The Trial of Lizzie Borden

GUILTY!

That's what I've always said about Lizzie Borden.

That being said, reading the actual transcripts from her trial is incredibly aggravating.

Fall River Police BOTCHED this investigation.

Now that may just be my Criminal Justice/Forensics background coming out. 

But honestly, there was no way in hell the jury could have found her guilty with the information that was presented to them. I honestly understand why so many people believe she's not guilty.

I, however, still think she is.

 She had motive, anger, frustration, and the cool demeanor to fake innocence.

But if this was tried in court today (as long as we ignore all the inconsistencies and fabrications the police department made), the jury would not be 100% male, the prosecution would not be able to say Lizzie was coming to the end of her menstrual cycle and was temporarily insane, and there would definitely be psych evals.

Now, about the book itself.

It was so incredibly dry.

There are so many minute details Cara Robertson goes into before the trial even starts. She walks us through every last moment leading up to the crime, the crime itself, and then the trial begins about 100 pages in. But the trial will hook you! It picks up and gets to the information most people don't know about the Lizzie Borden case. I was enthralled reading the transcripts and just seeing how far we've come as a society. The way the investigation was handled was completely absurd, the amount of bystanders that were supposedly trying to find the killer on their own, the differing stories told by officers in the same department, and how we treated women in a male driven society.

I highly recommend this to true followers of the Lizzie Borden case!

Huge thank you to Cara Robertson, NetGalley, and Simon and Schuster for providing me with an advanced copy of this book!

Mark your calendars, The Trial of Lizzie Borden hits shelves March 12, 2019!

Looking for other books on Lizzie Borden?

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