The Remarkable Story of Robert Coombes

Early on the morning of Monday, July 8, 1895, thirteen-year-old Robert Coombes and his twelve-year-old brother attend a cricket match. The previous Friday, their father had gone to sea. The boys and their mother stayed home for the summer. For ten days, the brothers threw money around and took valuables to the pawn shop to pay for visits to the theater and trips to the seaside.
During all this time, nothing is heard from their mother. The neighbours have heard from the boys that she is visiting family. The sun is beating down on the house and it is starting to stink terribly. The alerted police find a scene in the bedroom that causes a wave of horror in the press.
In The Remarkable Story of Robert Coombes, Kate Summerscale unravels this shocking murder case. It is a true story of murder and morality in Victorian times and the ability of man to leave the past behind.