Preview
  • The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey

  • A Nonfiction Novel
  • By: Bland Simpson
  • Narrated by: Bland Simpson
  • Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

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The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey

By: Bland Simpson
Narrated by: Bland Simpson
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Publisher's summary

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.

©2017 Bland Simpson (P)2022 The University of North Carolina Press
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Critic 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

What listeners say about The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

This was a big story circa1901

I saw a television documentary on this woman's disappearance. the author of this book was interviewed. he was a professor at as. th. he did nowe learn t die until 1938. the state university so heee wete other unusual things that happenednse. the search was e caught my interest. James Wilcox, the prime suspect repeatedly proclaimed his innocense. strangely, weeks after her ddissapearamce, the woman's body was discovered floating face.down in the river that flowed in front of her hpme. she was not very decack anomposed which was puzzling.. The trial of Wilcox is recounted and we learn.of the unusual circumstances of the remainder of his life.I found the book' s jumping back and forth along the timeline annoying but feel the book was worthwhile.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Creepy story, great narrator

True crime addicts better get on this! A wild story narrated by an incredible voice

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