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The Massey Murder

a Maid, Her Master, and the Trial That Shocked a Country
Feb 15, 2016GlenAbbeyWarrior rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
In 1915 as Canadian troops were being sent to the battlefields of Europe, an eighteen-year old British immigrant named Carrie Davies shot and killed her employer Bert Massey as he came home from work. Being a member of one of Canada's most wealthy and prominent families, the sensational murder trial simply galvanized the city of Toronto with two competing newspapers - the Toronto Daily Star and the Evening Telegram - taking sides in this dispute over "manslaughter or brute slaughter." Was Carrie simply defending her moral purity against a predator like Massey the same way British soldiers were defending king and country against the Hun? Author Charlotte Gray gives us all the background information in this true crime case by providing insightful context on what the city of Toronto was like more than 100 years ago and how the Great War profoundly influenced the verdict. Back when a woman's virginity was considered her best defense and vigilante murders could be justified in a court of law, the picture that Gray paints in this book is truly amazing. While reading about the case, you'll learn so much about Toronto and Canada as a whole during this time. Sadly, although I had heard the name Massey, I had no idea how they made their massive fortune until I read Gray's book. Kudos to the author for making us learn more about our fascinating history as a country through the more popular genre of true crime!