The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master and the Trial that Shocked a Nation

by Charlotte Gray

A scandalous crime, a sensational trial, a surprise verdict—the true story of Carrie Davies, the maid who shot a Massey.

In February 1915, a member of one of Canada’s wealthiest families was shot and killed on the front porch of his home in Toronto as he was returning from work. Carrie Davies, an 18-year-old domestic servant, quickly confessed. But who was the victim here? Charles “Bert” Massey, a scion of a famous family, or the frightened, perhaps mentally unstable Carrie, a penniless British immigrant? When the brilliant lawyer Hartley Dewart, QC, took on her case, his grudge against the powerful Masseys would fuel a dramatic trial that pitted the old order against the new, wealth and privilege against virtue and honest hard work. Set against a backdrop of the Great War in Europe and the changing faceof a nation, this sensational crime is brought to vivid life for the first time.

As in her previous bestselling book, Gold Diggers—now in production as a Discovery Television miniseries—multi-award-winning historian and biographer Charlotte Gray has created a captivating narrative rich in detail and brimming with larger-than-life personalities, as she shines a light on a central moment in our past.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Canada, Book Club, Crime, Biography

308 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2013

About the author

Charlotte Gray is one of Canada’s best-known writers, and author of eight acclaimed books of literary non-fiction. Born in Sheffield, England, and educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, she began her writing career in England as a magazine editor and newspaper columnist. After coming to Canada in 1979, she worked as a political commentator, book reviewer and magazine columnist before she turned to biography and popular history.

Charlotte's most recent book is Gold Diggers, Striking It Rich in the Klondike. In 2008, Charlotte published Nellie McClung, a short biography of Canada’s leading women’s rights activist in the Penguin Series, Extraordinary Canadians. Her 2006 bestseller, Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell, won the Donald Creighton Award for Ontario History and the City of Ottawa Book Award. It was also nominated for the Nereus Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, the National Business Book Award and the Trillium Award. Her previous five books, which include Sisters in the Wilderness, The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill, Flint & Feather, The Life and Times of E. Pauline Johnson and A Museum Called Canada, were all award-winning bestsellers.

Charlotte appears regularly on radio and television as a political and cultural commentator. In 2004 she was the advocate for Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, for the CBC series: The Greatest Canadian. She has been a judge for several of Canada’s most prestigious literary prizes, including the Giller Prize for Fiction, the Charles Taylor Prize for Non-fiction and the Shaunessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.

Charlotte has been awarded five honorary doctorates, from Mount St. Vincent University, Nova Scotia, the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, York University and Carleton University.

An Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of History at Carleton University, Charlotte is the 2003 Recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history. She is former chair of the board of Canada’s National History Society, which publishes the magazine Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver.) She sits on the boards of the Ottawa International Authors Festival, the Art Canada Institute/Institut de l’Art Canadien, and the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. Charlotte is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Charlotte lives in Ottawa with her husband George Anderson, and has three sons.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to give this book five stars for several reasons:

I am a history buff and love all history books.

I was raised in Toronto and know all the places mentioned in the book, my stomping grounds when a young person.

The story was even more important IMO because it brought out the idea that a woman could defend herself from sexual harassment even though the term had not been formed as yet.

The crime took place in Toronto by a maid, Carrie Davies during WWI. We are given excellent pictures of what it was like back then, how people lived and their expectations.

An excellent read.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok with out getting into any spoilers, I have to say two things that disappointed me: This book read like a text book and it was all fiction. I thought that given the dry writing, in fact lack of anything creative, anything personal about the characters and setting was due to the meticulous research the author did, that she chose to write only what could be verified and backed up by sources.

I slogged through this book only to find out in the last chapter that there were no court transcripts other than from the coroners inquest. What a dupe! She researched events from other sources but nothing about the murder of the trial came from anything other than the newspapers which she took great pains to say were biased, the slant of which depended on the political leanings of the paper.

If that's the case then the author could have fleshed it out a lot more and made it interesting, since it was pretty much all fiction. THAT frustrated me most of all, why write such a dry book if it's all fiction anyway? It was presented as something other than what it was. What a crappy book!

