagrant, maybe Ruth was involved in selling drugs, etc. And once the police determined that Ruth's death may have come "at the hands of someone from the black community," that racism probably prevented the case from being solved. 

The author carefully details countess reports and unfortunately, the sheer abundance of similar reports is overwhelming. I'm not sure that every detail is necessary and perhaps a concise summary would have been more compelling than an exhaustive point-by-point accounting. There is a very brief chapter at about 80% of the book called "Missed Opportunities" which very briefly summarizing possible legitimate suspects, but at this point it is a little bit too later. 

The exhaustive research is impressive but perhaps more interpretation and less listing of details would have resulted in a more cohesive gripping story. 3.5 stars. 

I received an ARC from the publisher, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.