Hawley Harvey Crippen

Hawley Harvey Crippen was an American-born homeopath who settled in London with his second wife, Cora, a music-hall performer known as Belle Elmore. After Cora disappeared in 1910, police found human remains beneath the cellar floor of their home. Crippen fled with his lover and secretary Ethel Le Neve aboard the SS Montrose.

The ship’s captain alerted British authorities by wireless telegraphy, allowing Chief Inspector Walter Dew to intercept the couple in Canada. Crippen was convicted of Cora’s murder and hanged at Pentonville Prison. John Boyne’s novel Crippen retells the case from several perspectives and imagines the private relationships behind its documented events.