704. Lizzie Borden: The Untold Story, by Edward D. Rabin (read 11 Aug 1962) I was so interested in this book's account of this case that after I read it I at once re-read The Girl in the House of Hate, by Charles and Louise Samuels which I had first read on Jan 4, 1955. The case has long been a fascinating study for me. ( )

This book has been surpassed by David Kent's Forty Whacks: New Evidence in the Life and Legend of Lizzie Borden, but it remains on of the best books on the case.

Kent and Radin are two of the only authors to leave me with the impression that they have actually weighed the case before coming to a decision, or in Kent's case, a non-decision.

Radin has done a great deal of work researching and clearing away gossip and legend. His book was obviously a jolt - Victoria Lincoln was apparently so annoyed at having her story about knowing an axe murderess ruined that she rushed out to write her vastly inferiorA Private Disgrace: Lizzie Borden by Daylight.

I also recommend, with reservations, Robert Sullivan's book Goodbye Lizzie Borden. Sullivan produces a lot of information about the trial, the jurors and a copycat crime that is not in most sources. He makes a convincing case that Lizzie Borden might have gotten off even if she was guilty, but unfortunately confuses this with proving that she is. ( )