The Wicked Boy: the mystery of a Victorian child murderer
KATE SUMMERSCALE

Is there such a thing as a clear-cut crime? Kate Summerscale’s enthralling account of a murder which became a cause célèbre suggests not. Apparently indisputable facts are called into question; social attitudes, scientific theories and politics all muddy the waters.

In the baking summer of 1895, Robert and Nattie Coombes, aged 13 and 12, are larking around London with a suspiciously large amount of money. Their father is at sea; of their mother there is no sign. Eventually a worried relative forces her way into the house and the stabbed and decomposing body of Mrs Coombes is found. So ghastly is the scene that when a police sergeant is called upon to describe it in court, he faints and has to be carried out.

One of the boys confesses to the killing. But was his brother actually responsible? And was the deed premeditated, or an act of temporary insanity? Unreliable witnesses and pontificating newspapers fuel public speculation.