The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

The murder of a small boy at Road Hill House shocked Britain and was a cause célèbre even further afield. Dickens was intrigued by it, Wilkie Collins and others borrowed from it, and the public (through newspapers and broadsides) couldn’t get enough of it. The detective at its centre was pilloried in Punch and retired a broken man, but even after the culprit was brought to justice (or, rather, walked towards it willingly) there were twists outstanding…