 | | |
| The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: Or the Murder at Road Hill House | 
 enlarge | List Price: £14.99
Buy New: £8.24
You Save: £6.75 (45%)
Buy New/Collectible from £8.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 8 reviews)
Sales Rank: 83
Category: Book
Author: Kate Summerscale
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Studio: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Label: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.5
ISBN: 0747582157
EAN: 9780747582151
ASIN: 0747582157
Publication Date: April 7, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Middle class murder May 5, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This absorbing book is an examination of one of the most famous murder cases of the 19th century. Three year old Saville Kent was found horribly murdered in the outdoor privy of Road Hill House in June 1860. Jonathan Whicher, one of the first plain clothes detectives at Scotland Yard, is sent down two weeks after the murder, to help the local police. Whicher becomes convinced that one of the family is responsible for Saville's death. The case exposed the Kents to intrusive publicity, and the family's history was laid bare. Samuel Kent's first wife had died, some said of madness, some said because he was having an affair with the governess. When Samuel then married the governess, and started a second family, the older children were said to feel neglected and jealous. Saville was the favoured child of this second marriage. Had one of his half-siblings murdered him out of spite & jealousy? Had Saville seen his father in bed with the nursemaid and been killed to keep him quiet? Had a jealous neighbour or disgruntled former servant taken their revenge on Samuel by murdering his beloved child? All these theories were canvassed in the press, and Jonathan Whicher's investigation reached an inconclusive end. His career was damaged by his failure to bring the culprit to trial, although he was confident he knew who the murderer was. Five years later, the murderer was brought to trial after a dramatic confession. But was this the truth? Summerscale's recreation of the crime is masterly. She shows the influence of the murder on the sensation fiction of Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon which was so popular in the 1860s. The case exposed middle-class society's secrets and flaws.
Brilliantly researched and completely engrossing May 1, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The murder of a young child which took place at Road Hill House, Wiltshire in 1860 captured the imagination of the public and turned everyone into amateur detectives. The perfect example of a country house murder with a finite amount of suspects also inspired writers of the time such as Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon.
'The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher' is structured so that first, we learn the details of the crime, then we learn about the investigation which leads on to what happened next and the author's own theory based on the evidence. To say this book is well-researched in something of an understatement; if someone goes through a toll road, we know how much they pay; if someone moves to London we find out who they lived next door to; if someone left a will, we find out exactly what they left and to whom. I'm sure this level of detail would be irritating to some, but I found it absolutely incredible!
The book is also interesting in giving us a taste of the time, the attitudes of the people, the ways in which the Police force was growing and how events were shaping literature.
This is an extraordinary achievement and engrossing throughout. I can't wait to see what she will come up with next!
 Murder most horrid April 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A really engrossing country house murder told with all the suspense and horror that the nation felt on reading the accounts in the press. Summerscale weaves the developments in detection, and how the social scandals of the time were influencing and shaping the definition of the novel itself.
Unlike other reviewers, and having never experienced lsd (pounds, shillings and pence btw), I was amazed at just how many pennies were in a pound and what a shilling could buy!
It isn't perfect: for example there is a theory left to the very end which never gets a proper consideration in the rest of the text.
Also I wonder whilst highlighting the social realities of the time, that some discussion about the huge social restraint placed on women, both the lady of the house and the maid, might have added extra depth.
Still highly recommended.
9/10 - excellent book. Some criticisms, but don't let that put you off. April 23, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book, without doubt: a fascinating true story told well. There are criticisms to be made - strong criticisms even - but they do not change the fact that you will almost certainly hugely enjoy reading this. My criticisms are as follows. I put them here more to mitigate similar criticisms others have made than to do down the author of a basically excellent book.
1. The passages quoting from detective fiction of the period do not really add very much, and they are a distraction. At any rate, there is too much of it. This book is not, or ought not to have tried to be, a general study of detectives or detective fiction. Of course it is hugely interesting to read about Whicher the man and the historical context of his job as a detective, but whole pages here and there full of largely irrelevant extracts from Wilkie Collins et al, accompanied by oft-repeated banal observations from the author along the lines of "the role of a detective was to unravel a seemingly inextricable knot of threads", have more than a whiff of waffle about them.
2. Money. Why is she so obsessed with the price of things in 1860? Yes, a pound was a lot of money in those days. We get the idea. Telling us that a particular person paid 5s 6d for a train fare doesn't make it any more real, it just conjures up an image of the author sitting in a library hardly able to restrain herself with excitement and wonder (for the umpteenth time) at the fact that things cost more now than they used to. It's like she's boring a five-year-old by banging on about the olden days.
3. Explaining language. I didn't know that "denouement" means "unknotting", nor that "clue" came from "clew" meaning "thread". I'm glad to have been told. Jolly interesting. But she gets irrelevant and didactic about it in places. At one point the detective goes to Somerset. There follows a long paragraph explaining *for no reason whatsoever* the meaning of a few bits of random dialect from the county. Not interesting or necessary. It makes the book feel (only very occasionally) like a school project or a rambling radio broadcast.
4. Annoying photo on the flyleaf. Okay, so most flyleaf photos are slightly annoying, but really, this one massively predisposed me against her. Maybe that's just me.
But despite all that, it's a really cracking good book, well worth buying for yourself or another. Seriously, I'm recommending it to my friends.
Great stuff - amazing detective story April 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved this book - couldn't put it down at all. Even better the fact that it is all real, so you get into it more. It was written really well, enough of the hard facts but in an intriguing edge of your seat type manner.
|
|
|
© 2008 ShoppingMill.co.uk All rights reserved. In association with Amazon.co.uk
site map | contact us | | |
