1865: Millbank Prison. As Constance Kent begins her sentence in one of London's more squalid gaols, the remainder of the Kent family attempt to move on.

Now vindicated by Constance's confession, Jack Whicher's investigations become immortalised by the great crime novelists of the day.

Meanwhile, Constance's brother, William, becomes a celebrated scientist in Australia, and Constance, by contrast, ends up serving every day of her 20-year sentence.

On her release, she joins her brother in Australia, where she nurses in a lepers' colony, her past hidden from those around her. Only in 1928, with the arrival of an anonymous letter from Sydney, do the real events at Road Hill House back in 1860 finally come to light...

Kate Summerscale's gripping account of the Victorian murder case that shook the nation.

Concluded by Deborah Findlay.

Abridged by Doreen Estall.

Producer: Justine Willett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008. Show less