The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher

I just finished reading last night this book I came upon quite by accident, as I was looking for something else online. In other words, because of Amazon’s snooping and spying on my browsing habits, I read this really wonderful book that I’m now going to recommend very strongly to anyone interested in the Victorian period, whether you're interested in crime writing or not.

I guess you could call it “true crime”: it’s certainly true and does detail a shocking crime. But it’s not a typical true crime book, written before the blood is barely dry. It’s a soundly and deeply researched discussion of a Victorian crime--the murder of a child in a middle-class home--the investigation of the crime by different kinds of police including a Scotland Yard detective and the local police and constables, and the final word on the crime after more than 20 years, when someone comes forth to confess. The title is The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale. It’s really not just about the crime itself but about the mid-Victorian period, attitudes toward police and the newfangled thing called a detective, attitudes about the sanctity and privacy of the middle-class Victorian home, attitudes toward women in the period, etc. And Lady Audley’s Secret, my favorite Victorian sensation novel comes up again and again. Summerscale has quite a bit to say about the interest in sensation fiction and what it reveals about the times. Anyway, I read it in about three long nights (up until 2 last night!) and I think you’ll enjoy it, plus learn a lot from it. I certainly did both.

I was reading it for pleasure but finally had to get out my highlighter because I couldn’t help it!