The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher (2008) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 1 stars

“No where near as good as mrs Robinson...”

• Rated 3 stars

“Interesting, but very dry. At times it seemed to be a recounting of facts. It did give a pretty clear picture of Victorian England...from the new 'science' of criminal detection, to the new art of the mystery novel, the annual salaries of the middle class, and the household process of sending the laundry out. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“Review coming soon to: www.booksinthespotlight.blogspot.com”

• Rated 4 stars

“3.75 stars

In 1860, in a country house in England, a little boy was taken from his bedroom and murdered in the night. It appeared that it must have been someone already inside the house who did it. It was the mid-1800s when detectives were first employed. Mr. Whicher was one of the first detectives at Scotland Yard and was assigned the case at Road Hill House.

This book not only looks at that particular case, but also tells us a bit of history of detectives and detecting. The best part of the book is the murder case, itself, for sure. And that is the main focus. Most of the detective history was interesting, but I have to admit that there were parts where my mind wandered a bit, as well. There were a lot of parallels (with the case itself, as well as with random detective history) to contemporary fiction, with detective stories being a new thing at the time. I'm not sure why that was added into the book; some of it I found interesting, but other parts, I could have done without. Overall, though, I did enjoy the book, and I have to admit that I was a bit surprised as to how unwilling a lot of people were at the time to allow detectives to come into their homes to investigate something as “big” as a murder!”

• Rated 0 stars

“This was a very good true crime novel about the advent of detectives and a brutal murder in 1860.”

• Rated 0 stars

“in de versie van Knack ... leuk sfeertje ...”

• Rated 4 stars

“A short, focused book that explores one murder in Victorian England, and the efforts of the Scotland Yard detective to find the killer. Although it sometimes felt like there were reading prerequisites (good thing I had read Woman in White), I thought this was a well-researched and well-written book.

I could have done with less in the way of describing the Victorian mind-set via literary fiction references and quotations and more in the way of factual explanations. The scholarship in terms of research was definitely there, and the way the case wrapped up was unexpected and interesting.”

• Rated 2 stars

“Didn't finish this one either--just too much info on police work. Really interrupted the flow of the story.”

• Rated 3 stars

“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. If you are looking for a story, this won't be for you; if you are looking for a history lesson of the British police, words and phrases, how investigations evolved, you'll enjoy this read.”

• Rated 1 stars

“This book was way too overly detailed. I couldn't even finish it. I love details in a book, but there is a such thing as too much. I don't care about the details of the clothing, what they ate, and how much EVERYTHING cost. It has no relevance to the story. I don't care about knowing Mr. Whicher's entire life story, his birth, his family history, about the fact there's no records on his wife & child. This lady babbles like no author I've ever seen. I was VERY curious about the crime committed that she was SUPPOSED to be writing about, but for crying out loud, it was barely mentioned. I had to just put the book down. I have far too many other good books waiting to be read.”