The Murder of Madame X: The Limeslade Mystery 1929 Paperback – 2 July 2021

I bought and read the book last week, and I loved it. Very well written and utterly absorbing, a superb book about a fascinating case. While reading I had the added pleasure of occasionally hearing the text in my head as narrated by Mr Maguire's wonderful speaking voice (familiar from his true crime youtube channel, which is also excellent). This was like having it narrated by an articulate and wise stranger in a cosy country pub on a cold night - worldly and occasionally wry, gently cynical without being hardboiled, reataining curiosity and a fundamental imaginative empathy. These are the qualities which stand out to me in Mr Maguire's writing and videos, and are what make him the perfect narrator for true crime tales, especially historical ones. I will wholeheartedly recommend this book (and his videos) to friends of mine interested in historical true crime, or even just those who enjoy interesting stories told well.

I have been a fan of Mark Maguire YouTube channel (They Got Away With Murder) for a while now, so it was with interest (and little surprise) when a book was announced, and I duly snapped up a copyFirstly, I would say I thoroughly recommend this book - its a fascinating case, and for the most part brilliantly told. The book, however, is not without it's minor flaws, and it with the utmost respect I offer my thoughtsMr Maguire knows this subject - I mean, REALLY knows this subject, which is made obvious by his extensive use of sources. However, this can also get a little in the way - it seems that an attempt to try and condense and make sense of the endless strings of this story can sometimes get a little clunky. For example, there were a couple of occasions where multiple characters were been discussed, and without carful reading I got a little lost as to which he/she was been discussed. There were also a couple of sentences I thought could have been cleaner and the quoting of sources was intermittent, and straddled he line between academic tome and popular whodunnit. Additionally, the insistence of putting people's birth/death years after there introduction was a little distracting. While interesting, I felt there may have been a cleaner way to include all thisFor the light touch of an editor, these could have been resolvedHowever, when moving away from mere statement of fact and moving into a more narrative style, Mark really shines.Not wanting to give anything away, the verdict of a trial is expertly built up and either by luck of clever typesetting, occurs on the turn of a pageAnd the last third is a delight - having laid the groundwork a plausible story is woven, and the final assessment of the main players characters is insightful, thought provoking and heart-breaking in equal measure. I found myself racing through this part at a speed I've never done before for any bookThe epilogue shows the personal commitment Mark has made to this project, and I thank him for his effortsIn short, if you want an interesting story, fleshed out with a poets turn of phrase, read this

The Youtube series is really good. I was really interested in this episode having actually lived in Limeslade. And of course the mini episode is the intro to the book.In one sense it's a whodunnit but in another a lot of the factors are kind of obvious looking back as are the errors made by the police. The book contains a lot of background material including a fairly long trace into events after the trial.It's well worth a read. It's well written - you do sort of hear the author's voice as your reading along.5 stars - highly recommended!

I fell upon Mark John Maguire’s YouTube channel by chance, he goes into great detail on older murder crimes, his ability to tell a story and in such fine detail is second to none, his voice is like a nice mellow port! He speaks English like it’s supposed to be spoken. The detail he puts in to his work is outstanding, he read the first chapter of this book on line, and as usual it was so entertaining. I haven’t read the book yet as I know, I won’t put it down. When he does the spoken version, I’m going to get that too, in fact I think I might wait till he does that, and then read the book. If you get a chance check out his YouTube channel ‘They got away with murder’ This man kept me going in the dark dank nights of January and February this year, and for that I’m really grateful. Mark is a great storyteller and does deep analysis of the crime, so the two combined makes for either great listening or in this case a great read! Thank you Mark.

Being a fan of Mark John Maguire's YouTube videos 'They got away with Murder' I was intrigued enough to purchase he's book. I imagined it would be good because of he's narrative on YouTube but was enthralled from the first page. A well written and researched murder with detailed history of each person involved. Mark's conclusion at the end was spot on. He finished the book by bringing it full circle 90 years having input from interested parties that gave a twist on the whole sordid affair. 'Mr Whitcher' move over in my opinion.

Obvious that a lot of research has gone into this book, which covers a real UK crime I wasn't previously aware of. It's an entertaining & well written book. Bought it after enjoying the authors YouTube videos since the site's inception.