Mary Ann Cotton - Dark Angel cover art

Mary Ann Cotton - Dark Angel

Britain's First Female Serial Killer

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Mary Ann Cotton - Dark Angel

By: Martin Connolly
Narrated by: Rosie Akerman
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About this listen

A female thief, with four husbands, a lover, and, reportedly, over 12 children, is arrested and tried for the murder of her stepson in 1872, turning the small village of West Auckland in County Durham upside down. Other bodies are exhumed, and when they are found to contain arsenic, she is suspected of their murder as well. The perpetrator, Mary Ann Cotton, was tried and found guilty and later hanged on 24 March 1873 in Durham Gaol. It is claimed she murdered over 20 people and was the first female serial killer in England.

With a blow by blow account of the trial, this book challenges the claim that Mary Ann Cotton was the "The West Auckland Borgia", a title given to her at the time. It sets out her life, trial, death, and the aftermath, and also questions the legal system used to convict her by looking at contemporary evidence from the time and offering another explanation for the deaths. The book also covers the lives of those left behind, including the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton in Durham Gaol.

©2016 Martin Connolly (P)2020 Pen and Sword History
Great Britain Murder Violence in Society England
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What listeners say about Mary Ann Cotton - Dark Angel

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

it's not bad

more factual then story. i overall liked it . very interesting i raccomend it if you like murder solving.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

absolutely fascinating book

Having watched TV adaptation Dark Angel.
Was intreagd by the audio book.
Was totally engrossing and gave me a totally different insight to the TV series .
Did she do it was it by accident or a miss carriage of justice.
I'm not able to make my mind up

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not for me

The narrator has a sweet voice but fluctuates so much in pitch that I can't relax into the book, which is obviously very thoroughly researched. I usually like this type of book but will shelve this.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Narration let's this down

The content is solid but unfortunately the narrator doesn't work. Her voice (through no fault of her own) is pitchy and inconsistent and sadly that distracts from the book itself

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting story, oddly told

Listened to this as a local man interested in the story of Mary Ann Cotton, but the story was told a little like a pseudo academic piece of research. Narrator was odd too: I can forgive the inability to pronounce local place names, but standard English too? Worth a listen if you’re interested in the topic.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Poorly written

Story was completely all over the place. Jumped back and forth and had no rhythm at all. This was interesting content but deserved better writing. Performance is fine.

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