Belle, or the Ballad of Dr. Crippen

First, the mysterious disappearance of a mediocre music-hall artiste, Belle Elmore. Then the flight - questioned by the police, her husband, mild, charming little Doctor Crippen, sails off with his secretary (the other woman) Ethel le Neve. Then the doings - Scotland Yard discovers them in the cellar of Crippen's house. The chase - descriptions circulated by wireless telegraph trace Crippen and Ethel at sea. The arrest - on board the S.S. Montrose off the coast of Canada. The trial - five days of front-page reading. Conviction - for Crippen after the jury has been out only twenty minutes. Aquittal for Ethel as an accessory. The execution. And when it is all over-the arguments: Was the body really Belle? Was the poison meant to kill or just to quieten. WAS IT REALLY MURDER-OR JUST AN ACCIDENT?

These were the ingredients of one of the most dramatic and sensational cases in the history of British justice. A case which made the name of its central figure a household word. A case which has inspired fifty years of non-stop entertainment. Waxworks. Three films. Eight plays. Thirty-nine books. Five hundred and sixty-four newspaper articles.

Monty Norman was a British composer, musician and singer. A contributor to West End musicals in the 1950s and 1960s, he is best known for composing the "James Bond Theme", first heard in the 1962 film Dr. No. He was an Ivor Novello Award and Olivier Award winner, and a Tony Award nominee.