The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale

Allen & Unwin, $29.95

When a young man from the quiet English village of Road is found gruesomely murdered, the most celebrated detective of the day, Jack Whicher, attempts to solve the crime. The case captures the public imagination, generating controversy and dark speculation about the festering passions hiding behind the closed doors of a respectable middle-class family. A gripping account of a real-life murder mystery, Summerscale’s brilliant analysis of historical documents, testimony and press comment, pulls together the evidence in a forensic synthesis of scrupulous research and driving narrative. As in a classic whodunnit, tension builds to an almost unbearable degree but, like the very best detective, the author keeps her cool.