There was subtext about the power struggle between the classes and that wasn't lost on me but it seemed like the author was molding the story f the murder to fit that examination.

This book was drier than a popcorn fart and not worth the read at all. That author owes me 7 hours of my life back.

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the true story of Carrie Davies, a poor 18-year-old British girl who was working as a domestic in Toronto for Bert Massey and his family. Though part of the wealthy Massey family, Bert's side of the family was forgotten/neglected when his father, Charles, died when Bert was a child. Bert made a living selling cars.

Bert came home one evening and was shot and killed on his porch. Carrie was found with the gun and admitted to shooting him. She said she did it because he had tried to "ruin" her ... he had kissed her the day before and had put the moves on her when she was making his bed. She said she was defending her virtue.

The book details the nine days from the time Carrie was arrested to when she goes to trial for his murder ... the three choices the jury had were murder (which would bring the death penalty), manslaughter or justifiable homicide (no punishment).

Toronto Evening Telegram, Tuesday, February 8, 1915
A picture I took of Bert's house (169 Walmer Road) today, now split into
three apartments. I wonder if the tenants know they are living in a house
where there'd been a murder.

It was an interesting story ... Torontoist has a great summary if you want to know more of the details (I don't want to give away what happened).

Not only did I learn about murder but it was interesting to read more about what Toronto was like back then ... so different from today. There is also a lot of information about what was going on at the time ... World War I was happening, women were fighting for their rights including the right to vote, Toronto was growing as a city and Canada was becoming an independent nation.

I'd recommend this book if you like reading true murder stories and/or you want to learn more about Toronto and Canada at the beginning of the 20th century.

Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2013/09...

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recently, The Massey Murder was announced as our selection for One Book, One Community and I snapped up a copy from the library. The subtitle, "A Maid, Her Master, And The Trial That Shocked A Country", made the book sound exciting, but really, it isn't. The author, Charlotte Gray, is known as a literary nonfiction writer (primarily of biographies of famous Canadians), but this time she wanted to focus on "anonymous, powerless individuals who are swept up by events and currents completely beyond their control". In this case, the powerless individual is the maid of the title, an 18-year-old orphan from Britain, Carrie Davies, who killed her employer; and while this might have been a small scandal, his family name and yellow journalism guaranteed Toronto's attention.

The murder: Bert Massey (grandson of Hart Massey, the incredibly wealthy farming implement impresario and community leader -- how was this the first time I learned the connection between Massey tractors and Toronto's Massey Hall?) was returning home from work. When he approached his front door, his maid burst forth and shot and killed him. Davies then ran up to her room, wrote letters to her sister and friend (the contents of which are never revealed), and when the police arrived, she handed over the pistol, confessing that she had killed her employer in self defence. Although Bert was from a disinherited branch of the family tree (he was a middle class car salesman, not a millionaire playboy), other Masseys came forward to try and hush the scandal, and sniffing a story, Toronto's six daily newspapers pounced.

Putting the murder in context, Gray proceeds to describe, in exhaustive detail, the social strata of Toronto, biographical information of everyone even tangentially related to the case, the workings of the justice and penal institutions, women's service groups, the newspaper wars, and most especially, the day by day reports of the Canadian soldiers who were seeing their first combat in WWI. Sometimes, exhaustive research is just exhausting to read, and especially when it strays from the main narrative. For example, when Davies is first admitted to the Don Jail, she was measured according to the Bertillon method (before fingerprinting, a meticulous recording of measurements was taken with calipers to make a unique identification of convicts), and while this might have been an interesting aside, Gray includes the biographical details of the method's inventor, Bertillion, and its history, use and usefulness -- the constant digressions became annoying to me. Also, it was obvious that Gray had done extensive research and seemed reluctant to not include every last detail, as in:

Chief Justice Mulock had been painted by both of the fashionable portrait artists of the period (J.W.L. Forster and Wyly Grier) and shared his time between a prosperous farm near Newmarket, where he raised prize cattle and Shetland ponies, and an elaborate mansion at 518 Jarvis Street, just down the road from the Masseys. (His son Cawthra lived close by, at 538 Jarvis Street.)

