In this new series Lucy Worsley switches her attention from Lady Killers to Lady Swindlers - con women, thieves and hustlers.

This is where true crime meets history - with a twist. Lucy and her team of all female detectives travels back more than a hundred years to revisit the audacious and surprising crimes of women trying to make it in a world made for men.

This time Lucy is in London telling the story of Madame Rachel - Sarah Rachel Russell - an utterly ruthless Victorian beauty scammer and blackmailer who promises her clients she will make them ‘beautiful for ever’.

Madame Rachel’s exotic salon in Bond Street attracts the rich, and the posh, and – so she claims – the royal family. Her beauty products sell for outlandish prices. But when she turns to extortion and blackmail the full extent of her swindles are revealed.

With Lucy to explore Madame Rachel’s story is the journalist and beauty editor Anita Bhagwandas, author of Ugly: Giving us back our beauty standards . They discover how Madame Rachel preys on the insecurities of women to sell her products, and how her notoriety fuels debates in Victorian England about the immorality of cosmetics and how much control women should have over their finances.

Lucy is also joined by historian Professor Rosalind Crone. They visit the site of Madame Rachel’s salon in Bond Street, and London’s Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, where Madame Rachel’s career ended in disgrace – and where the truth about what was actually in her beauty products was finally revealed.

Lucy wants to know: is Madame Rachel a pioneering Victorian businesswoman or is she the biggest beauty scammer of her day? And why are women today still in thrall to the beauty industry selling them promises of youth and beauty?

Producer: Jane Greenwood Readers: Clare Corbett and Jonathan Keeble Singer: Olivia Bloore Sound Design: Chris Maclean Executive producer: Kirsty Hunter

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.

If you're in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

In this brand new series Lucy Worsley switches her attention from Lady Killers to Lady Swindlers - con women, thieves and hustlers.

This is where true crime meets history - with a twist. Lucy and her team of all female detectives travel back more than 100 years to revisit the audacious and surprising crimes of women trying to make it in a world made for men.

In this episode Lucy is exploring Sophie Lyons, pickpocket, blackmailer and conwoman extraordinaire, known as the infamous Queen of the Underworld.

Born in Germany in the late 1840s, aged 8 Sophie moves to New York, USA. She is taught from an early age to steal and pickpockets, and is in jail from the young age of 12.

She becomes a career criminal, constantly crafting new schemes and disguises to make money. But in her later years, Sophie has a change of heart and encourages others to stay away from a life of crime such as hers. She even writes a book: ‘Why Crime Does Not Pay’.

With Lucy to explore Sophie’s story is Guest Detective, Evy Poumpouras, former NYPD officer, criminal investigator, interrogator, and ex special agent with the US Secret Service. Being a first-generation American herself, Evy discusses Sophie’s experience as an immigrant in underworld New York and how women are drawn into crime to survive.

Lucy is also joined by biographer Barbara Gray, who is writing a book on Sophie. Barbara visits the site of Sophie’s childhood home to tell us about what life was like as an immigrant in 1850s New York. And she explores the veracity of Sophie’s memoirs, asking the question - how much can we trust her?

Lucy wants to know: is Sophie’s reform genuine, or just another scheme to make money? Can a career criminal ever truly give up crime?

Producer: Hannah Fisher Readers: Laurel Lefkow and Jonathan Keeble Sound Design: Chris Maclean Executive producer: Kirsty Hunter

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.

If you're in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

Lucy Worsley, historian Professor Rosalind Crone and author and journalist Helen Lewis, explore the lives of four notorious Lady Swindlers. They’ll be discussing underworld boss Tilly Devine, fake heiress Violet Charlesworth, queen of shoplifting Alice Diamond and fake Princess Mary Baker a.k.a. “Princess Caraboo”. These women - through cunning and bravado - carve out notorious reputations and leave unforgettable legacies that we’re still talking about today. Lucy and her guests imagine what our Lady Swindlers lives would look like now. Would they have become internet famous and built personal brands? Or would their audacity led to them being cancelled? They also discuss how our swindlers manipulate perceptions and navigate their world to live the lives they dreamed of, unapologetically. From Princess Caraboo's elaborate cosplay and Violet Charlesworth’s audacious lifestyle to Tilly Devine's criminal empire, the series paints a vivid picture of women who dared.

Producer: Riham Moussa Readers: Clare Corbett and Jonathan Keeble Sound Design: Chris Maclean Executive producer: Kirsty Hunter

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4

If you're in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

In this episode of Lady Swindlers, Lucy Worsley meets Violet Charlesworth, an heiress with a taste for the high life. From her family home in North Wales, Violet drives the length and breadth of the country in her expensive motorcars, accompanied by pedigree pooches and dripping with diamonds. Lucy asks: is there more to her than meets the eye?

