The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey: A Nonfiction Novel

by Bland Simpson

Book Overview

As compelling as fiction, The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey tells the dramatic story of the disappearance of nineteen-year-old Nell Cropsey from her riverside home in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in November 1901. Bloodhounds, detectives, divers, and even a psychic were brought in to search for her, and the case immediately became a national sensation. Bland Simpson, who first heard the tale as an Elizabeth City schoolboy, weaves this...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807844322
• ISBN13: 9780807844328
• Release Date: September 1993
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.7" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

North Carolina mystery remains unsolved

Nonfiction' recreation of events surrounding 1901 disappearance of Elizabeth City, NC 19-year-old Nell Cropsey. The facts of the book are nonfiction, with the only apparent fictional recreation some first-person omniscient thoughts by some of the main characters. The mystery, in real life and in the book, is not solved at the end, by the way, which leaves you torn between wanting to know who really did it, and enjoying the speculation about who may have done it and why and how.

A Wondeful Haunting Story from my Adopted Hometown

What a great and tragic story Simpson tells! Having moved to Elizabeth City three years ago, I'd heard the history and legend of the Cropsey murder, but this book brought so much life to it. Now when I jog by the old Cropsey place on Riverside, the Courthouse and Baptist Church on Main St, the bend on Road Street where Wilcox took his own life years later, Williams Circle (site of the old Fairgrounds where Nell visited the circus weeks before her death), the story is real and vivid. I also heartily recommend Simpson's "Ghost Ship of Diamond Shoals". Mr. Simpson affection for the North Carolina low-country is contagious. What a treat!

Entertaining, well-written historical murder mystery

The most interesting mysteries are those of a different generation. After Bland Simpson learned this simple lesson, he applied it, turning out an absorbing and true tale of murder, love and damning coincidence taken from the Victorian Age. The story takes place in remote Elizabeth City, N.C., and focuses upon the murder of a beautiful young woman and the possible involvement of her spurned lover. It follows the footsteps of those closest to the story and builds to a climax of uncertainty and mystery.

Very well written book. Couldn't put it down.

I thought this book was very well written. I just wanted to keep reading and reading. I also enjoyed the pictures and maps. Great book. It is definately one I will read again.