Eventually we get to the trial and Carrie Davies can make her defence She states that her employer had made sexual advances towards her -- even suggesting she try on his absent wife's underwear -- and when she saw him approaching the house the next day, she got the gun and shot him, fearing another attack. When a Doctor is produced who can verify that Davies is, indeed, a virgin, the Judge and jury appreciate the nature of her self defence, and thanks to some fancy rhetoric from her lawyer, the maid is acquitted. It is revealed that Davies' lawyer has a personal challenge and a family vendetta against the Masseys to settle, and while he does speak in great oratorical flourishes, Gray can't help but editorialise on his statements, even using outraged exclamation marks in her asides. In this section, in particular, much is made of the fact that a displaced British orphan was being tried at the same time that Canadian youth were fighting for King and Country against the Hun, and while Gray attempts to conflate the two, it's not backed up by the evidence she provides (I really didn't see how having war reports and trial reports on the front page of the same newspapers had any effect on the jury).

So, it's obvious I'm not a fan of the structure or thesis of this book, but I also didn't like the writing. In the afterword, Gray thanks her husband for reading the manuscript "with a gimlet eye for clichés" (is "gimlet eye" itself a cliché?) but some cutesy phrases were left in, such as The two newspapers involved in the battle for eyeballs in 1915 were the Evening Telegram and the Toronto Daily Star and There was an unholy hubbub outside the building for Act III of the Carrie Davies drama. And I was struck by the phrase "Gradgrindishly pedantic" (I did look it up, and although it got no google results, "Gradgrindian" is apparently an obscure word based on a Dickens character). And there were logical inconsistencies, such as:

Judge Mulock agreed that she could sit as she gave her evidence. And two pages later: In the jury box, the jurors turned their heads first to the tall figure of the defence lawyer as he prompted his client, then to the tense figure standing in the witness box, next to the judge.

I really wonder at why The Massey Murder is our community selection and all I can conclude is that there's much irony in examining "Toronto the Good" from a century ago (a city where "policemen spent more time enforcing bylaws about public decency than chasing criminals") and comparing that to the Toronto of today, what with its foul-mouthed, crack-smoking, average Joe mayor (eliding the fact, like everyone does, that Rob Ford has always been a well-connected and wealthy man). I can imagine discussions about celebrity culture and voyeurism and newspaper wars -- but that really doesn't interest me much; as a matter of fact, I am weary of this discussion and, as someone who doesn't live in Toronto, I am weary of discussing Rob Ford. And that brings me to my last complaint: In the subtitle of The Massey Murder it promises to be about "The Trial That Shocked A Country", and that point is never made -- I'm sure it shocked Toronto, but just as in the Rob Ford discussions, Toronto is not Canada, and despite what its citizens might think, their every scandal doesn't affect the rest of us that much.

[Aubrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

When you look at the facts of this case themselves, and the social and political climate in which it took place, the word "scandal" does suit it nicely. However, this book does it a huge disservice. 

Carrie Davies was a domestic worker for a rich, white man. He took advantage of his station, and he attempted to pressure her into sexual activities. She feared for her safety, and she shot him. I can't fault her for her actions. Hell, I'd have done the same thing, were I in her position. But so much of that gets so lost in this book. 

This book felt very much like an attempt made to either fit a page count, a word count, or possibly both. There were long tangents on people, and subjects, that were of no consequence to this case, its players, or its outcome. It made for very long, very dry reading. (Once I learned to skim, or blatantly skip over, those parts, it was a much faster read.) 

By this point, we all know that true crime is one of my favourite genres. I live and breathe true crime in my personal (and professional) life. This book is not a true crime book. It is trying to disguise a history of Toronto during the time of the WWI as a true crime scandal. 

The storytelling felt very forced, and contrived to me. I couldn't tell if we were telling the story of a murder, or if we were being told about how wonderful Toronto is supposed to be (a point which I vehemently disagree with). 

