The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale
Adult Nonfiction - Upper Level - 364.1523 S



People who like history and true crime books will definitely enjoy The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. This non-fiction book by Kate Summerscale is about the murder of a young boy at an English estate in 1860 and the detective, Mr. Whicher, sent from Scotland Yard to investigate. Mr. Whicher immediately believes it was someone in the family who killed the boy. However, people cannot fathom this and therefore refuse to believe it. Everyone, from regular townspeople to newspaper editors all over the country, have their own opinions about why Mr. Whicher is wrong and who the actual killer is. Summerscale does an excellent job of re-creating the case, including presenting details about all the family members of the victim. She also provides a lot of interesting information about the emergence of the new field of detective work during this time period. For example, she writes about how authors such as Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins incorporated detectives into their books. Overall, this is an entertaining, well-written, and thoroughly researched book about a historical crime and a country’s fascination with all aspects of it.