The Suspicions of Mr Whicher is an historical true crime story set in a Victorian country house. It is as much an examination of the development of the detective – in fact and in fiction – as it is a murder mystery.
The story begins in June 1860. The setting is Road Hill House in Wiltshire, Kent. It is the residence of Samuel Kent, his second wife Mary, and his seven children. An assortment of servants complete the household. To the outside observer, it appears to be a typical Victorian home. But by morning, one of its occupants will be dead, and the others will be murder suspects.
The detective assigned to the case, Jack Whicher, is one of the original eight Scotland Yard officers. This detective force was formed in 1842 and was initially regarded with deep suspicion. Over the years, the force gained a certain celebrity, especially through fictional immortalisations by authors such as Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins.
As the identity of the murderer is revealed fairly early on, I’m limited in what I can say about the development of the story without giving too much away. Suffice it to say that the book follows the search for – and the conviction of – the murderer, and what happens to them upon their release from prison. We are shown the dichotomy between the rights of the middleclasses and their servants, the tensions between landlords and tenants, and how for the wealthy, the law really is different.
On the plus side, Summerscale’s book is a variation on the typical true crime story. It has an interesting premise and is clearly well-researched. I liked the juxtaposition of the developing mystery and the analysis of detection in the 19th Century.
My criticisms are not to do with the story itself, but rather with its execution. Summerscale relies heavily on actual police records and court transcripts to supply dialogue for the various characters. While I appreciate her efforts to keep the book as true to the facts as possible, it made for stilted reading. I never got a feel for the people and their personalities, making it difficult to care what happened to them one way or the other.
Then, having stuck resolutely to the facts for the entire book, Summerscale inserts a couple of bizarre theories at the end to explain the motivations of the murderer, but fails to elaborate upon them. I found this seriously frustrating. The conclusion left me dissatisfied and with the impression that the story had potential which was never realized.
For people with an interest in crime and punishment in the Victorian era, this might be worth reading, but I cannot wholly recommend it. Grade: C