I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened to Carrie. I'm glad I did. But I would be very hard pressed to recommend this book to my fellow true crime lovers, and Murderinos. 

[Sonya · Rating 2 out of 5]

As so many other Goodreads reviewers have observed, the title is pretty misleading--it should have been called "I am Charlotte Gray and I spent some time scanning microfiches of the front pages of Toronto's newspapers between 1914 and 1918, and these were the headlines," but that's not snappy enough title copy for HarperCollins. The information that Gray does provide about the war, Toronto, and the trial was interesting enough (for a history text), but it is clear that she didn't have enough source information about the case to fill an entire book. She resorts to including headlines and some historical information about World War I, then tries to draw comparisons between the maid and the war. Um, what? It doesn't even make sense. Utterly disappointed that this is our "one book, one community" selection.

[Mitch Karunaratne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this - it's less about the actual murder and more about the interconnecting threads of society that surrounded the event. Whilst Albert Massey was undeniably shot the household's 18 year old Carrie Davies - the book focuses on the influence of the media, the idea of celebratory, powerful men and powerful male driven organisations. It's well written, the courtroom scenes are brisk and it turned out to be a good history lesson!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

It talks less about the trial and more about the war at the time in Europe..
Felt more like a history book than an interesting trial.
It is near the end of the book when she discusses the trial where it you get a little hooked, but you may as well google the trial or find another book :)

[Brian Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about women’s rights as much as it is about a murder. Very good book Charlotte Gray is an excellent writer.

[Rachel McMillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

YOU GUYS ! I love this book. I can't even.... I CAN'T EVEN! I can't even

I love it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!


I am so obsessed with Edwardian period Toronto and this was a brilliantly researched exposition of a lost world. The class system, the raging far-away Great War, the shifting tides of Social convention and the power suddenly given women.

Not to mention the amazing court scenes when a British domestic is pitted against one of the titular families in Toronto's WASPY heritage


I can't even talk about how much I loved this. I just loved it. I LOVE IT! Charlotte Gray has long been one of Canada's most narrative and lyrical historians and her work is so excessively readable; but this! This hit all the right chords. It is a time period I cannot get enough of in the city of my heart.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part true crime and part Canadian history. The author reports a famous murder case in Toronto in 1915, of socialite Charles Massey by his maid Carrie Davies, and inserts it into a snapshot of what was happening in Canada and especially in Toronto at that time. The eventual outcome of Carrie Davies trial was very interesting but I found the historical aspect of the book fascinating. It broadly covers Canada's contribution to the war but really focuses on the growth of Toronto as a powerful, economic force in the country. It talks about the development of architecture, the socio-economic situation in the city, business, immigration and women's rights of the time. It was a really interesting history lesson woven into the story of a murder trial.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very well done - Charlotte Grey is such a good writer! With mainly newspaper articles from 1915 as her sources - plus various sources giving the social and political context of the time (including WWI) - she managed to tell a lively tale that reads like a courtroom drama. Excellent - I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the balancing of war news with trial news and I found some of the old Toronto history interesting, but I was unsatisfied nonetheless. I still have no idea why Carrie Davies shot Bert Massey other than her supposed fear of possibly being assaulted. I had no real connection to her, and surely part of the reason to write the book would be to understand her (and Massey's) story?

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My latest foray into nonfiction is Charlotte Gray’s fantastic Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master, and the Trial that Shocked a Country. On the surface, Gray takes a look at a trial, but this book is much more. It’s a snapshot of Toronto during a time of change and turmoil. Women were fighting to be recognized as something more than wives and mothers, and Canadians were shipping off to Europe to fight on the front lines. The trial and the war do not initially make much sense being juxtaposed against one another, but the strength of Gray’s writing is in her ability to combine a seemingly unrelated trial to the larger scope of events that occupied the minds of an entire country.

In February 1915, eighteen year old, Carrie Davies shot and killed her employer, Charles “Bert” Massey. This act captured the attention of the masses for a short time in February, and showcases the divided attitudes and social codes of a city in flux.

