Daughter of the Gallows

A dark, elegant Georgian historical mystery inspired by the true 1752 poisoning case of Mary Blandy

In 1752, all England knows Mary Blandy as the daughter who poisoned her father.

In 1752, Mary Blandy stands accused of poisoning her father with arsenic, and all England thinks it knows the story.

But when barrister's clerk Nathaniel Vale is drawn into the sensational case, he finds not a monster, but a woman of intelligence, composure, and dangerous silences. As servants testify, early forensic evidence tightens, and the absent lover at the center of the scandal slips further from reach, Nathaniel is forced into a question the law cannot easily answer: did Mary knowingly commit murder, or was she fatally deceived by the man she trusted most?

Set between Henley-on-Thames and Oxford, Daughter of the Gallows is a gripping Georgian historical mystery of arsenic, scandal, forbidden love, and public judgment. Perfect for readers of historical suspense, courtroom drama, and book-club fiction, this novel brings to life one of eighteenth-century England's most notorious trials, where truth is slippery, reputation is fragile, and love may be the most dangerous poison of all.

Set between Henley-on-Thames and Oxford, and steeped in the legal, social, and emotional atmosphere of eighteenth-century England, Daughter of the Gallows is a richly layered historical mystery that blends courtroom drama, psychological suspense, and tragic love story. It brings to life one of the era's most notorious poisoning cases with elegance, tension, and moral complexity, asking not only what happened, but what can be believed once scandal takes hold.

This is a novel of arsenic, secrecy, public judgment, and the devastating cost of wanting peace by the wrong means. It is a story in which servants preserve the evidence, physicians test the powder, pamphlets shape the public imagination, and a daughter stands at the center of a case that refuses to become simple, even after the law has spoken.

Inspired by the true story of Mary Blandy, tried at Oxford Assizes in March 1752 and executed on 6 April 1752, Daughter of the Gallows is an unforgettable historical mystery about love, deception, and the kind of truth no court can entirely settle.