Author: Kate Summerscale
This based-on-a-true-story mystery thriller is a pretty good read. It is about the murder of a child in England around the middle of the 19th Century. This particular case gave birth to the detective/mystery genre and spawned the careers of authors like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes). For mystery-lovers, this is a classic whodunit that will keep you guessing, though don't expect a neatly packaged "aha!" moment at the end. For you history-lovers, it offers a fascinating glimpse into the private and controversial lives of a traditional upper-class English family. It got a little dry in the middle, and if you don't like history you probably won't like it as much as we did. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