Immediately following the shooting, Carrie was arrested and brought to trial, much quicker than would have been expected. The Massey family attempted to quiet the scandal, but the newspapers and one intrepid lawyer would not let this story die. Not because Carrie was innocent, there’s no way of truly knowing this, but because of the prestige this case offered. The newspapers sold stories and took very biased approaches to the Carries innocence of lack thereof. The lawyer wanted the notoriety that he could receive from both defending Carrie and getting ahead of a very powerful Toronto family.

What immediately struck me in The Massey Murder is the fact that Carrie, the apparent “heroine” of this narrative, played such a passive role. Every single person around her used her and her situation for some advantage. Carrie’s lawyer didn’t really even spend much time with Carrie and he spun a convincing tale that put Carrie into a positive light for the jury. Carrie Davies caused the event that sparked much debate, but she wasn’t really involved in any deciding factors of her fate. This struck me as unbearably sad, and really speaks to the status of women at this time. Yes, women were fighting for rights, but the way Carrie was manipulated throughout her trial demonstrates how far these women had to go. It also says much about the justice system of the time (and perhaps today’s, as well). I also think that the manipulation of Carrie also speaks to the manipulation of both the masses and the men who were convinced to go to war for "duty" and "honour". For me, the theme of manipulation is what brought the seemingly divergent threads together.

It was fascinating how Gray combined one contained event (the murder and trial) and threaded within a much larger narrative: the war. I was surprised about the amount of time the author spent detailing the war, but I do think it worked here. The scandalous murder helped Torontonians focus on something other than the war effort, and I think it explained much of the attitude that the general public had towards Carrie and the entire trial. Without the war narrative, I think it would be difficult to truly understand the attitude of the people of the city and subsequently, those involved in the trial.

The newspaper element was also interesting to me, especially the notion of newspaper wars. Gray expertly demonstrates how blatantly the popular newspapers of the day spun the murder of Bert Massey to suit their needs. One, The Evening Telegram, was on the side of Carrie; they played to their readership and garnered their sympathies by emphasizing Carrie's Britishness and innocence. The Toronto Daily Star, on the other hand, went in opposite direction, putting forth Carrie as the villain in this piece. Neither was concerned with the truth of the events, but were motivated by less admirable goals. These newspapers and the people that ran them, had prejudices and supported certain factions and families in the city, and supporting them came paramount to the truth of events.

Ultimately, The Massey Murder was a great read. I loved Gray’s writing style and I think it will appeal to fiction readers who are not in love with nonfiction. I also think the showcasing of historic Toronto will appeal to fans of the popular TV show, Murdoch Mysteries, I know it came immediately to mind as soon as I started reading this one. A highly recommended read!

*Originally published with similar reads at The Book Adventures.

[Jennifer Rayment · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Good Stuff

The amount of research put into this is truly mind boggling
My father used to talk about this case to me when I was growing up. For such a kind hearted, giving man, he had a true fascination with true crime stories which always made me laugh. I know murder isn't funny, but it always seemed funny that he loved hearing about these cases. Miss you Dad
Enjoyed reading about places I knew and had been too. Guess I should put this in the not so good, because it kinda made me home sick
Made history come alive - this is the kinda book that will make kids interested in history. Canadian history isn't boring guys, just most history teachers make it feel that way (Except for you Mr Shore -- you taught it the way it should be taught)
Didn't feel like Non-fiction - felt at times like I was reading a fast paced thriller
Thoroughly disgusted on how women were treated during this era - hard for someone like me to understand how lucky we have it today - not perfect I know, but still so much better
Did I mention how truly fascinating this piece of non fiction is. Couldn't put the damn thing down and that is truly unusual, as I am more a fiction girl.
Mentions my home town of Richmond Hill - I know that is a terribly geeky observation - but hey, did I mention I am homesick
Blown away about how little input Carrie had in her own defense
Truly disgusted about the atrocious treatment Carrie received in order to prove that she was a virgin
In depth sources section at the end of the book
A must read for those interested in Toronto history

The Not So Good Stuff

Felt a little drawn out at times, but I guess with only so much background about the actual murder, it had to be done

Favorite Quotes

"But the city's social elite was an exclusive club. Toronto's Fine Old Ontario Families ("FOOFs" as they had come to be called) resented the mercantile class. "I do not care for Toronto as I used to," Colonel George Denison, who typified the old guard, told a friend in 1911. "Parvenus are as plentiful as blackberries, and the vulgar ostentation of the common rich is not a pleasant sight."

