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.