The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher
A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective

Kate Summerscale

After a couple of disappointing reads (and one abandoned in frustration), this Victorian era true crime tale was an absolute delight. It ticks all the boxes in the quest to find who murdered little Saville Kent - mystery, intrigue, scandalous gossip, and a surprise confession.

The author manages to maintain a nice bit of suspense throughout - was the murderer a random intruder? A jealous sibling? An adulterous caretaker? all while tying it in to the then-new genre of detective fiction, drawing parallels between the real detectives involved and the fictional ones that were emerging. The telling is informative, without being full of clunky asides or rambling side notes; the information not directly from the case is dovetailed in nicely in the appropriate points. This one I would definitely recommend for a true crime buff, or an aficionado of the dark side of Victorian life.

City of Devils

City of Devils
The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai

Paul French

The story itself is a fascinating one of the era between World Wars in a semi-lawless territory; or it would be, if not for the writing. The historical details are fascinating, the people involved the type of characters you rarely see new versions of - classic mobster types. Unfortunately the writing style is erratic, switching partway through the book as far as layout and approach, while the exaggeratedly self-important use of unnecessary slang, both foreign and from the era, seriously detracts from the story. I would accept the foreign slang as atmospheric and conducive to the story, but it is not limited to styles and languages that would set an atmosphere of old Shanghai; instead it veers into rambling Yiddish terms when individuals of Jewish descent are being discussed, unnecessary and distracting military slang from the era, and on several occasions veers dangerously close, and even into colonialist and racist phrasing.

I give the author credit for research, especially given the destruction of the area and loss of resources during World War Two, but I would love to see this story as a well researched and well told volume.

A Treasure of Victorian Murder Compendium

A Treasure of Victorian Murder Compendium

Rick Geary

This was a surprisingly delightful little book. Presented in graphic novel format, it covers a couple of the more notorious English murders of the Victorian era (including the mandatory retelling of the Jack the Ripper case), as well as American murders, such as the notorious H.H. Holmes murder castle, and a wonderfully presented telling of the assassination of president James Garfield that tracks the somewhat parallel lives of victim and assassin. The artwork gives a fresh dimension to these tales of murder without being graphic. I would definitely recommend this one, especially if you are just beginning to fall into the hole of true crime. A quick read, despite being nearly 300 pages; I actually tore through this in an afternoon.