"Gossip was easier to absorb than the welter of confusing stories out of distant countries on the far side of the Atlantic. The only sources of information about the war, not in its seventh month, were newspaper reports and the rumours they triggered: there was no radio, let alone any of the information technology we take granted for today."

"When Martin first applied to Osgoode, an outraged and deeply conservative bencher harrumphed that her admission would prove "disastrous to the best interests of women," and that anyway, no self-respecting woman of fashion would want to wear the official robes of a litigator."


4 Dewey's


I received a copy from HarperCollins at the Indigo Insider event, I am not required in any way to write a review for it - I just like to tell people what I think

[H Wesselius · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a social history, its extremely interesting. As true crime book, its marginal.

Using the murder and trial as a vehicle to tell the story of the development of Canadian nationalism, Gray weaves a tale of a changing of the guard in Toronto and Canada. And its the latter that's the weakness of the book. Trying to connect the changing face of Toronto to the development of Canada is a stretch and probably reminder of a Toronto-centric universe. In addition, she attempts to connect WWI and the murder on equal footing, an impossible task.

A good social history but an overstatement of importance as her post-trial summary indicates.

[Emmkay · Rating 2 out of 5]

In 1915, a lesser member of the powerful Massey family was shot dead by his teenage housemaid on his doorstep, leading to a sensational trial that gripped the attention of Torontonians otherwise inundated with news of the war. Fun to read more about the city's past. Not earth-shaking insights - some cliches, and based on a rather brief trial and some newspaper articles - but it was ok.

[Carolyn Blocka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to give this book 3 and a half stars.
I enjoyed reading this book and learning about some of the history of Toronto. I especially liked the small glimpse of the Massey family.

[Cindy Wiedemer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was an enormous disappointment. I found the main theme of the book; a maid killing her boss would be the major focus of the book, sadly this was not the case. It was almost like the author really needed a feminine focus on a story she really wanted to write about Canada's involvement in WWI. Had I known I would be reading more about politics and the lives of Canadian soldiers than about the actual case, I wouldn't have purchased let alone read it. It was long, boring and not sure why an author would choose a book about a case she discloses in the book have very few details preserved or known. Felt like a stretch to say it was a "trial that shocked a country" maybe shocked a city, if that. Overall didn't enjoy the book the only reason I didn't just give 1 Star is because the writing style was easy to follow and detailed (about other topics)

[TK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gray does an outstanding job of taking the meagre-est of historical detail and turning it into a portrait of human beings with whom the reader can identify.
The amplification of historical detail tilts towards the excessive, in all honesty; you have been warned!
The best part for me: references to my great-great grandfather, William Hamilton, the strong woman he raised as a daughter, (name to be inserted), and the fact his iron foundry created the beautiful ornate iron fencing around Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto. My own Dad used to remind my sisters and I that the revolving gates in the fence were designed to permit humans to enter the grounds while keeping stray cows out!

[Sandra O'hagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very long sluggish read with other books read in between so that I wouldn’t give up on it.
It read like a history book and while I do commend the writer on the extensive research, I found it tough to get through.
Between the newspaper history, the politics and the war, I felt the true crime story often was not at the forefront of this book.
Despite all the research it was disappointing not to really feel like you got to know the main protagonist, Carrie Davies, due to very little on record about her.
As far as Toronto history goes and news paper reporting of the time, some of this was quite interesting.

[Heather Babcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely thrilling! The story of Carrie Davies', a maid who shot and killed her employer Charles Bert Massey of the wealthy Massey family, is told with fingernail biting suspense and vivid detail by Charlotte Gray. I felt as though I had been transported to 1915 and I was gripped by the story as much as Toronto residents were at the time. As I carried the book around with me on my travels throughout the city, I was stopped by a number of people who told me that they had also read the book and loved it. HIGHLY recommended!

