The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

October 1, 2019

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Jonathan (Jack) Whicher was one of the first and most famous Victorian detectives.  His work influenced the fiction of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens, among others.  Summerscale's book explores the original English country house mystery, a true crime case that caused a sensation throughout England and inspired country house mystery fiction.

The crime:  June 1860 - at Road Hill House in the English village of Rode in Wiltshire, three year old Saville Kent was found in an outhouse with his throat cut.  There were 12 people in the house at the time of the murder, including Saville (his father and mother, six siblings and half-siblings, and three servants).  Their home was a large fine house with a number of outbuildings and multiple bedrooms on the 2nd and 3rd floor.

Whicher was not assigned to the crime until almost two weeks after the murder, by which time, the scene of the crime had been contaminated, the evidence had been tampered with, and everyone had rehearsed their stories.  Whicher was convinced that someone living in the house had killed the child rather than an intruder, based on the state of the boy's bed, access to the outhouse from the rear door of the house, and his feeling that the crime would have required two people.  Although unable to prove it, Whicher came away believing that Saville's half-siblings Constance and William had committed the crime together, and that Constance had planned it.

But as Whicher began to uncover secrets and unsavory facts of Victorian family life, the English public began to lose interest in the solution to the crime, since they didn't want to hear what could be hiding behind a facade of Victorian respectability (sexual misconduct, child neglect, insanity, and literally digging through the family's dirty laundry).  The Victorian public came to view his investigation as prying into the sanctity of family life, and condemned him for arresting a young middle class girl (who later confessed to the crime and served 20 years in prison).  The failure to bring the case to an acceptable resolution ultimately destroyed his career.

The crime and ensuing investigation destroyed the family's life.  Samuel was unable to return to his job as a factory inspector, and had to sell the house and move his family to Wales.  While writing her book, Summerscale came to believe that Constance confessed to clear the cloud of suspicion that continued to hang over William, so that he could pursue his career unimpeded.  Ironically, all of the Kent children remained close to each other and eventually emigrated to Australia to be together.

The book is painstakingly researched, which some readers have felt takes away from a smooth narrative, but the case was covered extensively in the English press.  Some of the background information is necessary for the modern reader to understand the nuances of Victorian family life and the Victorian mindset to appreciate what Whicher was up against.  It was also interesting to find out what happened to the Kent family after the investigation was over.  But the back stories on all of the detectives and other outsiders could have been omitted.