'A riveting and beautifully written book. A high point in the annals of murder, for every necessary ingredient - callousness, ruthlessness, mystery, recklessness, boarding houses, detection, a chase, money, sex and even a bit of glamour - is present. Miss Robins has made a thumping good book out of it'. -- Daily Telegraph 'In Jane Robins' excellent The Magnificent Spilsbury - part-whodunit thriller, part-social history, part-biography - there's delight in the detail. This is a pacy page-turner underpinned by meticulous primary source research. Frankly, it's a treat. as satisfying as a fine thriller'. -- The Scotsman 'Robins's description of the murders and of Smith's persuasive personality is gripping. The Magnificent Spilsbury teems with promise'. -- Sunday Times 'As well as being a gripping, pacy account of a gruesome murder trial, this book is also a compelling piece of social history. An author tackling a story like this has to fight hard to avoid tipping into prurience and ghoulishness. Robins wins the fight, and shines a light on a dark age for women'. -- Independent on Sunday 'Not just a compelling read but it also an intriguing slice of social history'. -- The Express 'An author tackling a story like this has to fight hard to avoid tipping into prurience and ghoulishness. Robins wins the fight, and shines a light on a dark age for women.' -- Independent on Sunday 20100411 'With the precision of her main character, Jane Robins examines these murders...Robins is excellent at setting this story in its historical context' -- Sunday Telegraph 20100408 'Like its hero, The Magnificent Spilsbury teems with promise ...' -- Culture 20100408 'The Brides in the Bath and the rise of Spilsbury as the father of modern forensics are both well-worn tales, but Jane Robins has convincingly succeed in reworking them into a cracking good read. It is a deceptively delicate task to examine trial transcripts, police depositions, letters and newspaper accounts and reforge them with such admirable immediacy...Robins should prepare herself for a summer bestseller' -- The Daily Telegraph 20100605 Outstanding. The book is about a pre-war conman who drowned his wives in the bath. It made my jaw drop -- Kate Kellaway, Observer 20100605 Written with economy, elegance and wit, the book grips with the ghoulish fascination of a murder mystery while educating about the unhappy role of women in Edwardian society, the early importance of the expert witness and the evil underbelly of human nature -- Financial Times 20100605