This book grew on me.

This is the story, every detail of it verifiable and meticulously researched of Robert Coombes, who murdered his mother, aged 13. The days leading up to the discovery of his mother's body, his arrest, trial, incarceration, years at Broadmoor are told in impressive detail, and a picture emerges of the justice system of the time, and of the apparently enlightened regime at Broadmoor.

The later, equally fascinating part of the book concentrated on Robert's years of 'freedom', at a Salvation Army hostel, in Australia, his war years and the simple life he made for himself afterwards. Here Summerscale had to rely more on contact with individuals who knew him, or whose relatives had known him. The only surprise was that she revealed to them the fact that Robert had been convicted of murder, which I felt was a shocking and unnecessary breach of confidence.

At first I found the book's style dry and over-reliant on what at first seemed irrelevant detail. As I read on, I came to appreciate the breadth of the picture that built up of life and justice in a busy, noisy working class community in late nineteenth century London. ( )

An Infamous Murder in Victorian London 1895, Robert Coombes (age 13) and his brother Nattie (age 12) were seen spending lavishly around the docklands of East London. The boys told neighbors they had been left home alone while their mother visited family in Liverpool, but their aunt was suspicious. She eventually forced the brothers to open the house to her and found the badly decomposed body of their mother in a bedroom upstairs. Robert and Nattie were arrested for matricide and sent for trial at the Old Bailey.
Robert confessed, but his lawyers argued that he was insane. Nattie struck a plea and gave evidence against his brother. Robert seemed to feel no remorse for what he had done, and neither the prosecution nor the defense could find a motive for the murder. The judge sentenced Robert to detention in Broadmoor, a criminal lunatic asylum. Broadmoor turned out to be the beginning of a new life for Robert. After 17 years he was released and made his way to NSW-Australia (his brother Nattie was a stoker on a Australian Army ship).
Here, Robert enlisted for military service and he was noted as serving with bravery as a stretcher-bearer. Upon the end of the war he settled in Coffs Harbour, and led a mainly self-sufficient, isolate life. During this time, he provided a safe place to Harry Mulville, a young boy who suffered extreme physical abuse from his stepfather. Robert became a somewhat father figure to Harry (who had no knowledge of his mentor's past). After Robert passed away, Harry petitioned the Army to provide a memorial plaque in recognition of Robert's military service. This was a very enjoyable read as it was based on fact and encouraged me to google the facts. ( )

It was good, though not as good as Mr. Whicher. I wanted to know more than it was possible to know, i think, which was not the author's fault, the internal information, diaries, letters, things which might have made the "wicked boy" more fleshed out, real , complex, I think they are just not there. STill, a look at the time, especially Broadmoor, that really is fascinating. ( )

I really liked parts of this book but the courtroom went on way too long. The first part of the book leading up to the murder reveal was well done and then it was mostly down hill. ( )

I have a thing for true murder mystery books. They are my secret love and I have read a lot of them. Some are incredibly trashy and seem to have been written by a 4th grader telling, but there are others that are so well written that they seem like novels more than true murder mysteries. I am glad to say that The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale* falls into the latter.

In 1895, Robert Coombes (13 years old) and his brother Nattie (12 years old) all of a sudden come into a large sum of money. They are going to the big cricket match, they are buying things their family cannot afford, and they are just having a ball. Their father is on a ship heading for America and their mother seems to have disappeared. Neighbors ask about her and are told she is out by the boys. Their aunt comes over demanding to see their mother and they simply won't let her in. The neighbors are also noticing a pungent smell is coming from the house. They boy's aunt bursts in with police, while the boys are playing cards on the first floor and find their mother several days dead in her room with a knife by her side. Robert immediately admits to stabbing his mother once Nattie gave him the signal to do so.

This is all told in the FIRST CHAPTER of the book!

The rest of the book is a well told and greatly detailed story of what happened to the boys during and following the trial. We read what happened behind closed doors and while their father was away prior to the murder. We read how Robert treated his trial and what happened to him.

The amazing thing is it is an UPLIFTING story at the end. I don't consider this a spoiler as a simple Google search for the boys will reveal a lot of information, but that information comes from Summerscale's deeply researched book.

I have not read any of her books prior to this one, but this one made me want to read more. As it is an older story of murder, one can draw so many parallels to today. Robert had a thing for Penny Dreadfuls, which were cheap murder books for children. These silly books were considered vulgar for the young minds and the thought was they would drive children to murder. It is a similar argument around rock music or video games. Summerscale's presentation was very approachable even within its depth.

I would suggest that if you are interested in reading this one, not to use Google or even read other reviews as you will find out the ending to their story and as stated it is a good ending.

I gave this one 3.5 stars almost into 4 stars.

*I received this book for review from NetGalley and from Penguin Press in exchange for an honest review ( )