[Kathleen Nightingale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like reading Charlotte Gray's books. They are so insightful and I always finish with satisfaction and of learning something which i did not know previously. Highly recommend any of her books.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great look into an interesting time in Toronto's history.

[Damaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlotte Gray shines in The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master and the Trial that Shocked a Nation. A story of a young domestic servant terrified of losing her virtue and threatened by her employer, Gray delicately weaves true facts, supporting evidence, cultural clues and detailed quotes from newspapers and records to tell the story of Carrie Davies. I really enjoyed this story, particularly the way Gray skillfully tied Carrie's story to the story of World War One, which happened at the same time. Hearing about Carrie's life after the murder, and how she moved on, was also extremely touching. Gray is so talented, and every book of hers teaches you new things about Canada's history, and about Canadians themselves. Bravo, Gray!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

In February of 1915 Charles (Bert) Massey was returning home after work only to be surprised by Carrie Davies standing in his doorway. Carrie was the Massey’s 18-year-old housemaid and she was holding a gun. She fired the gun into Bert Massey three times and succeeding in killing the son of one of Toronto’s richest ruling elite. She confessed to police, was removed from the residence and spent time in the “Don Jail” awaiting her trial.

Seems rather cut and dried? Add to that the fact that not much is left in the way of records or transcripts other than newspaper articles and the occasional diary entry and it seems that Ms. Gray may have chosen a difficult murder trial to write about. I grant you this book may be a bit misrepresented by the title. Yes, it is about the Massey murder but that story is only the stepping-stone into this book and the thread the ties together the important people in the book; the Toronto elite; the movers and shakers; the disturbers of the calm and of course, the immigrants and the poor. When WWI is factored in as well as the perspective from the several newspapers operating at the time Ms. Gray gives us an accurate representation of Canada’s largest city in the early 1900’s.

This book was chosen as Waterloo Region’s “One Book – One Community” book for 2014. A committee made up of the booksellers, librarians, booklovers and the public, chooses one book each year from a long list of 75 entries. The book must be written by a living Canadian author with a known body of work, it must appeal to the broadest possible audience and needs to encourage the exchange of ideas, including community building and program potential. Ideally it must have some element of the “WOW” factor and must be in print and available in paperback to make it affordable and accessible for all. The aim of the program is to have as many people as possible discussing the same book … to build a community of readers.

I try to read the “One Book – One Community” selection every year and I enjoyed this year’s book very much. There have been quite a few negative reviews written, based on the title, but I felt the book delivered so much more than just a retelling of a long ago murder. I lived in Toronto for several years and have walked on the streets mentioned in the book, have visited some of the locations and have even dined in what was once the Massey Mansion (now know as The Keg Mansion, Restaurant and Steak Houseä). I concede that this may have made it a little more interesting for me personally, yet I would still recommend it as an excellent read and I applaud the committee on their choice.

[Doreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a great reader of non-fiction, but books by Charlotte Gray always tempt me and this one was chosen by both Amazon.ca and The Globe and Mail as a top 100 book of the year and was a finalist for the RBC Taylor Prize. Gray does not disappoint.

Charles “Bert” Massey, grandson of the Massey agricultural-machinery empire, was shot by the family maid, 18-year-old Carrie Davies, on Feb. 8, 1915, when he arrived home at the end of the workday. She claimed to be afraid of further sexual advances by her employer. The crime and subsequent trial made headline news.

In the preface, Gray states, “This book is a story about Toronto in the early twentieth century, a fast-changing and divided community in the process of reinvention, and about Canada as it embarked on a century of dramatic evolution” and her description is certainly accurate. It portrays life in Toronto during the first years of WWI, Canadian jurisprudence and politics, the sexual mores and class divisions of the era, the conditions under which domestic servants lived, the emergence of organizations fighting for women’s rights, and the wars between newspapers.

