Lucy Worsley is back with a brand new series of Lady Killers. Lucy and her team of all female detectives re-visit the unthinkable crimes, committed by murderesses, more than a hundred years ago. In this episode, Lucy looks at a case with a difference. It’s true crime meets family history - with a twist. The team receives an email from Lady Killers listener, Charlotte Godfrey, who says she has a Victorian Lady Killer in her family. Charlotte wants to find out more about her Great Great Aunt’s role in The Chertsey Murder.It’s a tragic tale involving murder and suicide. On 16th May 1894, 18 year-old Amelia Haslett poisons her 9 year-old sister Daisy and then kills herself. What were the circumstances that led to this unimaginable crime?Lucy brings in Lady Killers’ in-house historian Professor Rosalind Crone to help get to the bottom of this dark family secret. Ros meets Charlotte at the scene of the crime in Addlestone, Surrey and visits the church where her relatives are buried.Back in the studio Lucy, Ros and Charlotte are joined by Dr Gwen Adshead who, for many years, was a consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Broadmoor Hospital.Can they answer Charlotte’s questions – why did Amelia do it and what may have been happening with her mental health.
Producer: Julia Hayball
Readers: Clare Corbett, Ruth Sillers, Jonathan Keeble and Bill Hope
Sound design: Chris Maclean
Executive Producer: Kirsty Hunter
A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4
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Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley Folgen
Lucy Worsley investigates the crimes of Victorian women from a contemporary, feminist perspective.
Folgen von Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley
60 Folgen
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Folge vom 30.12.202552. Amelia Haslett - Lady Killer in My Family
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Folge vom 23.12.202551. Murder by the Book - Live from the Hay FestivalLady Killers with Lucy Worsley - the stories of women who kill - is back for a brand new series. This first episode is recorded in front of a live audience at the Hay Festival in 2025, with special guest Sarah Waters (bestselling author of Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith) and in-house historian Professor Rosalind Crone. The team discovers which of our infamous lady killers inspired great writers to immortalise them in print. They explore the lives of women like Edith Thompson, accused of killing her husband, although she never laid a finger on him. Edith captured Sarah Waters' imagination while researching her romantic thriller The Paying Guests, which is set - just like Edith’s story - in socially turbulent 1920s suburbia. Then there’s Maria Manning, who was reincarnated as an ‘imperfectly tamed’ French maid Hortense by Charles Dickens in his proto-detective story, Bleak House.And Margaret Garner, an enslaved woman on the run, who inspired Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, Beloved. With the usual mix of curiosity, insight and hilarity, Lucy and the team ask what makes these particular women so compelling. Can historical fiction actually communicate more than factual history? What makes for a good baddie? Featuring live readings from actor Clare Corbett and pre-recorded reconstructions, Lady Killers: Murder by the Book brings a contemporary feminist perspective to crime as it happened and as it’s reimagined on the page.Recorded live at the Hay Festival 2025.Producer: Sarah Goodman Assistant Producers: Riham Moussa, Mikaela Carmichael Readers: Clare Corbett and Moya Angela Sound Design: Chris Maclean Executive Producer: Kirsty HunterA StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.
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Folge vom 16.12.2025Coming soon - Lady Killers Series 4Lucy Worsley returns to cover more cases of murder and intrigue in a brand new series of Lady Killers. Coming soon, first on BBC Sounds.
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Folge vom 22.07.202550. Swindling SuperpowersIn the final episode of season two of Lady Swindlers, Lucy Worsley and her partner in crime, Professor Rosalind Crone, are joined by novelist and game designer Naomi Alderman, author of the award-winning book, The Power. Together they explore one curious question - did our Lady Swindlers have superpowers?From the strength and agility of Minnie Pheby, the Lady Burglar, to the psychic abilities of the Fox Sisters, these women used their talents to surprise, deceive and outwit the men around them. Whether they were slipping through windows, conducting séances, spiking drinks, or stealing museum masterpieces, each Lady Swindler flipped expectations on their head.Lucy, Rosalind, and Naomi also take on big questions about women and power. Is crime a form of resistance? Do we romanticise female criminals? And what would a truly equal society actually look like?Diving into the themes of The Power, they explore how stories and swindles expose the deeper gender dynamics of then and now. Featuring a lady burglar, spirit mediums, a hocusser, a drink-spiker, and a French art thief on the run, this finale asks what these women’s crimes reveal about the nature of power and women's lives.Producer: Riham Moussa Readers: Clare Corbett, Lauren Leko, Jonathan Keeble, and Alex Phelps Historical Consultant: Rosalind Crone Executive Producer: Kirsty Hunter A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4