Hi everyone. Today I'm reviewing The Girl from Greenwich Street, a historical mystery by Lauren Willig, “a novel of Hamilton, Burr, and America's first murder trial.” That pretty much sums it up, and it is a fascinating account of a true story that's been fictionalized, of course. But the things that are discussed in this story are really interesting.
First, the idea that it's the first murder trial, so we're trying to establish that the murder has taken place and that a particular person is the person who committed the murder based on circumstantial evidence. There's no CSI at this time, stuff like that. So it's all very circumstantial and keeps you guessing throughout as to what actually happened. Although you get a sense of what happened, actually. I mean, it's not like there aren't clues and it's not like ... you're hearing the thoughts of all these different characters, too.
So that's their perception of what was going on and whether this person is guilty or not. So there's a lot of tricks of perception and this person saw this person, saw the victim do this, and made the assumption about that and heard this through the wall, which is so thin that you could hear all this stuff going on.
So anyway, it's very interesting that way. It's a well-told story, in other words, and it deals with an actual murder trial in which Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton worked with a third attorney to represent the defendant. And looking at the legal implications, looking at the precedent being set here, looking at all of it, the historical context, the fact that Quakers are involved, all of it is fascinating.
So I highly recommend reading The Girl from Greenwich Street, an excellent book, and especially for history fans, but definitely a great mystery, in any case. And an interesting look at something that happened in this country at the very beginning of its birth. Pretty much, well, shortly after its birth. It's in the 1800s, barely. Alright, that's it, and I will talk to you later. Be seeing you. Thanks for watching.
It's available as an ebook from Amazon, Kobo, and Apple Books.
It's also available here in print from my online store.
Share this post