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A Different Class of Murder

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A Different Class of Murder

By: Laura Thompson
Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
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About this listen

On 7 November 1974, a nanny named Sandra Rivett was bludgeoned to death in a Belgravia basement. A second woman, Veronica, Countess of Lucan, was also attacked. The man named in court as perpetrator of these crimes, Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, disappeared in the early hours of the following morning. The case, solved in the eyes of the law, has retained its fascination ever since.

Laura Thompson narrates the story that led up to that cataclysmic event and reexamines the possible truths behind one of postwar Britain’s most notorious murders.

©2015 Laura Thompson (P)2015 Oakhill Publishing Organised Crime True Crime Crime Murder

Critic Reviews

"Gripping...an exceptionally thorough examination." (Daily Mail)
"Sensational...the most minutely researched and brilliantly told account ever." (Mail on Sunday)
"Tantalises with fresh evidence." (The Daily Telegraph)
"A compelling new examination of the crime and a brilliant detective mind...fascinating.... Thompson gives us a tantalising range of alternative scenarios in this superb anatomy of a murder." (Independent)
"This gripping read is part social history, part detective story...fascinating." (Bella)
"Thompson delivers the goods: a compelling narrative, hypotheses based on evidence and a possible solution. But she goes further, putting the murder in the telling context of British aristocracy and social attitudes towards it." (The Times)
"Thompson is a fine writer and one can't help admiring the way she breathes new life into an intriguing tale." (Literary Review)
"[Laura Thompson] gets her teeth into the case, drawing on Lucan's friends the Shand-Kydds, finding a new source in an anonymous Lucan schoolfriend, and finally producing a narrative which is sympathetic to Lucan, but less so to his wife." (Times Literary Supplement)
"Thompson re-examines a tantalizingly ambiguous crime, delving deep into a complicated story and emerging with a gripping narrative that offers a fresh perspective and new solutions to one of the most infamous cases of the 20th century." (Good Book Guide)
All stars
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Narrator was excellent, but it was a struggle to get through this book. I've always been interested in the subject, and I like how this book attempted to give a different perspective on the evidence. If only the writing was more interesting.

Fascinating subject, but writing is very dull

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And the story is yet to be introduced in any meaningful way. It rambles continually off the track then back again then onto another subject entirely without any connection to the books title. It’s just way to painful to listen the way through. The narration is annoying though wonderful diction. Waste of time and money.

Two Chapters In...

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If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

It jumped around too much. There was so much irrelevant detail and unrelated cases. If it had been chronological or organised better I would have enjoyed it a lot more. It was like listening to someone's train of thought as they went off on flights of fancy and back and forth through time with not much to join things together.

Would you ever listen to anything by Laura Thompson again?

Probably not.

What aspect of Anna Bentinck’s performance might you have changed?

The audio performance was fine.

What character would you cut from A Different Class of Murder?

Most of the old cases. I wanted to know about this murder not spend hours going back and forth and flitting between other cases.

I couldn't finish it

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I gave up with 8 hours to go. Shockingly dull and rambling, woefully written. Endless verbatim accounts, usually of little interest and read in highly irritating accents by the narrator. A complete waste of time.

So tedious

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