Book Review: "The Peepshow" by Kate Summerscale

I've read a few books by Kate Summerscale before and they have never disappointed me. Books such as The Wicked Boy and The Haunting of Alma Fielding are great dark reads for the holiday season. However, be that as it may, I do believe that The Peepshow might be her darkest book yet. There is something truly dark about the way this is written because of its subject matter. If you pay attention to true crime and you live in Britain then I think you have already heard of the case of John Christie, a serial killer who was caught only after a man was already executed for the crime that Christie had actually committed. John Christie - a man who murdered at least six women and hid them amongst the walls of 10 Rillington Place.

The case of John Christie is important in the abolition of the death penalty in England because, as we have established, a man named Timothy Evans was already hanged for the murder of his wife - something that he *probably* did not do. Instead, she may have become one of Christie's victims. And, would you guess who the primary witness was in Timothy Evans' trial? Yes, it was John Christie. Christie would gas and r**e his female victims and then, dispose of their bodies in a place that was essentially a freezer and other weird places throughout the home.

The book meticulously investigates John Christie’s serial murders, emphasizing how he preyed upon vulnerable women by luring them into his Rillington Place flat under the guise of medical help, which became a death trap for many. His 'medical help' was that of abortions as this proceedure was illegal in England at the time. Women, if they could not induce a miscarriage in themselves, would go to Christie for help and then, they would meet their end. Summerscale writes this like a horror novel in which Christie is a HH Holmes sort of character, luring people to their deaths one at a time and they are no wiser, not even suspicious.

Summerscale provides insight into the lives of Christie’s victims, capturing the personal tragedies that became headlines in a sensationalist media storm, sparking the public’s fascination with true crime​. This comes in the form of one of the side-stories which has quite a lot to do with the main plot - the story is that of Harry Proctor. Harry Proctor was a journalist who climbed the ranks through tabloid journalism to become one of the most well-known names in true crime reporting. A fascinating figure who was barely home for his children though continued to provide, he may have been flawed but you have to admit that he had a purpose. The author writes him as a sometimes-heroic-sometimes-stirring antihero who toes the line between what is required and what is right.

A major focus is on Timothy Evans, a neighbour who was wrongly convicted and executed for murders Christie himself committed, showcasing grave failures in the justice system. The Evans case led to an outcry, driving debates on capital punishment and reforming British criminal justice, as the public grappled with the disturbing realisation of judicial errors​. Timothy Evans was not a horrible man, just a flawed one. He was a man who had a difficult life and, under pressure, admitted to something he did not do. Summerscale writes him as such - he is not perfect and had many things to answer for - but he was also a man who was a victim himself. In the history of the British justice system, there are many like him. Including some of the cases that it is seen Harry Proctor covered himself - including the case of Derek Bentley.

Summerscale details the unraveling of Christie’s crimes, his arrest, and his subsequent trial, reflecting on the societal and legal changes inspired by the case. This includes things such as the abolition of the death penalty, looking at multiple witnesses instead of relying on just one and, looking at the character of the witnesses in the cases instead of relying on them as the source of truth. These and many more come into play as John Christie always presented himself as a reserved gentleman and yet, had more of a Mr Hyde personality about him. It is not so shocking if we are to look back at the era of decadence in which these protagonists of monstrous gentlemen litter the pages of novels everywhere. It is just another thing we can learn from literature.

All in all, I thought that this novel was brilliantly written. Kate Summerscale has done all the hard work in research and great writing. It is a great achievement of true crime and if you want to know more about the wrongful executions that happened in 20th century Britain before execution was outlawed, then this is something you probably want to read as it was a key case in the abolition of it. She tells the story inside out with each major character in the plot getting their own mini-biography. So, once you finish the book - you really feel like you've just stepped out of that courtroom in which John Christie was sentenced to death.