Malice Aforethought: A True Story of the Shocking Double Crime That Horrified Nineteenth-Century New England by Avree Kelly Clark
Reviewed by Julie Nutt, Communications Specialist
Genre: True crime
Suggested age: Adult, Young Adult
What is this book about? In the summer of 1874, a beloved schoolteacher mysteriously goes missing upon closing up school. After a frantic search, the young woman is discovered horribly mutilated in the woods, and authorities question everyone in the small railroad village of St. Albans, Vermont. With the case turning cold, news arrives of an eerily similar crime committed in peaceful Pembroke, New Hampshire, in the autumn of 1875. This one, even more gruesome. Everyone questions whether the two beauties were intended victims or simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Amid mounting fear, dedicated detectives and a persistent populace will stop at nothing to ensure the murderous fiend is brought to justice. For the first time, the true crime story that inspired dozens of podcasts and blogposts is now a novel, and the author shares an exciting theory never before explored. –From the publisher
My review: Malice Aforethought focuses on the death of seventeen-year-old Josie Langmaid, just one of the victims of a 19th century serial killer. The details of the investigation are very well documented. It was incredible to me how advanced investigation skills were during the late 1800’s – quite similar to modern techniques. Law enforcement agencies, albeit a little slower than today, communicated across jurisdictions hundreds of miles apart. They even called on help from psychics. The knowledge of medical and forensic science was more advanced than I imagined as well. One interaction between characters I found to be a little humorous, that does indicate the lack of gender equity: Male detective: Women and their gossiping theories…This is why there are no lady detectives. Female witness: Perhaps there should be. A woman’s intuition is quite astute. (Tell him, girl!)
The heinous, gruesome nature of the crimes were also shocking to me. The novel describes domestic violence, torture and murder of young women and girls, the term “serial killer” before it had ever been coined – things we may imagine could never have happened 150 years ago. In the 21st century, we learn about some of the most depraved acts imaginable, some of us blaming the violence on modern factors such as exposure to violence in movies, TV, and social media. Unfortunately, monsters have existed for millennia.
The only reason I give this book a 4 out of 5 is the confusing cast of characters. The stories and testimony of so many dozens of people were difficult to keep track of. It reads like fiction because of the imagined conversations between characters. The last chapters, though, do focus more on the facts of the case, and less on fictional dialogue.
Monuments to Josie Langmaid stand in Pembroke, New Hampshire to this day, proving the indelible mark that tragedy leaves on a community after the loss of one of its own.
*In an author’s note, Avree Kelly Clark presents her own theories about an alternate outcome of the criminal case.
Three words that describe this book: shocking, eye-opening, tragic
Give this a try if you like: historical non-fiction; true crime podcasts, TV shows, or documentaries
Rating: 4/5