She is joined by iconic crime writer Denise Mina (‘Garnethill Trilogy’, ‘Three Fires’) and Lady Swindlers in-house historian Professor Rosalind Crone to find out all about Violet’s prodigious spending habit and looming debts.

The whole country is shocked when, late one night in January 1909, Violet loses control of her car on her way home from Bangor. It looks like she’s hit the wall that lines the coast road and shot through the windscreen and down the cliff face, but there is no sign of her body and her family are apparently unconcerned.

Lucy’s investigative trio look at the wall-to-wall media coverage of Violet’s disappearance. They hear from Welsh historian Elin Tomos at the crash site, which is still known as Violet’s Leap, and at the Charlesworths’ house, Bôd Erw in the village of Llanelwy/St Asaph. They consider the new freedoms women were exploring at the beginning of the early 20th century and the idea of the New Woman – independent, educated and openly feminist.

Together, they ask: what motivated this audacious woman? Can we sympathise with her? Was she, truly, a woman ahead of her time?

Producer: Sarah Goodman Readers: Clare Corbett, Iwan Fôn and Jonathan Keeble Location Historian: Elin Tomos Sound Design: Chris Maclean Executive producer: Kirsty Hunter

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.

If you're in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

Lucy Worsley investigates the career of one of Sydney’s most notorious gangsters, Tilly Devine. Draped in furs and encrusted in jewels, she’s the madam of one of the most lucrative brothel networks the city’s ever seen.

What brings Tilly from south London to Sydney? How does she rise to the top of the city’s ruthless, gritty 1920s gangster crime scene? To track Tilly’s story, Lucy is joined by historian Leigh Straw and Guest Detective Christine Nixon, the first female chief commissioner in an Australian state police force.

Together the team trace Tilly’s crossing from London to Sydney as a ‘War Bride’ and her ruthless ambition to make it in a man’s world. Young Tilly joins a criminal underworld lit up by all night parties, soaked in illicit liquor, and menaced by dangerous brawls. Her ruthless rise to riches doesn’t go unchecked, hot on her heels is police officer Lillian Armfield, specially chosen to join New South Wales’s first female police force. Will the police and the long arm of the law prevail over the Queen of Vice? Will the vicious Razor Wars and Tilly’s bitter feud with her nemesis, female gangland crime boss Kate Leigh, be her undoing?

Lucy and her team of all female detectives find out.

Producer: Emily Hughes Readers: Clare Corbett, Jonathan Keeble and Guy Dow-Sainter.  Sound Design: Chris Maclean Executive Producer: Kirsty Hunter

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.

If you're in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

Lucy Worsley and her all-female team of detectives travel back in time to meet con artists, hoaxers and crooks from across the world. Women living extraordinary lives in a world made for men.

In this episode of Lady Swindlers, Lucy meets Princess Caraboo, a woman abducted from palace gardens in Indonesia, traded by pirates and carried away to South West England in 1817. Or so she says…

Lucy is joined in the studio by writer and broadcaster Salma El-Wardany, presenter of BBC Radio London’s Breakfast Show, to delve into this sensational story. Lucy then heads to the village where it all happened to meet Lady Swindlers in-house historian Professor Rosalind Crone.

Together, they follow Caraboo’s journey from wandering vagrant to star attraction. They ask how a woman with no money, no papers and not a word of English could walk into a rural community in Regency England and wind up living in a grand manor house as an honoured guest. They consider her very ‘unladylike’ behaviour: climbing trees, swimming naked in the lake, shooting arrows and gutting pigeons. They reflect on the influence of nearby Bristol, a cosmopolitan city rich on profits from the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans.

The team discuss how we judge strangers, particularly women, and whether desperation can justify deceit. Would we judge Princess Caraboo any differently today?

Producer: Sarah Goodman Readers: Clare Corbett and Jonathan Keeble Sound Design: Chris Maclean Executive producer: Kirsty Hunter

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.

If you're in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

In this brand new series Lucy Worsley switches her attention from Lady Killers to Lady Swindlers - conwomen, thieves and hustlers.

This is where true crime meets history - with a twist. Lucy and her team of all female detectives travel back more than 100 years to revisit the audacious and surprising crimes of women trying to make it in a world made for men.

In this first episode Lucy is investigating the career of Alice Diamond, the queen of the UK’s most famous all female crime syndicate in the early 20th century. By the age of 18 Alice is leading a gang of incredibly successful professional shoplifters from South East London, known as the Forty Thieves, whose audacious and carefully planned raids on London’s new department stores make them notorious.

With Lucy to explore Alice Diamond’s story is Professor Lorraine Gamman, the founder of the Design Against Crime Research Initiative at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London, which works to reduce shoplifting. Lorraine also has a fascinating personal connection to Alice Diamond through Alice’s apprentice, Shirley Pitts, and she helped Shirley write her memoir ‘Gone Shopping’.

Lucy is also joined by historian Rosalind Crone to visit Southwark in South East London where Alice spends her childhood moving from one set of dismal lodgings to another to avoid the rent man. And they visit another of Alice’s haunts: Marlborough Street Magistrates’ Court, where she faces dozens of charges of shoplifting.

Lucy wants to know: is Alice Diamond a beacon of female liberation or is she just a serial criminal? How were opportunities for women changing in the early 20th century? What does Alice’s story tell us about the lives of women born into poverty then, and asks how much has changed for women today?

Producer: Jane Greenwood Readers: Clare Corbett and Jonathan Keeble Sound Design: Chris Maclean Executive Producer: Kirsty Hunter

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.

If you're in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

In this brand new series of Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley we switch our attention to the swindlers, conwomen and hustlers.

This is where true crime meets history - with a twist. Join Lucy Worsley and a team of all female detectives as they travel back in time to revisit the audacious - and surprising - crimes of women who were trying to make it in a world made for men.

Women who stepped outside their ordinary lives to do extraordinary things. What do their crimes and the times they lived in teach us about womens’ lives today? We meet Queens of the Underworld, hoaxers, thieves, scammers and even a fake heiress as we travel back in time and from England, Wales, Scotland, the US and Australia.

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.

If you're in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

In this special episode of Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley, recorded in front of a live audience, Lucy is joined by Professor Rosalind Crone, Lady Killers in-house historian and Salma el-Wardany, writer, poet and BBC Breakfast presenter. They look back at the last three seasons and offer an exclusive preview of the new season, Lady Swindlers.

Lady Killers is where Lucy Worsley and a crack team of female detectives investigate the crimes of women from the 19th and 20th Century from a contemporary, feminist perspective.

Producer: Julia Hayball Assistant Producer: Riham Moussa Readers: Clare Corbett and Jonathan Keeble Sound Design: Chris Maclean Executive Producer: Kirsty Hunter

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.

If you're in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

Lucy Worsley and Rosalind Crone are joined by Helen Lewis, author of ‘Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights.’ They discuss what it means to be a difficult woman and why the airbrushing of feminist history can be problematic.

Together they discuss four of the most difficult women across the Lady Killers series; Mary Surratt, Alice Mitchell, Mary Ann Brough and Maria Manning. Each one commits wild and unspeakable crimes. They are anti-heroines; breaking taboos around sexuality, motherhood and sexual relationships. Lucy, Ros and Helen explore the value of understanding the diversity of women's lives in the past, and how this enables us to get a little bit closer to understanding ourselves.

Produced in partnership with the Open University.

Producer: Emily Hughes. Sound design: Chris Maclean Series Producer: Julia Hayball.

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4

New episodes will be released on Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. But if you’re in the UK, listen to the latest full series of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds - Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley - Available Episodes: http://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

Lucy Worsley travels back in time to revisit the unthinkable crimes of 19th century murderesses from the UK, Australia and North America.

In this episode, Lucy is joined by Alexandra Wilson, a barrister specialising in criminal and family law and author of ‘In Black and White’, to explore the case of Mary Ann Brough in 1854.

Mary Ann lives in the picturesque county of Surrey, close to London. She’s married to George, who lives and works at the stately home nearby, while Mary Ann stays at home looking after six of their children. It sounds like an idyllic family life. But there are cracks beneath the surface. George suspects Mary Ann of having an affair and even hires a private detective to follow her to see if his suspicions are correct.

After the detective reports back, George confronts Mary Ann and declares he will be starting legal proceedings to take full custody of their children. After he leaves, Mary Ann puts the children to bed, but later that evening she commits a drastic act. She slits the throats of each of her children before trying to kill herself.

She is discovered the next day still alive, fully admitting to what she did. But why did she do it? Was it a cloud of insanity that took over her in a flash? Or was it to stop her husband gaining custody of the children and taking them away?

Lucy Worsley is also joined by Professor Rosalind Crone from the Open University. Together, they visit the village Mary Ann lived in and the stately estate nearby. In the studio with Alexandra Wilson they discuss the circumstances surrounding Mary Ann’s crime and how the custody laws at the time may have impacted her actions. Lucy asks, has the way society treats custody disputes changed since Mary Ann’s time and does it view each parent equally? Produced in partnership with the Open University.

Producer: Hannah Fisher Readers: Clare Corbett, Jonathan Keeble Singer: Olivia Bloore Sound design: Chris Maclean Series Producer: Julia Hayball

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4

New episodes will be released on Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. But if you’re in the UK, listen to the latest full series of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds - Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley - Available Episodes: http://bbc.in/3M2pT0K