The Killer of the Princes in the Tower: A New Suspect Revealed by M.J. TrowMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
What happened to Edward V and his younger brother Richard (the “Princes in the Tower”) is one of the most intriguing mysteries in history. Were they murdered? If so, by whom, and if by so many people’s favorite villain, their uncle Richard III, why did he cover it up, which seems to many of us to defeat the purpose? If they weren’t, what happened to them. (Personally, I like Buckingham for it.) I was interested in reading this book, which promised a new suspect when, apart from utter unknowns, there are so few available who had motive, means, and opportunity.
A good part of the book is laying out the history, debunking other accounts, particularly that of Sir Thomas More, and examining the usual suspects, which I felt was well done and goes a long way toward my rating not being lower, if maybe a bit too snarky in places for some people’s tastes. Then….drum roll…the new suspect was revealed, and I’m sorry to say that I found them (I’ll use a neutral pronoun here)…disappointing.
One weakness - at least in the flow of the writing - comes almost immediately, when we are given an exhaustive history of the person’s family almost literally from the time of the Norman Conquest. Then we get the case. Sadly, it fails to convince - at least this reader. The person certainly had means and opportunity, but everything else (except possible evidence of greed, which many people are guilty of but which hardly indicates a murderous disposition) seems to come straight from the author’s imagination. The examination of their alleged personality, a crucial aspect of what he claims as the motive (a psychopath, acting “because [they] could”) fails - again, to me, because there isn’t enough evidence to determine that, and the reconstruction of the “crime” also is backed by as much evidence as More’s account - that is to say, none. Then this person is accused of another murder (which I have never seen portrayed as anything but a tragic natural death) almost 20 years later. The most that can be said, in my opinion, is that it’s out of the box and within the bounds of possibility, but I would need far more evidence to buy it, which as Mr. Trow admits, is unlikely to be forthcoming.
I received a copy of The Killer of the Princes in the Tower: A New Suspect Revealed from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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