The suspicions of Mr. Whicher : a shocking murder and the undoing of a great Victorian detective

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Title:

The suspicions of Mr. Whicher : a shocking murder and the undoing of a great Victorian detective

Author:

Summerscale, Kate, 1965- author.

Edition:

1st U.S. ed.

Contents:

To see what we have got to see -- The horror and amazement -- Shall not God search this out? -- A man of mystery -- Every clue seems cut off -- Something in her dark cheek -- Shape-shifters -- All tight shut up -- I know you -- To look at a star by glances -- What games goes on -- Detective-fever -- A general putting of this and that together by the wrong end -- Women! Hold your tongues! -- Like a crave -- Better she be mad -- My love turned -- Surely our real detective liveth -- Fairy-lands of fact -- The music of the scythe on the lawn outside.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 360 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 22 cm.

Personal Subject:

Whicher, Jonathan.

Subject Term:

Detectives -- Biography.

Murder -- History -- 19th century.

Geographic Term:

London (England) -- Biography.

Publisher:

Walker & Company,

Electronic Access:

Contributor biographical information
Publisher description
Sample text

Publication Date:

2008

ISBN:

9780802715357

Publication Information:

New York : Walker & Company, 2008.

Call Number:

364.152 SUMMERS

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607002131996	Adult Nonfiction	364.152 SUMMERS	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

The dramatic story of the real-life murder that inspired the birth of modern detective fiction.

In June of 1860 three-year-old Saville Kent was found at the bottom of an outdoor privy with his throat slit. The crime horrified all England and led to a national obsession with detection, ironically destroying, in the process, the career of perhaps the greatest detective in the land.

At the time, the detective was a relatively new invention; there were only eight detectives in all of England and rarely were they called out of London, but this crime was so shocking, as Kate Summerscale relates in her scintillating new book, that Scotland Yard sent its best man to investigate, Inspector Jonathan Whicher.

Whicher quickly believed the unbelievable--that someone within the family was responsible for the murder of young Saville Kent. Without sufficient evidence or a confession, though, his case was circumstantial and he returned to London a broken man. Though he would be vindicated five years later, the real legacy of Jonathan Whicher lives on in fiction: the tough, quirky, knowing, and all-seeing detective that we know and love today...from the cryptic Sgt. Cuff in Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone to Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is a provocative work of nonfiction that reads like a Victorian thriller, and in it Kate Summerscale has fashioned a brilliant, multilayered narrative that is as cleverly constructed as it is beautifully written.

Author Notes

Kate Summerscale is the former literary editor for the Daily Telegraph and author of The Queen of Whale Cay , which won the Somerset Maugham Award and was shortlisted for the Whitbread biography award. Summerscale lives in London.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Simon Vance does a fine job reading this unusually detailed and thoughtful true crime investigation into a notorious child murder case in 1860 London. At the time, there were only eight detectives working in England. Scotland Yard's top man was Insp. Jonathan Whicher, and he headed the investigation. Intertwined with the tale of detection in its infancy is a fascinating examination of the role played by this case and its inspector in the creation of the detective novel genre by the likes of Wilkie Collins, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Occasionally, the large number of characters that listeners must sort through can become confusing. HighBridge helpfully provides a printed who's who inside the CD box. Vance's perfect diction and agile acting skills are always a pleasure for listeners, and Summerscale's achievement is a must for anyone who loves detective stories, but this audio requires exceptional concentration. A Walker hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 11, 2007). (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Library Journal Review

Summerscale's second work of non-fiction, following The Queen of Whale Cay (1997), is at once a riveting true-crime tale, a fascinating history of the origins of detective fiction, and sharp social commentary on Victorian sensibilities. Audie Award winner Simon Vance's (The Spanish Game) sublime narration transforms listeners into armchair detectives as though they're standing alongside incomparable Scotland Yard detective-inspector Jonathan Whicher as he makes his inquiries. Essential for crime and mystery collections. [Audio clip available through www.highbridgeaudio.com; the Walker hc was recommended "for public and academic libraries," LJ 2/1/08.-Ed.]-Beth Farrell, Portage Cty. Dist. Lib., Garrettsville, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Excerpts

From The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: The Victorians made a romance of detection. In a newly uncertain world, a detective seemed to offer science, conviction, stories that could organise chaos. He turned brutal crimes--the vestiges of the beast in man--into intellectual puzzles. He was a secular substitute for a prophet or a priest. Yet the Victorians also made a fetish of privacy, and many felt that the investigation at Road Hill amounted to a violation of the middle-class home. Mr Whicher exposed the corruptions within the household: sexual transgression, emotional cruelty, scheming servants, wayward children, insanity, jealousy, loneliness and loathing. The scene he uncovered aroused fear (and excitement) at the thought of what might be hiding behind the closed doors of other respectable houses. His conclusions helped to create an era of voyeurism and suspicion, in which the detective was a shadowy figure, a demon as well as a demigod. Excerpted from The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Introduction	p. xi
Family Tree	p. xiv
List of Characters	p. xv
A Note on Money	p. xviii
Prologue	p. xix
Part 1 The Death
1 To See What We Have Got to See	p. 3
2 The Horror and Amazement	p. 17
3 Shall Not God Search This Out?	p. 27
Part 2 The Detective
4 A Man of Mystery	p. 43
5 Every Clue Seems Cut Off	p. 59
6 Something in Her Dark Cheek	p. 77
7 Shape-Shifters	p. 91
8 All Tight Shut Up	p. 99
9 I Know You	p. 115
10 To Look at a Star by Glances	p. 133
11 What Games Goes On	p. 147
12 Detective-Fever	p. 161
13 A General Putting of This and That Together by the Wrong End	p. 179
14 Women! Hold Your Tongues!	p. 193
Part 3 The Unravelling
15 Like a Crave	p. 207
16 Better She Be Mad	p. 227
17 My Love Turned	p. 247
18 Surely Our Real Detective Liveth	p. 261
19 Fairy-Lands of Fact	p. 283
20 The Music of the Scythe on the Lawn Outside	p. 291
Afterword	p. 303
Notes	p. 305
List of Illustrations	p. 341
Bibliography	p. 343
Acknowledgements	p. 345
Index	p. 347

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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Library Journal Review

Excerpts

Excerpts

Table of Contents