Early in 1890, three young gentlemen left England for the backwoods of Canada, each hoping to make a fortune. Within days of their arrival, one was dead and the other two had been arrested for murder. A tainted investigation and corrupt trial followed, minutely reported by sensation-hungry pressmen, and their use of submarine telegraph cables ensured that the case became an international cause celebre. But key questions remained. Who was the real murderer? Was the killing premeditated? What was the motive? Rebecca Gowers uses letters, press reports and memoirs to piece together a true tale as vivid and gripping as the best murder mysteries of Victorian fiction.