This book was serialised on the radio and by chance I caught the first installment and I was so taken with it that I had to buy the book. It looks at the investigation of a brutal country house murder of a three year old boy in 1860. The author had access to the original police documents which are held in the national archives and she was able to follow the suspicions and enquiries of Jack Whicher of Scotland Yard who was brought in to solve the murder. The author presents the account in the way that events unfolded at the time, she creates tension and atmosphere as it becomes clear that one of the occupants of the house must have killed the boy, perhaps one of his parents or even a sibling? It is interesting to find out how the press and the public responded at the time and it provides a snapshot of 1860 attitudes and social history. Jack Whicher did not solve the murder and it his career was damaged by his failure. Subsequently there was a conviction but was the real murderer ever caught? This is a facinating book and a very good read.
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