Customer Reviews:
 Amazing book about the detective June 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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.
 Superb June 26, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
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.
Interesting cultural/social study and mystery June 24, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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 Page Turner June 24, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
 A Lose-Loser June 22, 2008
5 out of 27 found this review helpful
I read about this book in a literary newspaper and had high hopes for a good Victorian era whodunnit. I was pretty disappointed. The author delivers far too many pointless details probably to get this sad story to book length. I never felt sure about whether the crime was actually solved or just resolved. It's really a sad tale about the murder of a small child, the hunt for his killer, and the tole the investigation takes on his family. Mr. Whicher is from Scotland Yard and until this investigation, had a great reputation for solving crimes. Turns out he may have been right in his suspicions all along. Nobody really wins in this book.
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