I knew nothing about Mrs. Gordon Baillie, aka Annie, before I read The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman: The Life and Crimes of Mrs. Gordon Baillie by Mick Davis, but the summary sounded too intriguing to pass up. Her life story seems like it was pretty well researched for this account and it's presented in a way that's easy to follow. Unfortunately, it took me a bit longer than I would have to get into it. Plus, there are quite a few moments where the book drags and slowed down too much. I definitely would like to know more about Mrs. Baillie and others like her from that time period.

An extremely well researched and written story about an intriguing woman Mrs. Gordon Baillie, or Annie. She had a wide variety of ways in which to swindle people out of something and escape just before she would have been caught. This author did such a wonderful job of grabbing this story from history and bringing it to life to provide quite the entertaining read.

I found this book truely fascinating. The fact that this woman existed and her tale isn’t a work of fiction amuses me to no end.

The material was well researched and presented in a very concise, yet clear way.

I don’t often review non- fiction, but I was deeply intrigued with this book and would recommend this book wholeheartedly.

As I have never actually read any true crime and generally stay firmly in fiction this was something new for me. But with the title of “The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman” how could I not read it? I mean real life can be much stranger than fiction and ideas for fiction have to come from somewhere, right? It was quite interesting to learn of the misadventures and antics of Mrs Gordon Baillie. When you think of true crime you wouldn’t imagine that there might be some humor involved. It was very well written and obviously very well researched making it a rather enjoyable read.

Annie is a Victorian con woman that I knew nothing about before picking up this book. You can not help but admire Annie despite the path that she chose. I loved reading about her wide variety of ways in which she would con people out of something, and it was exciting to learn about her ways of escape just before she would have been caught.

I found myself laughing out loud in some parts, I feel as though I have learned a lot about her, it was well researched and an enjoyable read. it was nice to read about a female in history that the public is not aware of. It balanced the information with the narrative very well.

Unfortunately, at some points, it did feel like a fiction story just with how it was written and there were numerous spelling and grammar mistakes. A bit of editing before release would make the book better.

While I did enjoy this book, it did take me a few chapters to get into it. It felt like I was reading a history book in spots and it just dragged on. What I did love about the book was that her life felt almost like a good fiction. I also wonder if the writers for White Collar got their ideas from her life. This is something my aunt would love and I will tell her she would need to pick this up when it comes out. Mrs Gordon Baillie sounds like some men and women today, just imagine if she had the technologies we have today, how much trouble she could get into. I want to thank Netgalley and Pen & Sword History for letting me read this.

Mrs. Gordon Baillie, or Annie, is a Victorian con woman that I knew nothing about before picking up this book. I loved reading about her wide variety of ways in which to swindle people out of something, and it was exciting to learn about her ways of escape just before she would have been caught.

There were some parts that created a more humorous view of Annie's situations, and I enjoyed those as I found myself laughing out loud! The story is written so that while we are learning about her, it feels more like a story and less like a non-fiction history book. It was a good mix of info and story.

I thought that this was a well-researched novel with information that was put together in a wonderful, and enjoyable way! It was so interesting to read, and I think that readers that enjoy learning about infamous females in history will enjoy this!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

An interesting read. The story is well written and a nice look into a different time and way of life. The manner in which she was able to get away with what she did was really interesting.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

My thanks to the publishers for an advanced review copy of this biography of a most extraordinarily accomplished and colourful fraudster. Latterly and most famously known as Mrs Gordon Baillie, Annie of the more than 40 aliases was in fact a washerwoman’s illegitimate daughter born in the slums of Peterhead, who spent her life pretending to be a Scottish aristocrat espousing worthy causes and lived on the proceeds.

She richly exploited a deep vein of chauvinist snobbery within the Victorian elites who were duped by her again and again in elaborate and fantastical scams and swindles she perpetrated on a grand scale across cities and towns in Scotland, England, Italy, France, Belgium, America, New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania. Remarkably, the same people were often duped by her more than once.

Her inevitable downfall was due to her inability to ever knowingly pay for anything, no matter how trivial. Not paying the milkman was her ultimate undoing in Melbourne, for example. She hardly ever paid for her cabs anywhere.

Nonetheless, she eluded the authorities many times and survived prison a number of times too, only to emerge triumphantly as yet another supposedly philanthropic aristocrat often with literary pretensions, despite being barely able to read and write herself after a childhood spent in and out of the poorhouse.

In the course of her colourful life, she married first a talented tenor opera singer of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operas and then a public school Land League agitator, who joins her on her improbable campaign for Scottish crofters on Skye. Both her husbands flee to Australia in the end. Her path crosses more than one other of the spectacular fraudsters operating in those days and we learn a little about them too.

Inevitably it does not look to be ending well when she eludes us too in the end.

The authors have done a fine research job to bring this astonishing true story to life. There are maybe some improvements good editing could make to the text, which can be repetitive, with the same passage quoted lengthily twice in an early chapter and some names misspelled, such as Gigner or Ginger. The rather long court transcripts could have been edited to tell the story and put in an appendix in full perhaps and there are surely other insights about the story which could have been hazarded in the narration, although maybe they do call for a fictional rather than historical treatment.

Altogether, this is a fascinating read and I thoroughly recommend the book.

This was such a fascinating, entertaining read. Well-written and researched, I loved this book from start to finish, and you can't help but admire Annie despite or perhaps because of the path that she chose. It balanced the information with the narrative very well.

Oh my goodness, this book had me giggling in a few parts - but it was so well done, and put together. You can follow the criminal career of Annie with ease!

From cloaks to asking for fair for transportation, to swindling people out of money for "good works," Annie ran the gambit, doing everything she could to maintain a comfortable lifestyle, while skipping out just in time to keep from being arrested. The police seemed to be one step behind her at every turn.

I enjoyed this read, and the exploits of the dominating Annie.

Notorious Mrs. Gordon Baillie (aka Annie and about 40 other aliases) was a fascinating con woman who lived in the Victorian era, a woman I had not heard of before. But now she will stick out in my mind as her life was absolutely crowded with ingratiating, stealing and racking up debts everywhere she went. And I mean everywhere. When finally found out by Inspector Marshall, in the courtroom evidence was heard from a huge range of people she swindled including a butcher, jeweler, milliner, bankers and many more. She even sold furniture from homes which weren't hers. She largely got away with it for ages! One of her favourite excuses was "forgetting" her purse. Every time things got "hot" she packed up and moved with her servants. Yes, she had servants! Mostly unpaid, of course. She must have had stamina and energy in spades, especially as she also had children, though they did not seem to be important to her.

On the outset she had three immense strikes against her...she was born poor (in Scotland), she was illegitimate and she was female. Her childhood was challenging and it seems to have affected her life thereafter. Her birth was not recorded, either, which made things interesting later. However, she was known to be very beautiful which was advantageous. She was clever, too, and had a way of "borrowing" money then not paying her debts without batting a beautiful eye. She was soon mingling with the rich and famous and married money as well. Her lifestyle was extravagant. However, her compulsiveness continued, probably for the excitement and thrill of not getting caught. Perhaps she became so accustomed to it she was able to justify her lies. She left swaths of debt in several countries.

In spite of her deceit, escapades and prison sentences, I can't help but admire her tenacity and cleverness. Admittedly she was a remarkable woman, very interesting to read about. Non-Fiction readers who wish for something unique and absolutely riveting, look no further than this gem of a book. The authors clearly did their research!

My sincere thank you to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this page turner in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated.