A brutal, seemingly motiveless murder and the attempts of an exceptional detective to solve the crime are the crux of Kate Summerscale's compelling book, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. In the early hours of June 29th, 1860, four year old Saville Kent is horribly slain and stuffed down the hole of the outdoor lavatory. Although the family is not liked among the close community, the suspicion falls on the members of the household, including the maids, governesses and the Kents themselves. When the case becomes unsolvable for the local magistrates, Detective-Inspector Jonathan Whicher is dispatched to solve the crime that has so puzzled and horrified the town. What follows are the attempts of a genius detective to solve an unlikely crime. Through missing evidence, hazy claims of madness and adultery, and a public appetite for all the gory details of the murder, Jack Whicher becomes embroiled in the case that ultimately costs him his reputation and public regard.Whicher is the ultimate detective. Able to accurately pinpoint suspects using scant information and relying heavily on his own hunches, he rises through the ranks of law enforcement rapidly, eventually leading the first group of detectives in history. He is the model upon which the first fictional detectives are based, and his prowess and skill are fully highlighted in this book. Throughout the story, Whicher isn't afraid to pose unpopular speculations, and though the public denounces his hypothesis, he steadfastly works to bring the killer to justice. I found him to be a remarkable man whose abilities were far beyond the time in which he lived, far beyond what we even now expect a detective to be.One of the most intriguing things about this book was the public involvement and mania regarding this case. From the adulation of the detective prototype by the likes of Charles Dickens and Edgar Allen Poe, to the involvement of the public in their mass attendance of the trial, the community's hunger for this case was arresting in it's detail. Many of the townspeople wrote letters speculating who the killer might be; one man even falsely confessed to the crime. It was very ironic that the public at that time was so negatively disposed to the idea of surveillance and detection. The idea that people could be spied upon and that their private homes and their proclivities could be brought into the open was extremely uncomfortable for them to imagine. Many looked upon the detective and his colleagues as unsavory operatives waiting to invade the sanctity of their private lives and abodes. It seemed as though they were eager to find out the secrets of the Kent family while shunning the detection that brought these facts to light. It must have been a fine line to walk for Detective Whicher, whose successes only compounded the community's distrust.The book was meticulously researched and heavily laden with facts. Not only was I privy to the social customs of the time, but also to other murder investigations, detective literature of the time, and facts about the principal characters' private lives. The book was at once enveloping and confidential, while still being surprising and unconventional. The suspense of the story was meted out in an atypical way, and although it ended in a conundrum that couldn't be solved, it was still very satisfying. The one quibble I had with the book was the tremendous quantity of facts throughout. At times it was a little overwhelming. Later chapters seemed to be balanced better and I began to see that the story may have sacrificed some of its urgency by displacing its factual density. The inclusion of photographs and maps was also an illuminating and welcome touch.This book was a very rich and intricate look at a crime that may not be familiar to many, but whose implications and originality have forever shaped the way crimes are handled today. An interesting approach to the crime novel and an enlightening picture of times past.I really liked how this book explained that many of the fictional detectives were based on the detectives in this case. Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens, and many other writers used the detectives in this case as models for their fictional detectives.I read mostly fiction, so a non-fiction book was a slight deviation. I enjoyed the references to the books of the time. It was so interesting to find out how the lives of the family, servants, and detictives turned out after the case was resolved. The confession by one person relieved others from suspicion and blame by the public.The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is the true story of a murder that took place at Road Hill House in the English countryside. One night, at the end of June, 1860, three-year-old Saville Kent was found dead in the privy of his family's estate, his neck severed. A week later, Detective Jack Whicher, of Scotland Yard, arrived on the scene, and promptly determined that Saville's half sister Constance, age 16, committed the horrible crime. What followed was a ghastly revealing of one family's secrets in an era when the family and its home was considered to be sacrosanct.Summerscale writes as though all this is fiction, and walks us right through the crime, from the time the Kents went to bed on that June evening up through a dramatic trial five years later and beyond. There were a number of brutal murders that took place around the time that London began to have its own specialized detective force, and these detectives were the inspiration for many fictional detectives, Inspector Bucket of Bleak Houseand Sergeant Cuff of The Moonstone (Modern Library Classics), to name just two. Murders such as these were inspiration for much of the sensationalist fiction that was written in the 1850s and `60s; Ellen Wood and Mary Elizabeth Braddon were just two of the many authors who wrote this kind of "lowbrow" literature.These murders were especially shocking to mid-Victorian values; as Summerscale points out many times in the course of her narrative, the home was sacred, and any invasion of that privacy was frowned upon far more than it would be today. What was remarkable about the Kents was the fact that their house did not resemble those of other Victorians, with the family living on the lower floors and the servants above. Rather, the servants slept near to the family, with the children of Samuel Kent's first marriage living on the third floor. The fact that Mary Ann, Elizabeth, William, and Constance Kent were treated as inferiors played a large part in the murder investigation, as did a missing nightgown that might have been bloodstained.The Road Hill House murder shares an eerie resemblance to Jane Eyre, which incidentally had been published the year before: both situations involved mad wives and governesses. Summerscale paints her hard-boiled detective Whicher as determined to get to the truth, no matter the cost to his reputation, and the Kent family one with many secrets to hide. Constance, the accused, is portrayed in a sympathetic light, as is Elizabeth Gough, the governess. In all, this was an absolutely superb book--it reads almost like The Woman in White (Penguin Classics)which, incidentally, was running in installments at this time. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is a must read for lovers of the Victorian period. Also try: Lady Audley's Secret, by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.A shocking murder occurred at Road in 1860. A little boy, Francis Saville Kent, was whisked from his bed in the middle of the night, and only found the next day with his throat cut, shoved down a privy and wrapped in a blanket from his bed. At the same time, a fever for investigation and detection has swept the country and every man and woman is intent on solving the crime, blaming everyone from Saville's father to the nursemaid to the neighbors. When the local police fail to turn up anything, Jonathan Whicher is called in, a detective from London. His conclusions shock Victorian sensibilities, however, and he falls from grace, though the book continues to unravel the mystery in his absence.In addition to solving the crime and proposing some final solutions to the mysteries involved, Summerscale also provides us with a very interesting cultural and social study of the mid to late nineteenth century. In detail, she describes the detective fervor, early crime cases, their influence on literature, and how the great Whicher himself inspired such literary figures as Sergeant Cuff in The Moonstone. This is easily the most interesting part of the book. The mystery feels solved one third of the way in, although the public isn't convinced and it isn't fully unravelled yet, but the interesting effect it has on the English view of detectives is certainly the best part of the book and worth reading just for that. In addition, Summerscale puts forth the new view of the middle-class home as a place of privacy and demonstrates how this case tore it wide open, making us realize just why Whicher's conclusions were so objectionable. The effect of newspapers on all of this is striking and detailed.The narrative flows along smoothly for the most part and doesn't get boring or drag. There are some parts that don't fit, in particular details of William's biological work are simply dull and don't reflect any of the book's greater qualities, but they are few and mostly towards the conclusion of the book. The conclusion itself gets very interesting as Summerscale enters into her most interesting speculations about the true nature of the crime and the Kent family, so it is most certainly worth going through.In the end, this was a really interesting read. Very informative and entertaining. I'm glad I read it and I'd recommend it to someone else, particularly someone interested in Victorian literature or history.A good "whodunnit" that will keep you turning the pages, even more so because it is a true story. A horrible crime has been committed, everyone in the house is a suspect - the detective examines the evidence, actions and motives of the suspects. Everyone is potentially a murderer, and some have more suspicions cast upon them than others. The story shocked and intrigued Victorian England at the time, not only because of it's innocent victim, but that it took place in an upper middle class English home.The author interweaves detective fiction, popular at the time, into the story to help provide a backdrop to the characters and events to tell the story. I liked the way she would intersperse little bits of detective fiction to help move the direction the story was taking along, but sometimes it went on too long. Other that that, the writing is crisp and to the point.In the end, there are still lingering questions, which made the ending a teeny bit unsatisfying, but I believe the author researched all she could to answer those questions, (it was evident her research was extensive and through) and in a way, forever keeps the story mysterious.I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, especially true crime stories. And also to those who generally like to read non-fiction, especially those who enjoy reading about Victorian England.
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