Product Description Murder: a dark, shameful deed, the last resort of the desperate or a vile tool of the greedy-and a very strange, very English obsession. But where did this fixation develop? And what does it tell us about ourselves? In The Art of the English Murder, Lucy Worsley explores this phenomenon in forensic detail, revisiting notorious crimes like the Ratcliff Highway Murders, which caused a nationwide panic in the early nineteenth century, and the case of Frederick and Maria Manning, the suburban couple who were hanged after killing Maria's lover and burying him under their kitchen floor. Our fascination with crimes like these became a form of national entertainment, inspiring novels and plays, prose and paintings, poetry and true-crime journalism. The Art of the English Murder is a unique exploration of the art of crime-and a riveting investigation into the English criminal soul. Review "Worsley's vivid account excites as much as its sensational subject matter, and edifies, too, thanks to her learned explications." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review About the Author British historian Lucy Worsley is chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces and the author of The Courtiers, Hampton Court Palace, and Cavalier. In 2011, she presented the four-part television series If Walls Could Talk, which explored the history of British homes. Lucy earned her PhD in art history from the University of Sussex. Anne Flosnik is an accomplished, multi-award-winning British actress, with lead credits for stage, television, commercials, industrials, voice-overs, and audiobooks. She has garnered three AudioFile Earphones Awards, including for Little Bee by Chris Cleave, and four Audie Award nominations.