The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher - Books (Kate Summerscale, Paperback)

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Customer Reviews of The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher

Raquel
Somerset
22nd November 2008

Most disappointed
I eagerly awaited the arrival of this book..... and then struggled to make myself finish it.

The facts of the case of interesting but the book is massively padded out with all manner of facts on victorian life and morals which I found very boring and tedious.

I thought I had bought a really gripping true crime story but I can't believe the author managed to make a whole book out of this.

I really hate not finishing a book so I made my way to the end.... and then wished I hadn't bothered. The book went straight in the box for the charity shop I'm afraid. Dull dull dull!

Anon

17th November 2008

A good read
I usually take ages to read a book but this one took a couple of weeks as I couldn't put it down. Very enjoyable and well written.

furtive

14th November 2008

There is a brilliant book in here somewhere...
Judging by most of the reviews here, I am alone in the fact that I had not heard of the Constance Kent case before and was lucky enough to be kept guessing about the identity of the murderer until near the end. Summerscale is undoubtedly a good writer, but she can't decide what she wants this book to be - a murder investigation, a book on the development of the UK's detective force or a historical review of the origins of detective fiction. When Summerscale is actually writing about the murder, it is fascinating, it is only when she veers off on repetitive tangents about Wilkie Collins et al that it becomes a drag to turn the pages. If only she had kept herself to the murder, it would have been a great read instead of an average one. There are many potentially fascinating plot strands that are just ignored, such as the possible involvement of her brother in the murder and Constance's later life in Australia. Perhaps giving more than a few paragraphs to the little things like what happened to the rest of the characters, where she is buried and even the suggestion she was Jack the Ripper would have been far more interesting than quoting bits from 'The Moonstone' for the hundredth time....
A good read, filled with a lot of crap along the way. Prepare for the odd experience of being fascinated and bored to death all with the same book.

Christine
London
3rd November 2008

Like stepping into a time machine
I still have a little of this book to read so shouldn't really be reviewing it yet! However, having read some of the other reviews I had to make my own point.

First of all I bought it mainly because I live in the area and someone had talked to me about it as she lived in the village where it happened. This somehow brought it to 'life' for me and the fact that I like murder/mystery and whodunnits seemed to guarantee it as a good read.

I haven't been disappointed and have had to ration myself so I can make it last. It is detailed and some others here have said TOO detailed - the money values, where Whicher lived and stayed etc. But I LIKE this as it makes it all feel very real to me because let's face it, the story itself is fairly thin and could be told quite rapidly and it is slightly a cop- out that the murderer is only found because he/she confesses rather than being caught by skilled detective work. But that is what happened so can't be changed.

I actually liked the social comment and placing and the fine detail more than anything real as it brought me firmly into the period. I could almost smell the world in which this family the the detectives lived and I think this is what the author intended so we could fully understand Whicher's world. I had been researching my own family tree back to this era of history so was doubly interested as it gave me some idea how my relatives lived. (well, not quite like this though, thankfully!!)

With a recent child murder (as yet unsolved) still with us all and accusations of police blunders - so nothing new there, we can really feel this book and the full horror of it. I possibly would like to have had had MORE detail about the family reactions to the discovery which somehow never quite came out. I mean, can a person every really recover from the murder of a child like this - yet this family carried on and had more children - moved away a few times but really just carried on.

Poor old Whicher, no DNA or forensics - he was reduced to listening to local gossip and trying to 'read' faces. Or maybe, just maybe that is the way we should approach crime given that his first and only hunch was right. Yes,I know we don't or can't convict on a hunch but it does get the brain thinking.

A great read and I am looking forward to the final chapter. If you like the detective genre - especially real life crime you will probably love this but if you also love social history then you will definitely LOVE this but if you expect too much you could well be disappointed. Isn't that always the way?

I hear the house was or still is up for sale recently .. and that it has a real 'life' ghost! Let's hope if it is Francis Kent, that someone has cleaned him up a bit (from being down the 'privy') for him to haunt the house ...

traceyfeltham1
England
3rd November 2008

suspicions of mr whicher
This book could of been half the size . Padded out with repeated info which became boring .I became very borded half way through and could't wait to finish.

I don't know how this one prizes!!!