It may not be a total exaggeration to claim that the British have cornered the fictional murder mystery market. Some of the most popular British television imports are long running detective series like Midsomer Murders, Father Brown, and countless adaptation of Agatha Christie novels. Even the most popular fictional detectives that live in our modern conscious are British — Holmes, Poirot anyone? What is the obsession of this tiny island nation with crime? And when did it begin

Historically, certain true crimes have caught the imagination of the country and their influence has made its way into the popular culture of the times. For instance, the story of Jack the Ripper has fascinated generations, and as per historian, Lucy Worsley influenced many writers from RL Stevenson to Arthur Conan Doyle.

However, the British murder mysteries that we are more familiar with and seek comfort are not about cruel serial killers stalking the dark streets of London. We have grown to love the horrific murders in tranquil villages with rolling greens, tea-drinking residents, bumbling local law enforcement and the posh country houses.

Kate Summerscale, goes back to the 19th century to take a look at another crime that made waves and probably originated the idea of the ‘cozy country home murder mystery’.

Photo by Harrison Kugler on Unsplash

There Was Once A Murder

In The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, Summerscale chronicles, analyzes and reports on the events around the gruesome murder of Saville Kent, a four-year-old at Road Hill House in Kent, England.

Written in the fashion of murder novels, The Suspicions… presents the sequence of events as they took place, provides evidence and witness testimony, prompting the reader to put on a detective’s hat to figure out what really happened.

So we have an old Victorian house, motiveless murder of an innocent boy on closed premises, appearances of an inside job, simmering family drama, conflicting witness accounts, white dress covered in blood, incompetent local police and the detective from Scotland Yard. Almost sounds like quintessential British mystery novel, right?

That is no coincidence. Summerscale explores the influence of the Kent murder case on the growth of detective literature in England. This case had caught the attention of the nation, the media, and even the parliament. Everyone had an opinion on who killed Saville Kent.

Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Mary Braddon, all pioneers of the first detective novels in England, were active commentators of the murder investigation. All three of them published stories and novels inspired by the Kent case.

Why did this murder case evoke so much media frenzy and captured the imagination of budding writers?

Summerscale shows the murder pushed the public to address the dark undercurrents of a “gentlemen’s” home. Victorian households by demands of society and etiquette could be repressive where gender inequality existed, social circles were restricted to maintain class distinction, and servants played an important part in the household’s dynamics.

Take the situation in the Kent household. Samuel Kent, re-married his governess soon after the death of his first wife, who was supposedly mentally ill. Samuel and the new Mrs. Kent then had children of their own, to whom they showed increasing partiality. All the four children of the first marriage felt the discrimination and possible hatred toward their step-siblings. Was it enough to incite them to murder their step-brother?

Jack Whicher Source: Wikimedia.com

Here Comes The Detective

Given the gruesome nature of the crime and the status of the Kent household, Scotland Yard was engaged. They sent one of its finest, an Inspector Jack Whicher. He was also one of the earliest members of the original Detective Branch of Scotland Yard that had been set over a decade ago in 1842.

Summerscale points out that a “detective” was considered a new concept, and people did not appreciate anyone invading the privacy of an Englishman’s home to ask vulgar questions. By the very nature of his job, Whicher was not popular in Kent.

“The word ‘clue’ derives from ‘clew’, meaning a ball of thread or yarn. It had come to mean ‘that which points the way’ because of the Greek myth in which Theseus uses a ball of yarn, given to him by Ariadne, to find his way out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth.”
― Kate Summerscale, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher

Undeterred, Whicher continued his investigation, but his resolution did not hold up in court. He was shamed and not take up another case for quite some time till he was eventually proven right.

Whicher and ‘detecting’ also entered the mainstream consciousness, and he became one of the finest detectives in Europe; inspiring many fictional detectives based on him. The most famous being Dickens’s Inspector Bucket and Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse.