Door Stopper

The titillation factor in true crime stories makes them catnip for podcasters and documentary filmmakers. The neat story arc — from fatal blow to courtroom denouement — provides a great frame for insights into a society’s values, fears, and assumptions. It was already a well-established genre back in the nineteenth century, when newspapers adeptly exploited its morbid appeal and many stereotypes: bullied woman, celebrity villain, genius detective, vengeful bitch, mendacious spouse. Values and stereotypes shift over time, however, and it is this evolution that makes Clara at the Door with a Revolver an intriguing new look at an old crime.

The clunky title of Carolyn Whitzman’s book hints at all the delicious details she is going to reveal about an 1894 murder in Toronto. Previous books and articles about the crime (and there have been many) have usually been written from the...