Here in one compact volume are five short stories-all set in Continental Europe-often hard to find on their own from 19th-century British writers, some still well known, some who have slipped into near obscurity: . "The Bird on Its Journey," by suffragette writer BEATRICE HARRADEN (1864-1936) . "Koosje: A Study of Dutch Life," by JOHN STRANGE WINTER (1856-1911), the pen name of Henrietta Eliza Vaughan Stannard . "A Dog of Flanders," by OUIDA (1839-1908), the pen name of Maria Louise Rame . "Markheim," by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON (1850-1894), the prolific and still beloved novelist . "Queen Tita's Wager," by WILLIAM BLACK (1841-1898), the journalist turned novelist.

When poor August's father is forced to sell a magnificent stove created by Augustin Hirschvogel, August hides inside it on the trip to the royal palace so he is not parted from it.

"Superb... Flanders's convincing and smart synthesis of the evolution of an official police force, fictional detectives, and real-life cause célèbres will appeal to devotees of true crime and detective fiction alike." -Publishers Weekly, starred review In this fascinating exploration of murder in nineteenth century England, Judith Flanders examines some of the most gripping cases that captivated the Victorians and gave rise to the first detective fiction Murder in the nineteenth century was rare. But murder as sensation and entertainment became ubiquitous, with cold-blooded killings transformed into novels, broadsides, ballads, opera, and melodrama-even into puppet shows and performing dog-acts. Detective fiction and the new police force developed in parallel, each imitating the other-the founders of Scotland Yard gave rise to Dickens's Inspector Bucket, the first fictional police detective, who in turn influenced Sherlock Holmes and, ultimately, even P.D. James and Patricia Cornwell. In this meticulously researched and engrossing book, Judith Flanders retells the gruesome stories of many different types of murder in Great Britain, both famous and obscure: from Greenacre, who transported his dismembered fiancée around town by omnibus, to Burke and Hare's bodysnatching business in Edinburgh; from the crimes (and myths) of Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper, to the tragedy of the murdered Marr family in London's East End. Through these stories of murder-from the brutal to the pathetic-Flanders builds a rich and multi-faceted portrait of Victorian society in Great Britain. With an irresistible cast of swindlers, forgers, and poisoners, the mad, the bad and the utterly dangerous, The Invention of Murder is both a mesmerizing tale of crime and punishment, and history at its most readable.