Book Review

Title: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: The Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective

Author: Kate Summerscale

Publisher: Raincoast Books

Pages: 304

Released: March 1^st 2008

ISBN: 978-1-55192-836-4

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey (Ontario Correspondent)

Switch off the C.S.I, Law & Order, and all it’s hybrids, so you can be introduced to the most intensely exciting detective story in the last hundred and fifty years. Why such a long time? Because Mr. Whicher, one of the best Victorian detectives and part of the first group of detectives at Scotland Yard, described a scenario for a murder that was so explosive it has taken the full extent of time to uncover the whole story. Mr Whicher was also the template for the very first fictionalized detective novel The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.

Saville Kent was found suffocated, with a slit throat, stabbed repeatedly, and stuffed down the outhouse toilet of a stately home in the English country; equally horrifying crimes in measure, but especially when you discover that Saville Kent was four years old. A particularly gory murder that shocked the whole of England and Mr. Whicher’s prime suspect just so happens to be one of the family members. In a case that invented the term “armchair investigators,” the whole of England was captivated by this heinous crime and its subsequent twists and turns years after. Mr. Whicher’s suspicions ended up destroying his career, even though he was perpetually right in previous cases.

Kate Summerscale paints a riveting and vibrant portrait of a Victorian detective and the case that destroyed his career. In what can only be described as painstaking, Summerscale has combed historical documents and archives to draw together an understanding of the case in its entirety and from a bird’s eye perspective. It would be a gross understatement to say that Summerscale has brought forth a gripping read; she has made a part of English history come to life and rendered each page as exciting to turn as the last.

If you are looking for a “great read,” whether you are a mystery buff or not, The Suspicions Of Mr. Whicher is the book for you.