Woman at the Devil's Door: The Untold True Story of the Hampstead Murderess

By Sarah Beth Hopton

Discover the haunting untold true story of the woman whose crimes inspired speculation that Jack the Ripper was a woman.

On October 24, 1890, a woman was discovered on a pile of rubbish in Hampstead, North London. Her arms were lacerated and her face bloodied; her head was severed from her body save a few sinews. Later that day, a blood-soaked stroller was found leaning against a residential gate, and the following morning the dead body of a baby was found hidden underneath a nettle bush. So began the chilling story of the Hampstead Tragedy.

Eventually, Scotland Yard knocked on the door of No. 2 Priory Street, home to Mary Eleanor Pearcey, the pretty 24-year-old mistress whose dying request was as bizarre and mysterious as her life. Woman at the Devil's Door is a thrilling look at this notorious murderer and the webs she wove.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Release date: Jun 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9780253034632

Reviews for Woman at the Devil's Door

[Lisa Ridge · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was interesting, and clearly well researched. Hopton paints an informative picture of the police investigation techniques of the time, the criminal trial process, the grim prison environment, and the impact of the sensationalized media and crime attractions like Madame Tussauds.

[noblechicken · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So far the only and most thorough source on the Hampstead Murderess, the postulated "Jill the Ripper", Mary Pearcey. It took Hopton ten years of research and work to get this published and it fits well in the Jack the Ripper canon. This disproves that crazy theory quickly, of course, and focuses on the actual crime she was convicted of committing, which was the murders of her lover's wife and baby. The book is quite detailed, and is just a hint confusing in the beginning by fleshing out tangents that could have been brought in later, or maybe set up in a different way, but overall this book is excellent. It was quite a complicated affair, with estrangement and strangeness. A very odd story, but Hopton manages to wrangle the narrative in and we get a solid history of the unfortunate incident. The murders, the incarceration, the trial and the verdict are all covered here, and you get a sense of sympathy of the charged. Pearcey seems to have had "spells" (seizures), and in Victorian England, that can be disastrous, especially when you throw love affairs and crime in the mix. A victim of the times, for sure. Hopton manages to speculate innocence and guilt, I feel that she believes Pearcey was guilty, or at least heavily involved but with help. Excellent photos as well. A necessary book for Ripperologists, 19th century crime buffs, and judicial studies.