Victorian Unsolved

Victorian Unsolved: The Euston Square Mystery

What seemed like a simple case of a servant murdering a lodger for money turned into one of the most lurid tales of the Victorian era, full of sex, adultery, cruelty and madness

In our last article, we covered the gruesome Harley Street Mystery, where a woman’s body was found stuffed in a barrel in the cellar of a wealthy merchant. The crime remained unsolved, with the inquest suggesting that police had missed vital clues at the scene. However, one suspect stood out, that of a former butler at the house.

The case showed some of the sad realities of crime during the Victorian era. In an age before the widespread use of fingerprinting and no chance of DNA or CCTV evidence, police had to rely on their deductions, suspects being sloppy or breaking during interviews and just a little luck. The case also highlighted three other things: the wide disparity between rich and poor, the extreme violence that was a regular feature of many women’s lives, and the fact that the poor could quite easily go missing without anyone to miss them or name them in death.

In comparison, The Euston Square Mystery has several similar features. There’s a body in the…