153. The Mystery of Mary Rogers

The Mystery of Mary Rogers by Rick Geary
The Treasury of Victorian Murder, Book 5


Pages: unpaginated
Finished: Sept. 20, 2008
First Published: 2001
Genre: graphic novel, true crime
Rating: 4.5/5

Reason for Reading: next in the series. RIP III Challenge.

First sentence:

On this sweltering day,m New Yorkers in droves sought to escape the foul air of the city and enjoy the wooded glades and cool breezes of the New Jersey shore.

Comments: This true story details the life and murder of Mary Rogers, a girl who worked in a tobacconists and whose mother ran a boarding house. The body of girl was found floating in the river and quickly identified as the Mary Rogers. Nothing out of the ordinary happened in her day to day life except for a plethora of suitors. She chose one an became engaged but shortly thereafter she disappeared and was found in the river. The movements of her last hours are questionable and add the to mystery surrounding who murdered her. There is even a belief that she may not have been murdered. Edgar Allen Poe wrote a story inspired by Mary's death "The Mystery of Marie Roget" and has even been accused by theorists over the years as being the killer! The murder, remains unsolved to this day.

Not much more to say about this than I have said about the others in this series. Wonderful dark, shadowy artwork fits the mood of the story perfectly. This is one of my favourites so far, after the Lizzie Borden one. I think these books will interest anyone interested in Victorian life, whether they have read graphic novels before or not. I can't wait to read the next one!