Chapter 1, The Dead of Night in Lambeth Marsh Summary and Analysis

The chapter begins with the Oxford English Dictionary definition of the word murder. The story opens in Lambeth Marsh, a crime-ridden part of Victorian London. It was particularly violent, Dickensian London, "writ large," but few men had guns there in the late 19th century. However, three revolver shots were fired at 2 a.m. Saturday morning, February 17th, 1872. The loud sounds were heard by a constable, Henry Tarrant. His notes gave some of the crime scene details. Tarrant, and two other policemen, Henry Burton and William Ward rushed to the scene where the man was dying. The papers would come to call the event "The Lambeth Tragedy."

Even today Lambeth is not a nice part of town, and the author explains why in some detail, but a century...