Customer Reviews:
 Four books in one; and that's not a good thing August 25, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The reviewers here, especially the paid ones, do readers a disservice when they praise the mystery aspects of this book without emphasizing the unending details with which the author has bogged down the book. It's hard to believe these newspaper and magazine reviewers read the book in its entirety?
Is this a story of Jonathan Whicher and the creation of the police detective? Or a lesson in Victorian families? Maybe it's a general history of the origins of the detective in mystery novels? What it is not, is a well-edited, real-life mystery with historical details peppered in to add context. Someone give this book a real editor and reign in the ramblings of a research-happy writer.
It is obvious that the writer spent years compiling data and scouring diaries and other sources to include personal information to enhance the narrative. But the way they are used only serve to stall the flow of the story, not to enrich it. The writer interrupts herself so often, you could be excused for thinking there were multiple authors. There is so much repetition that you can begin to feel you've already read this or that paragraph.
This book is not a narrative, but a museum. Every detail, however mundane, is included. Everything the writer found in her research is in the book, many repeated several times. I applaud the author on her diligence and thoroughness in gathering every possible piece of data. In fact, I place some of the blame on the editor for not doing his/her job. A great researcher cannot necessarily be expected to be a great condenser. That's where the publishing company is supposed to come in.
There are a couple of good stories in this book. You will just have to wade through a lot of unnecessary facts to find them.
If someone had warned me, I'd have checked it out of the library instead of spending money to own this book.
 definitely a don't miss! August 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Mr Whicher of the title is one Detective Jonathan Whicher, who in 1860, was asked by local Wiltshire police to investigate the very heinous murder of a little boy, aged 4. It seems that when his nursemaid woke up in the morning little Francis Savile Kent was not in his bed; mistakenly thinking he was collected during the night by his mother, she inquired about him once the household was awake. The mother was surprised to learn he was not in the bed, and a search was made. They found the little boy dumped in the privy, throat cut. Whicher appeared somewhat late on the scene, and by then, the accusations were rampant. and directed at different people in the household. Whicher, as a detective, had to intrude upon this upper middle-class Victorian household as part of his investigation, because in his opinion, the murder was done by someone who lived at the house, namely young Savile's stepsister, Constance Emily Kent. In those days, detection was not a lofty profession, and to even consider trying to get at the secrets of a household was to invite public scorn, and due to his inability to produce promised evidence, Whicher found himself the object of public ridicule. Now if the story had stopped there, it still would have been quite good, but it does not. Summerscale has done a tremendous amount of research into not only this case, but its aftermath in terms of Victorian society, detective fiction, policing at the time, and the sensitivities of the Victorian psyche in matters public. Take a note: this (imho) is how cultural history should be written.
Summerscale has done her homework -- after finishing the book, I went through the notes and discovered that she had used a wealth of primary and secondary sources to put together this work. I can appreciate all of the research that went into the book. Yet it is not just a history or a social commentary; the book flows very well, making it very readable and accessible. Personally, I love this period of time, and I have this thing about true crime of the Victorian era, especially when it comes to stories about murderesses.
I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who is interested in the Victorian period, in the beginnings of the detective in real life and in fiction, in true crime through time, or to anyone who just wants to read an incredibly interesting and absorbing story. I took a lot of titles down from her sources for further reading.
Absolutely splendid -- and as it turns out, it wasn't just another detective story, but a story about a detective and the crime that did him in. Highly recommended.
The Dark Side Brought to Light August 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a fascinating story on so many levels: a study of a family's dark secrets, brought to light by a determined detective; the unraveling of clues leading to the solving of a grisly murder; a study of Victorian society, mores, and family life; and a fascinating character study not only of the family involved in the murder, but also of the detective who doggedly sought to solve the crime. This book is well-researched, yet seldom becomes bogged down in too much detail (and, well, detail is essential when one is attempting to solve a crime, after all). Detective Whicher, working at the dawn of his profession, is one of the most successful and best-known of the time. Thus he is sent to solve the murder of a small child when the only viable suspects are those who were in the house at the time -- the family and its servants. He treads therefore on shaky ground and his suspicions make him extremely unpopular with the family and the public. This is a story as much about his the damage done to his reputation, and the pain it causes him, as it is about the crime he seeks to solve. The fact that he had to use what clues (even the word "clue" was new!) he could, in an age before DNA testing, fingerprints, and other more sophisticated means of criminal analysis were available, makes his story all the more mesmerizing. Detectives often had to use their gut instincts, but instincts alone couldn't solve crimes, even if they were correct. The juxtaposition of the unhappy family, seeking to keep its problems secret, the detective who is forced to unearth those secrets to solve the crime, and the society at large which is dealing with a new age not only in the family, but in science and religion, makes for a fascinating story. I recommend it highly, especially for anyone interested in mystery, crime-solving, and the Victorian Age.
 Chilling, Tragic Victorian Mystery August 18, 2008
Kate Summerscale brings the hither-to untold story of a gruesome murder that brought the gothic sentiments of the Victorian era to a climax and redefined its views of crime, detection and tragedy. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher unravels the fascinating tales of the crime itself and the effect it had on society as for the first time, an upper-class family suffered an unspeakable crime that could only have been committed from within.
A factual book for fiction lovers too August 15, 2008
Murder mystery books are not my cup of tea. This book though is full of fascinating facts from the author's extensive research into a shocking murder in the western countryside of Queen Victoria's England in 1860. It captures the early days of the big city detective and how they think when compared with village policemen. It draws the reader into understanding the intense psychological pain of the victims' family. Can a factual book be a "real page turner"? Yes, this is one example. My wife loves reading murder mystery stories but will she enjoy this? I think so, so I am planning to give her a chance to read it before recycling it on half.com.
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