The Suspicions of Mr Whicher

This was an outstanding book! The story is fascinating, and the author provides a good deal of history that is both pertinent and adds depth to the story. So many books are only half understood because readers of the modern day do not understand the customs and details of the time in which the book is set. This author has provided both a fascinating tale and enough historical detail so that the tale can be truly appreciated. I highly recommend this book.

I really enjoyed this one. The writing is excellent--well crafted prose, well researched story. The narration suits the book superbly. The story is a historical account of a child murder in a Victorian family and the detective, Mr. Whicher, who investigated the crime. It's not written like a novel; instead, the author uses primary sources such as newspaper articles, court reports/records, and personal journals to flesh out the story. I unreservedly recommend this to anyone who likes social history and is interested in the early days of Scotland Yard.

An admirable look into one of the most notorious crimes in Victorian England. Well thought out and well told, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher holds the interest of the listener. Christian Rodska is the perfect choice to narrate this work.

This is one of those audiobooks that I couldn't wait to be finished. I didn't relate well to the author's style of writing/story-telling. Events moved at a snails-pace. There were too many extraneous additions to the storyline, such as, "The so-and-so newspaper said this about that." Too often, I said, "Who cares?" So this is a thumbs down review, despite a good narrator.

I enjoyed the parts of the book that focused on Mr. Whicher, his background, and the history of the London detectives the most. The crime itself, while the perfect "English country house" mystery in some aspects, was incredibly brutal. The evidence is treated evenhandedly, but there's no escaping that a child was the innocent victim at the center of the story.

The way that the solution was revealed... after I thought perhaps an answer was never discovered at all... was memorable, since this is not a fictional story. And sometimes life doesn't provide true answers to resolve readers' curiosity.

There was, but I don't want to reveal a spoiler. Suffice to say, I teared up a little when Mr. Whicher finds out the news.

Reccommend for listeners who enjoy historical fiction, true crime, or Victoriana. Little slow paced for listeners looking for "suspense" novel pacing.

Riveting, eye-opening, a true crime beautifully written. This listen gave birth to my turn of the century true crime fascination.

I did experience a good feel for the times when I listened to this audio book. However, the story itself was, I think, drawn out too much. As a result, I found myself fighting to stay focused on the story. I guess the story is OK, but I would not listen to it again.

Oh, well done indeed.

This is a highly compelling and insightfully crafted study of the 1860 murder of three-year-old Savile Kent, the highly publicized investigation led by Scotland Yard's Detective Inspector Whicher, and the subsequent resolution(s) of the case, which all but destroyed the detective while ultimately leaving the (allegedly) guilty party to live a long and productive life. This work is steeped, as it should be, in the intellectual history and cultural mores of the time. I especially applaud Summerscale for the thorough and thought-provoking way she ties the figure of Whicher to the emerging literary character of the detective, as seen in the works of Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, among others.

I found this to be thoroughly satisfying. The narration is excellent, and I couldn't stop listening. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the Victorian era, the history of crime detection, and/or the real-life models behind the great literary detectives.

This is not a story as much as it is a history or documentary of the 1860 murder of a young boy, Saville Kent, and the well known and respected Scotland Yard detective, Jonathan Whicher. I will confess, it gets a bit boring at times so if you are looking for something with action, you may want to pass this by. If you are looking for a history lesson of the British police, their words and phrases, and how investigations were handled, you'll enjoy this book.

About half the book was talking about things other than the murder but still worth a listen.