Sarah Fairbanks & Lizzie Borden

It was interesting to me that the story The Long Arm was based on/inspired by the Lizzie Borden murders.  After refreshing my memory on what the exact events were in that case, though, I only see a few similarities.  In both cases, there are young women who are at one point accused of murdering one or both of their parents.  Both women alter/destroy dresses after the murders take place.  Both had wealthy fathers and stood to inherit a good deal of money after they died.  Both were acquitted of the crimes, but still remained figures of suspicion.   The main difference is that the murder in The Long Arm was eventually solved, while the Borden case is still under much speculation.  Another thing the two stories have in common is that they're highly intriguing.  I had never read a mystery from this time period, and it was interesting to see how the plot was set up and how the female author and protagonist went about handling the situation.  The story had most of the conventions we expect from a murder mystery:  multiple suspects, various clues, and hidden motivations that don't come to the surface until the very end.  I have to say, though, that I wasn't overly surprised that the culprit ended up being Phoebe Dole.  She was cast in a suspicious light from the beginning, and her confession ended up being her most shocking action.  The women in the story were definitely identifiable to the time period; Sarah was obedient to her father, Maria Woods is reduced to hysterics and fainting spells, and neither Sarah nor Phoebe is able to muster the strength to pull the trigger of a gun.  The situation Sarah finds herself in is definitely something new, but other than that the characterizations of the characters, both male and female, in the story seem very "of the times".  I think that the story of The Long Arm could have been more successful as a mystery had it more resembled the Lizzy Borden case, in that so many of the questions remain unanswered, which heightens the interest and tension.  Because The Long Arm is written in the form of Sarah Fairbanks's journal, the reader is more just given the facts instead of much plot.  The story is there, but the mystery and suspense is lacking.