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I have never really been a big fan of true crime, but it looks as if David James Smith's account of the notorious Crippen murder is about to change my mind. SUPPER WITH THE CRIPPENS is much more than the usual trotted-out tale of the murder of Belle Elmore by her husband the infamous Dr H H Crippen and his attempted escape to Canada with his lover. It incorporates a social commentary of the day (which is just as illuminating) and far more detail on the subsidiary characters in both a historical and social context as to what the book is actually about. Most people already know the story of Dr Crippen and the fact that he murdered his music hall variety performer wife so that he could run away with his lover, his secretary Ethel Le Neve. However, what most people didn't know and what the author is at pains to tell us is the fact that many of the myths put forward over the years can easily be ignored and or dismissed In truth, this most notorious domestic murder was much more than a plain murder. It was about a marriage between two unsuited people. It was also intriguingly more about rank, craving and social standing and aspirations and the lengths one would go to achieve it. Furthermore, it was also about the effects this case had on a number of other people from Le Neve's family and Belle Elmore's music hall friends, who suspected from the start that she had been murdered by her husband, to the people who investigated the case (and their initial lack of enthusiasm), and the use of the wireless telegraph and the profound effects that it would have on the way in which the case would be reported. This is an excellent book which, while written with a lightness of touch, still manages to draw the reader into what happened and provide a social and history lesson about the Edwardian period at the same time. Smith has managed to instil into readers a new insight in to one of 20th century's most dastardly crimes that goes well beyond the usual material already written about this case. SUPPER WITH THE CRIPPENS is well worth reading if you like your true crime well written and without the sensationalism.
Reviewed by Ayo Onatade, March 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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