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1860s Tale Is Like A Novel

By K. SUE COLLINS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 6, 2008

"The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher," by Kate Summerscale (Walker & Co., $25)

A young child from an affluent family is brutally murdered. The police, unprepared for the vastness of the investigation, misconstrue the evidence. Everyone is suspect. This bears a striking resemblance to the JonBenet Ramsey case, but it occurred 140 years ago in England.

"The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher" relates the details of a true crime case in the 1860s at Road Hill House. With 3-year-old Saville Kent murdered, family members and servants come under suspicion. The public's outrage over the police's inability to solve the case prompts Detective Whicher to be assigned. A bit of an iconic figure in the annals of crime detection, Whicher was one of the founders of Scotland Yard and rumored to be the inspiration for many sleuths in Victorian crime stories.

Whicher develops his own beliefs to the killer's identity, but his suspicions do not cohere with popular public sentiment. The newspapers regularly print various theories, ranging from the credible to the downright insane. Whicher's suspicion falls on Constance Kent, the victim's older half sister. Years before Lizzie Borden, the notion of a female murderer remained unbelievable. Whicher finally returns to London, considered a failure. He struggles with his tarnished credibility.

Kate Summerscale's nonfiction account reads like a modern crime novel, filled with intriguing tidbits about the beginnings of criminal detection and the modern mystery crime novel.

K. Sue Collins of Tampa is a crime novelist.

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1860s Tale Is Like A Novel