Interesting Historical Detective Biography

[Beth Groundwater]

As a mystery author, every now and then I pick up a true crime book or a biography of a historical detective to learn more about sleuthing techniques, particularly in the time before fingerprint and DNA-identification techniques when detectives had to rely more on their wits and power of observation. The last detective biography that I read and enjoyed immensely was Master Detective by John Reisinger. This morning, I read an AP review of a new book that's going right to the top of my TBR pile.

The book is titled The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective. It is written by Kate Summerscale. It tells the story of one of Scotland Yard's first detectives in the 1860s, Mr. Whicher, who was assigned to investigate the murder of 3-year-old Saville Kent. Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review. The first line of their review states: "Summerscale (The Queen of Whale Cay) delivers a mesmerizing portrait of one of England's first detectives and the gruesome murder investigation that nearly destroyed him." I can't wait to dig into this one!
--
Beth Groundwater, www.bethgroundwater.com
A REAL BASKET CASE, March, 2007, Best First Novel Agatha Award nominee
TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET, May, 2009

[Jayne]

Thanks for the heads-up, Beth. I have a historical sleuth who learned his trade working for the London Metro police in the 1870's and 80's (before emigrating to Canada), so this book could provide insights into the state of detecting when he was learning the trade.

[Dennis Leppanen]

I agree about with you about the DNA detective, Beth. I don't read them, I don't write. I've also had my fill of them on the tube.

My historical detective is a journalist, go figure.

Dennis