title: The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable: A True Tale of Passion, Poison and Pursuit
author: Carol Baxter
description: Fans of Erik Larson's true-crime thrillers will be pleased by this gripping account that presents a tipping point in the public acceptance of the telegraph: its use in 1845 to alert the authorities in London that a murder suspect had boarded a train headed there. With a novelist's flair for drama, using details that were painstakingly extracted from the historical record, Australian popular historian Baxter (An Irresistible Temptation) recreates the life of suspect John Tawell, a Quaker who had been transported for forgery, the events leading up to his apprehension on suspicion of having poisoned Sarah Hart, and his prosecution. Along the way, the story takes several unexpected twists, and Baxter does a stellar job of integrating details about the nascent forensic science of the time, questions about the role of expert witnesses in jury trials, and the insatiable public hunger for salacious details about the case. There are occasional rhetorical excesses (Still, doubt was pushing his foot through the door he had just opened), but most of the prose is understated and precise. (Oct.)
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  _**Cover**_
  
    
  
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  _**Married to a Rogue**_
  
    
  
    
  
  Lady Emily Sedgely, separated from her husband and bored to distraction after
  years of solitude in the wilds of Yorkshire, is stirred by a sudden thirst for
  life and eagerly returns to London for the Season. Back in the swirl of
  society, she quickly warms to the attentions of an ardent young
  Frenchman—until a chance encounter with Baxter, her estranged husband, leaves
  her as confused as ever about her heart’s true longings.
  
    
  
    
  
  Baxter, the Marquess of Sedgely, was given to dark moods and an uncertain
  temper that doomed his marriage. Finding relief in travel, he spent five years
  gallivanting the Continent and has now returned to London with a comely young
  mistress—and a dangerous secret. Cavalier about his safety, he discovers a far
  greater concern—for just one look at Emily stirs a realization that while his
  life may be in danger, it is his heart that faces a more immediate peril.
  
    
  
    
  
  