The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey
A Nonfiction Novel
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The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey
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Narrated by:
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Bland Simpson
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By:
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Bland Simpson
As compelling as fiction, The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey tells the dramatic story of the disappearance of nineteen-year-old Nell Cropsey from her riverside home in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in November 1901. Bloodhounds, detectives, divers, and even a psychic were brought in to search for her, and the case immediately became a national sensation. Bland Simpson, who first heard the tale as an Elizabeth City schoolboy, weaves this true story into a colorful nonfiction account, told in three first-person voices: Nell's sister Ollie; famous newspaper editor W. O. Saunders, who covered the case as a young reporter; and Jim Wilcox, Nell's beau, who was implicated in the case. Nell and Jim's romance, her disappearance, the great search, the trials, and their aftermath are artfully reconstructed from interviews, court records, and newspaper accounts.
©1993 Bland Simpson (P)1993 The University of North Carolina PressCritic reviews
"Simpson persuasively re-creates the decorously frenzied, boomtown atmosphere of turn-of-the-century Elizabeth City in the grip of a tabloid mystery complete with bloodhounds, anonymous tipsters, and a famous spiritualist."—Kirkus Reviews
"An arresting and elegant meditation on guilt and innocence and the inscrutability of human behavior."—Philadelphia Inquirer
"In The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey, Simpson weaves a compelling story of beauty and despair."—Richmond Times-Dispatch