The Case of Constance Kent. Famous Trials Series

London: Geoffrey Bles, [1928]. Rhode, John, [1884-1964]. Constance Kent, [1844-1944], Defendant. The Case of Constance Kent. London: Geoffrey Bles, [1928]. viii, 278 pp. Frontispiece. Famous Trials Series. General Editor: George Dilnot. Publisher's purple cloth with gilt stamped spine and blind title to front cover. Moderate shelfwear. Fading to spine. Small nick to front board. Foxing to pages, otherwise internally clean. A good copy. $125. * Examines the infamous 1860 Road Hill House murder providing the details of the events surrounding the murder of three-year-old Francis Saville Kent, who was discovered with his throat cut in an outdoor privy on his family's property in Wiltshire, England. The local police were initially unsuccessful in their investigation, so Scotland Yard sent Detective Inspector Jack Whicher to assist. Rhode's account covers how Whicher's suspicions fell upon Francis's older half-sister, 16-year-old Constance Kent. Whicher built a case against Constance based on slender clues and had her arrested, but the public outcry and press agitation at the time led to the charges being dropped. Five years after the murder, Constance, under intense religious influence, confessed to the crime and was tried and convicted. The case became a sensation that fascinated authors like Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens, influencing their own work. Rhode's account revisits the case, delving into the police procedures and motivations of the key players. He expresses his contempt for the Victorian-era class privilege that shielded the Kent family and led to Whicher's humiliation. The book offers an analysis of the evidence and the social factors that complicated one of the 19th century's most notorious criminal cases.…