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    The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse
    Unavailable
    The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse
    Unavailable
    The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse

    Written by Piu Marie Eatwell

    Narrated by Barnaby Edwards

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    1897: An elderly widow, Anna Maria Druce, made a strange request of the London Ecclesiastical Court: it was for the exhumation of the grave of her late father-in-law, T.C. Druce. Behind her application lay a sensational claim: that Druce had been none other than the eccentric and massively wealthy 5th Duke of Portland, and that the - now dead - Duke had faked the death of his alter ego. When opened, Anna Maria contended, Druce's coffin would be found to be empty. The legal case that followed would last for ten years. Its eventual outcome revealed a dark underbelly of lies lurking beneath the genteel facade of late Victorian England.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateMay 7, 2015
    ISBN9781471291210
    Unavailable
    The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse
    Author

    Piu Marie Eatwell

    Of mixed Asian/English descent, Piu Marie Eatwell has a congratulatory First Class degree from Oxford University. She has lived and worked in France for ten years.

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    Reviews for The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse

    3.5/5

    41 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I thought I was going to give this three stars because there were certain elements to the story that I would have liked Ms. Eatwell to explore more thoroughly; namely, what was going on with the 6th Duke of Portland while all of these various folks crawled out of the woodwork to try to usurp his title. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this book was incredibly compelling as is. Once I got into the meat of the story--and got the dramatis personae properly sorted out in my head--I almost couldn't put it down. I can often get distracted while I'm reading, even when the book is amazingly good, but that didn't happen here. And, for that reason, I realized this book was deserving of at least four stars from me. If you like true crime, historical mysteries and/or books about crazy people scheming crazy things, I can heartily recommend this one.
    • 5/5
      Quite an amazing story you've probably never heard of before. In 1890s London, a woman caused a sensation by petitioning to have the grave of her father in law, TW Druce, a well-known store-owner, opened so she could confirm he was actually the reclusive 5th Duke of Portland, who she claimed had been living a double life. The case dragged on for 10 years and grew murkier and murkier, as it turned out that Druce had had a secret earlier marriage, and that potentially the children of that marriage were actually the heirs of the Portland dukedom. Finally in 1910, the grave was opened with much ceremony to settle the case once and for all, and it was discovered that...well I won't spoil the surprise. Fascinating story that will grip the reader to the last page, hard to believe it is not fiction and it really did happen, just begging to be turned into a movie IMHO. This book is an absolute gem, a must-read for any who loves the quirks of British history, eccentric aristocrats, secret romances, strange doings in old graveyards and complex legal cases.
    • 4/5
      This was an entertaining story of a complex little scandal in Victorian England - a lower-class London woman claimed that her dead husband was, secretly, the 5th Duke of Portland, and that therefore her son was the legitimate 6th Duke. And then it turns out that her husband had had an earlier wife, and so those sons (and grandsons) started coming forward to claim the title...meanwhile, no one can get the grave open to confirm whether or not this guy was actually buried where he was supposed to be. There are a lot of people in this story, many of them very strange, and Eatwell does a good job of bringing each one of them into clear view and keeping them distinct and sympathetic as well as interesting.
    • 5/5
      Contrary to anything negative said about this book, there are NOT too many characters and it is NOT confusing in the least bit. Tho all are entitled to their opinions, some comments make me wonder about where some brain cells went! Piu Eatwell has written an intriguing, in-depth, amazingly well-researched book on a topic whose mystery continues to this day. Tho i tend to believe it's an issue that should be dead and buried, no pun intended. At the turn of the century Anna Druce made the claim in court that her father-in-law was not merely a businessman.....he was in actuality the 5th Duke of Portland who played a dual role. Due to the Dukes odd habits , his tendency to be a hermit , and a similarity in looks, it seemed to be a legitimate possibility! Let me say this.....years go by as the legal system debates over digging up a grave. And there is a conclusion of sorts, tho the reader is allowed to make up his/her own mind. What i enjoyed most was that Piu Eatwell brings in other relate-able pieces of history and intertwines them into this fascinating piece of writing.