Many times, the murder case takes a back seat to the study of society, so the title is actually misleading. Gray sometimes does not meet the challenge of “prevent[ing] the layers of circumstantial detail from overshadowing the story.” Gray describes Carrie as “a cork floating on powerful cross-currents of assumptions about class, race and gender” and Gray meticulously researched these cross-currents to explain the reason for the eventual verdict.

As in Gray’s other books, the portraits of participants are vivid. Hartley Dewart, Carrie’s defense lawyer; Chief Justice Sir William Mulock, the presiding judge; John Ross Robertson, owner of the Evening Telegram; and Mary Ethel Massey, the victim’s sister-in-law, are especially memorable.

This is an excellent example of narrative non-fiction. It is a wonderful chronicle of life in Toronto one hundred years ago and it shows how the turmoil of that time decided the fate of a lowly domestic servant.

Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Charlotte Gray delivers a moment in time in Canada that tells stories, puts things into political, economic and social context, and makes you even prouder to be Canadian!

I had never heard about this case before the publicity for the book started, but it really is quite a fascinating story. It crosses so many societal changes and challenges in the time. Women's rights, the changes war creates, how differing social classes can, and more importantly, should behave, as well as changes in how laws were applied are all subsidiary stories in this book. For a Torontonian especially, it really is engrossing to step back in time through Gray's absolutely wonderful writing and experience the city as it was a century ago!

The way the story is told - from available first hand accounts and sources - although limiting for the author in the latitude she could use to make this an entertining book still allowed for showing the reader what happened, and who did what to whom [depending on whose side you choose to accept] and how things ended up. The inclusion of the participation by Canadians in WWI really rounds out the understanding of why certain people involved with the case made the decisions they did, and what influence patriotism had.

Charlotte Gray is a tremendous non-fiction author, and her books always seamlessly combine, history, societal issues, and interesting people in ways that make for an excellent read, as well as eduction on the history of our country. I always enjoy her books tremendously, and this was no exception. Highly recommended for those interested in Toronto/Canadian history, or true-crime of the historial variety. Great read!

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the continuum between biography and historical fiction and biography, The Massey Murder falls completely on the latter end. Gray has done very thorough research into not just the Massey family but also turn of the (last) century Toronto and WWI. Despite this, she still tells a fluid and enthralling story most of the time. I must admit, though, that the story she tells is so thematically dense that I would have enjoyed it more as a novel. For example, here is a quote from page 16, the last paragraph of chapter 1;

"Now, within a city and country under stress, Carrie Davie's actions played into contemporary disquiet about the dissolution of Old World standards of behaviour. Whatever did Carrie Davies think she was doing? Was this the kind of thing that would happen if people didn't know their place, and women were given the vote? Did Charles Albert Massey's death presage more fundamental shifts, perhaps - at best, Canada's evolution towards its own unique national identity at worst, a slide into social chaos within Toronto thanks to growing numbers of immigrants?"

I think I would have enjoyed the book more if I had been able to make these connections on my own instead of having them laid out for me. (I'm imaging what a younger Atwood would have done with this plot.) On the other hand, writing as a biography instead of as a novel allowed Gray to insert 21st century references that help the reader understand the norms of the day, such as converting any dollar amounts referenced (such as Massey's net work circa 1900) into 2014 equivalent dollars.

[Mary-Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliantly written and captivating nonfiction book! The author provides well-researched and fascinating historical context to the murder of Bert Massey (of the wealthy Canadian Massey clan) by his maid Carrie Davies in Toronto in February 1915 (exactly 100 years ago). The remarkable part of the story is that Carrie was found not guilty by the jury, clearly in violation of Criminal Code guidelines, and the finding was not used as a precedent in other cases. The author provides insightful backgrounds of the Massey family, the Davies family, the magistrate, the prosecutor, the defense lawyer, the rivaling newspapers, the newspaper reporters, Canadian politics, 1915 Toronto, Canada's involvement in WWI, the handling of sexual assault at that time, and the role of women in society. After her acquittal, Carrie Davies faded into oblivion, but a resourceful reporter found Carrie's daughter in the 1980s. The daughter had no idea of her mother's history and never did read the reporter's book written about the case. I can just picture this book being made into an excellent episode of Murdoch Mysteries.