I learned of this book while listening to Sarah Miller being interviewed by Richard Behrens at lizziebordengirldetective.net. Those interviews were excellent. So I picked up a copy of her book, which I found excellent as well. It was very easy to read, hit all of the high points of the story, and then some. I've read numerous books about the murders, and this is the best one so far. Miller covered a lot of ground in 278 pages. ( )

3.5 stars

Lizzie Borden was 32-years old when her father and stepmother were murdered with an axe while she was home. Their servant Bridget was also home at the time. Rhymes indicate that Lizzie murdered them both, but she was acquitted of the murders. This book takes us through what little was known of Lizzie pre-murders, the day of the murders, and the trials (and all other steps leading up to the trial: indictment, preliminary hearing, etc).

I have never before read anything about Lizzie Borden and had assumed she had murdered those whom she was accused of murdering (not even sure I could have told you it was her parents). This book, I believe, is geared to a YA audience, though I didn’t think it really read that way. The author did a lot of research on this and tried to present both sides. It turns out nothing Lizzie said (it was pretty much all contradictory) during the indictment was included at the trial, nor was key testimony of one witness. Even if they had been included, I’m not convinced it would have been enough to convict her. That being said, I’m not sure how anyone else could have done it. But, I’ve only read this one book.

There were some photos included at the end and a bibliography and notes. I was quite shocked at the look of the skulls (quite bashed in!) of Mr. and Mrs. Borden. And who knew there was (is?) a “Lizzie Borden Quarterly” journal!? I thought this was a good place to start to read about Lizzie and I am likely to find and read more. ( )

The Borden Murders by Sarah Miller DB 84888
If you know nothing about the Borden murders that Lizzie Borden was accused of committing this is a well-researched book. She covers Lizzie through the arrest, grand jury and the inquest trying to show both sides of the story. ( )

An excellent nonfiction book on the notorious crime of the 19th century, this meticulously researched book gives as balanced an account as is probably possible, letting the reader judge for themselves if Lizzie Borden was guilty or not guilty of killing her father and stepmother. The book is divided into sections, narrating the discovery of the bodies and what happened immediately afterward; subsequent sections describe the arraignment, pretrial hearing, and trial itself. The book includes many photographs, including the victims' bashed-in skulls (but none of the murder victims up close; the text describes the wounds in quite enough detail for your imagination to fill in the rest, thank you very much) and the floor plan of the house, to enable the reader to properly follow along and set the scene just like in any good murder mystery. Every bit of dialogue in the book is real, documented in the endnotes as having been said in various witness testimonies, so the book reads like a novel but is not fictionalized. I am amazed at how much material is out there on this case (including two different modern quarterly journals! There are "Lizzie Borden Societies" apparently! Good grief!), and the author gives a terrific end note describing how she wrote the book, trying to give a full accounting of both defense and prosecution, and discarding the newspaper stories that we know to be completely fabricated. She gives a pretty full description of what Lizzie may have been like, as a person, without sensationalizing anything. What I enjoyed most were the fascinating sidebars explaining all kinds of 19th century social and cultural details, from the kinds of fabric used in ladies' dresses of the time (I'd never heard of "Bedford cord" or "Bengali silk", but it was important in determining what Lizzie wore during or after the crime) to mourning practices, to the kinds of medicines available at drugstores back then, and so forth. And the author also gave enlightening information on 19th century journalism in general and the local newspapers of the time specifically. I was shocked to learn that a reporter was able to slip inside the house alongside the police right as they began their investigation! The incompetence and sloppiness of the police was a really interesting aspect to this case. Highly recommend this book to anyone who likes murder mysteries, police procedurals, learning more about America at the end of the 19th century, women's history, and so on. ( )

I've read a fair number of books on the Borden murders, and am always looking for "the one" that's going to offer the most credible explanation of who committed the crimes, and how, and why. Unfortunately, this book doesn't lean one way or the other, and also introduces a few oddities (the hank of hair found near Abby Borden's body, a "club" ditto, and a hatchet purportedly found on the roof of a nearby building) but never follows up on the significance of those items.

There are better books on the Borden case out there. ( )