Quiddity

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher

"Since Whicher was sure that the murderer was an inmate of the house, all his suspects were still at the scene. This was the original country-house murder mystery, a case in which the investigator had to find not a person but a person's hidden self. It was pure whodunnit, a contest of intelligence and nerve between the detective and the killer. Here were the twelve. One was the victim. Which was the traitor?" 

--from The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Title: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective

Author: Kate Summerscale

Publisher/Publisher Date: Bloomsbury

Library/Bookstore: Amazon Kindle Store

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: January 2012

Rating: ***1/2

What It's About (Summary from Good Reads):  

The dramatic story of the real-life murder that inspired the birth of modern detective fiction.

In June of 1860 three-year-old Saville Kent was found at the bottom of an outdoor privy with his throat slit. The crime horrified all England and led to a national obsession with detection, ironically destroying, in the process, the career of perhaps the greatest detective in the land.

At the time, the detective was a relatively new invention; there were only eight detectives in all of England and rarely were they called out of London, but this crime was so shocking, as Kate Summerscale relates in her scintillating new book, that Scotland Yard sent its best man to investigate, Inspector Jonathan Whicher.

Why I Chose to Read It:  I  had heard about this horrific crime on Deadly Women (LOVE this show).  It was also a Kindle daily deal!

Notes About the Book:

1. I really liked how the author talked about the evolution of the detective mystery novel throughout the book.  I'm going to have to check out The Moonstone, The Woman in White, and Bleak House sometime in the future.  Apparently, Whicher was the inspiration behind many famous literary detectives (Inspector Bucket and Sergeant Cuff). 
2. I still can't believe that the police were dumb enough to get themselves locked inside the kitchen by the main suspect during their investigation.
3. William Saville-Kent grew up to become a famous marine biologist.  He also conducted the first experiments to create cultured pearls in Australia.
4. I loved how the floorplans for the Kent house were included in the book.

Do I Recommend It?  Yes.  I thought it was really interesting, especially the trial part.  Some parts are kind of dry, but overall, I really enjoyed it.  It definitely makes me want to read more detective fiction.

Links:

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher trailer--Paddy Considine plays Mr. Whicher. 

 

Horns

“He paused, twisting his goatee, considering the law in Deuteronomy that forbade clothes with mixed fibers. A problematic bit of Scripture. A matter that required thought. "Only the devil wants man to have a wide range of lightweight and comfortable styles to choose from," he murmured at last, trying out a new proverb. "Although there may be no forgiveness for polyester. On this one matter, Satan and the Lord are in agreement.” 

--Ig, Horns

Title: Horns

Author: Joe Hill

Publisher/Publisher Date: Harper Collins e-books 2010

Library/Bookstore: iBookstore

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: October 2011

Rating: ***

What It's About (Summary from Good Reads):  

Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a pair of horns growing from his temples.

At first, Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who had been raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.

Once, the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed. But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. Nothing Ig can do or say matters. Everyone it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone that is, but the devil inside. . . .

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. It's time for a little revenge . . . it's time the devil had his due . . .

Why I Chose to Read It:  It was the October book selection for the Geek Girl Book Club.

Notes About the Book:

1. Being able to read the inner-most darkest thoughts and secrets of everyone you love has to be the worst curse to get stuck with.  No one wants to find out that their mom was a Vegas prostitute.
2. I will never look at donuts the same way again after reading this book.
3. Um, why does he have horns?  They didn't really serve a purpose and you never find out why he got stuck with them.  Just what he was drinking!
4. I didn't get the whole  treehouse thing.
5. If I was given the ability to immitate voices, I definitely would have found the time to make some crank calls.
6. Devil in the blue dress, heh!
7. Joe Hill looks like a lot like his dad (Stephen King).  It's kinda creepy.
8. The plot of this book reminded me a lot of The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst.  

Do I Recommend It?  Yes!  However, I didn't love it as much as other people did.  I thought it dragged in a few places and the book could have benefited from more editing.  Still, it was a fun, quick read.  I've heard good things about his other book, Heart-Shaped Box, that I definitely want to read sometime in the future.

Links:

Joe Hill Fiction