(The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher or the Murder at Road Hill House
by Kate Summerscale)
The very first time I held
this book I couldn't help but feel awe for finding such a treasure. One would
have thought that this book is only an old mystery fiction novel but imagine my
surprise when it was actually based on a true event that happened on 1860 at a
house on an English country. The title "Murder at the Road Hill
House"is actually an obvious hint.
The book tells a story about
a disturbing murder of Saville Kent, the 3-year old son of Samuel and Mary
Kent, who was found dead at the servants' outdoor privy with his throat cut.
The murder can be considered as mysterious since there were no witnesses (the
murder happened at an early morning), no motive (who could have murdered such
an innocent child?) and clues were lost. Due to the seriousness and
mysteriousness of the case Detective Jonathan Whicher is called to aid and to solve
the death of an innocent child. And as the story goes deeper, long-buried
family secrets are slowly being unveil and the unexpected event that happened
to all the great Victorian age detectives will make you relive the past.
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| (Detective Inspector Jonathan "Jack" Whicher) |
According to my research, Detective Inspector Jonathan "Jack Whicher" was one of the original eight members of the Detective Branch in Scotland Yard in 1842. Due to his accomplishment, he was used as inspiration for the character of the famous authors such as: Charles Dickens (Inspector Bucket), Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse), Wilkie Collins (Sergeant Cuff), R.D. Wingfield (Jack Frost), and many more.
He was regarded as "The prince of detectives" by a colleague and was famous for solving difficult cases until the Road Hill Case. He was born on October 1, 1814 and died on June 29 1881.
The reason why I love this book is because Kate Summerscale, the author of this book, has written it in a way that when the readers read the story it makes you feel like a real detective. She also added some illustrations like the Road Hill house floor plan not just to add pictures in the book but for the readers to imagine the what the house look like and where the crime scene took place. Though for a book based on true event it feels like your reading a very famous mystery novel that hooks your hidden detective senses and makes you want to solve the case.
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| (Road Hill House Floor Plan) |
To all avid fans of reading mystery novels I recommend you to read this book because it is as amazing as Sherlock Holmes and an interesting book to read during past time. You may like it or not but hey there is no harm in trying.
After reading your blog I`m looking forward to read this book (The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: The Murder at the Road Hill House) because its full of mystery, detective stuff. that`s why it`s making me more interested in the book even though I`m not a fond of book`s. p.s if you still have the book can I please borrow it.
ReplyDeleteSure I would be really happy to lend you the book~
DeleteIt is awful how easy it is fall into the trap of looking only at the surface of things without taking effort to delve deeper into it.
ReplyDeleteUpon reading and seeing the cover of the book, I guess I'm one of those who'll fall into the trap of judging things by its cover.
Fortunately, someone as good as the author made a way for the content of the book somehow be revealed.
Upon reading the blog, even without reading yet the book, I felt so alive. I'm gonna give this a try and give myself a chance be a detective. :)