The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House

by Kate Summerscale | Nonfiction |
ISBN: 0747596484 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wing6of8wing of Silver Spring, Maryland USA on 2/14/2011
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4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wing6of8wing from Silver Spring, Maryland USA on Monday, February 14, 2011
Relates the true story of a murder which was the inspiration for Wilkie Collins' writing. This one has been on my wishlist for some time and I snapped it up when I came across it at a library book sale. Its title makes it perfect for a book box I want to put together.

Journal Entry 2 by wing6of8wing at Silver Spring, Maryland USA on Friday, February 8, 2013
Still in the early stages of this book, but I learned something in the passages I read this morning and noting them down somewhere will help me not to forget them. Seems the term "clue" is derived from the Greek word "clew", referring to a ball of string -- like the ball of string that was used to guide Theseus back out of the maze after defeating the Minotaur. Also, because the plot of any novel, not just of mysteries, is something of a knot, the dis-entanglement portion is called the denouement (de-knot-ment).

Journal Entry 3 by wing6of8wing at Silver Spring, Maryland USA on Monday, February 11, 2013
A great little work of non-fiction which reads almost like fiction. I continued to learn things unrelated to the subject of the book as I went along, including that seahorses communicate by sound (as discovered by William Saville Kent) and that the word detective comes from a verb meaning to remove the roof of.

A very interesting look into the world of crime and detection that we now take for granted. It was rather startling to a modern reader to find the level of sanctity accorded to the family home and personal privacy and thus the outrage of people being questioned and premises searched after the commission of a heinous crime. Wouldn't the Victorians have been shocked and horrified to see the world we live in now.

Journal Entry 4 by wing6of8wing at -- Bookbox, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Released 11 yrs ago (2/12/2013 UTC) at -- Bookbox, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA

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Off to explore the world via the Anything But Romance Shrinking Book Box.

Journal Entry 5 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
I am taking this from the Anything but Romance Shrinking book box.

Journal Entry 6 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Sunday, August 3, 2014


I don't do well with true crime, and this was a particularly horrendous crime, the planned and cold-blooded murder of a 3 year old boy in 1860 Victorian England. I never lost sight of the pictures the murder description conjured in my head, all of my perceptions of anything else written here were affected by it.
And there is a lot written here, it is very detailed, going far beyond the murder itself and the investigation of the crime. The research done for this book includes the history of police detectives; the life, looks and personality of the lead police detective from London assigned to the case - Mr. Whicher; the way in which Mr. Whicher is affected by the case and his failure to solve it; the rise in the popularity of crime fiction and how the detectives were portrayed prior to, during and after this case; the intense part that the newspapers played in making this case a national obsession; the way class distinctions started to become blurred by the lower class detectives intrusions into the middle class in order to question people and look for evidence; the part that crime novels played in blurring class distinctions and affecting the national psyche - oh it just goes on and on.
I usually found it interesting, but as I said, I never lost sight of that murdered little boy and was not comforted by the punishment of the one who confessed nor the normal, successful and even exemplary lives lived by the murderer(s) after the crime.
It was an odd family; but that peering into the lives and homes to look for crime and the secrets that families have; that is what the English people both objected to and were fascinated with.

Journal Entry 7 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Sunday, September 28, 2014
I am going to list this book with bookstogive's mystery/thriller VBB.

Journal Entry 8 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Friday, October 24, 2014
Chosen by eponine38 from bookstogives mysterythriller VBB. Will try to mail today.

Journal Entry 9 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Friday, October 24, 2014

Released 9 yrs ago (10/24/2014 UTC) at Seattle, Washington USA

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mailed to eponine as requested from mystery/thriller VBB. I hope you find it an interesting read.

Journal Entry 10 by wingeponine38wing at Winchester, Massachusetts USA on Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Thank you, BooksandMusic! It looks so interesting.

Journal Entry 11 by wingeponine38wing at Winchester, Massachusetts USA on Sunday, March 31, 2019
The previous journals have said it better than I could: a heinous crime, well-researched book with lots of additional information and anecdotes, and a (for me) not entirely satisfying ending. Yes, it’s true crime, but there are still some questions. Not the author’s fault! :-)
One of many interesting passages discusses the difficulties of looking at cases such as these with a completely open mind. This was written at the time of the Hill House Murder:
“…it is well known that detectives begin by assuming the guilt of some one (sic), and then try how far their hypothesis will fit the circumstances. There is still room for the application of a more scientific process, and it may be that the facts, more calmly and impartially interrogated, will tell their own story.” I guess things haven’t changed much in the past 150 years, as people these days (detectives included, I imagine) still sometimes suffer from confirmation bias.
So well written that it does, indeed, read almost like fiction. I kept suspending my reading to google people and places and the case itself. Had never heard of it before and am so glad to have had the opportunity to read it. So - thanks to the previous readers! This was a ten-star read!

Journal Entry 12 by wingeponine38wing at Winchester, Massachusetts USA on Monday, April 1, 2019

Released 4 yrs ago (4/26/2019 UTC) at Winchester, Massachusetts USA

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On its way to the Mainz convention to fulfill a wish. Hope you like it!

Released for 2019 Keep Them Moving Challenge hosted by booklady331.


Journal Entry 13 by bookguide at Wijchen, Gelderland Netherlands on Friday, April 26, 2019
How thrilling to find a wrapped book for me on the RABCK table in Mainz! And even though I’ve fallen asleep twice trying to drink a cup of tea and release some books for tomorrow, I am determined to find out what is in the package. Thank you so much, eponine38. “In the Wilkie Collins tradition” says Susan Hill on the back cover; it sounds like it’s right up my street. Talking of the cover, those spots of blood are extremely convincing!

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