The story of Mary Ann Cotton, an alleged serial killer hanged for murder in 1873, is here seen through the eyes of Londoner Victoria Kilburn, who visits the Durham village where Mary Ann is alleged to have killed her last victim. The disfigured Victoria is drawn to the charismatic Mary Ann, and does not believe the rising tide of scandal that leads to Mary Ann's arrest. In this novel, using existing evidence, Wendy Robertson challenges the received...