Build-in Book Search
The face of a stranger
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
His name, they tell him, is William Monk, and he is a London police detecive. But the accident that felled him has left him with only half a life; his memory and his entire past have vanished. As he tries to hide the truth, Monk returns to work and is assigned to investigate the brutal murder of a Crimean War hero and man about town. Which makes Monk's efforts doubly difficult, since he's forgotten his professional skills along with everything else....
![Anne Perry - [Thomas Pitt 05]](https://picture.readfrom.net/img/bluegate-fields/anne_perry_-_thomas_pitt_05.jpg "Anne Perry - [Thomas Pitt 05]")
Anne Perry - [Thomas Pitt 05]
Bluegate Fields
Inspector Thomas Pitt is shocked. The body of a boy, clearly from the upper classes, has been found in the filthy sewers of Bluegate Fields, one of London’s most dangerous slums. What’s more, the unfortunate boy had been violated before he was murdered. So vile a case is hardly a topic for drawing-room conversation.But when the Waybournes, the boy’s family, refuse to answer the police’s questions, Inspector Pitt begins to wonder what secrets they are trying to hide. Pitt’s wife and helpmeet, Charlotte, is determined to find out–even if it means tearing down the façades of an oh-so-proper family.Review“The period detail remains fascinating, and [Perry’s] grasp of Victorian character and conscience still astonishes.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer“Perry is a forceful plotter and a consistently polished writer.”—*Seattle Weekly “Perry is [a] master of crime fiction.”—Baltimore Sun*“When it comes to the Victorian mystery, Anne Perry has proved that nobody does it better.”—San Diego Union-Tribune“Murder fans who prefer their crimes with a touch of class should heat some scones and nestle back for the afternoon.”—*Atlanta Journal-Constitution*From the Inside FlapWhen an upper-class boy is found violated and dead in London's most dangerous slums, Inspector Pitt is shocked. But when the Waybournes, the boy's family, refuse to answer the police's questions, Inspector Pitt begins to wonder what secrets they were trying to hide. His wife and helpmeet, Charlotte, is determined to find out--even it if means tearing down the facades of an oh-so-proper family...."The period detail remains fascinating, and [Perry's] grasp of Victorian character and conscience still astonishes."THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
Triple Jeopardy
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Against his better judgment, young lawyer Daniel Pitt must defend a British diplomat who may be involved in a cover-up for murder, in this second novel in New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry's riveting new series.Daniel Pitt, along with his parents, Charlotte and Thomas, is delighted that his sister, Jemima, and her family have returned to London from the States for a visit. But the Pitts soon learn of a harrowing incident: In Washington, D.C., one of Jemima's good friends has been assaulted and her treasured necklace has been stolen. The perpetrator appears to be a man named Philip Sidney, a British diplomat stationed in America's capital who, in a cowardly move, has fled to London, claiming diplomatic immunity. But that claim doesn't cover his other crimes. . . .When Sidney winds up in court on a separate charge of embezzlement, it falls to Daniel to defend him. He plans only to provide a competent enough defense to avoid a mistrial, allowing the...
A Question of Betrayal
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
On her first mission for MI6, the daring young photographer at the heart of bestselling author Anne Perry's thrilling 1930s mystery series travels to Mussolini's Italy to rescue the lover who betrayed her.Britain's secret service, MI6, has lost contact with its informant in northern Italy, just as important intel about the future plans of Austria and Nazi Germany is coming to light. And young Elena Standish, to her surprise, is the only one who can recognize MI6's man—because he's her former lover. Aiden Strother betrayed her six years before, throwing shame on her entire family. Now, with so much to prove, Elena heads to Trieste to track down Aiden and find out what happened to his handler, who has mysteriously cut off contact with Britain.As Elena hears word of a secret group working to put Austria in the hands of Germany, her older sister, Margot, is in Berlin to watch her childhood friend get married—to a member of the Gestapo. Margot and...
A Christmas Gathering
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
A cold case adds an extra chill to the holiday season as bestselling author Anne Perry whisks readers to an English country house for a Christmas of secrets, soul-searching, and forgiveness.As beautiful as it may be, their friends' country home is not where Lady Vespasia wishes to spend Christmas with her new husband, Victor Narraway. She'd rather pass a relaxing holiday at home with him—especially because Victor, former head of the London Special Branch, seems to be hiding some undercover dealings with the other guests who have gathered in the spacious home.As tensions grow among the couples, the young and beautiful Iris Watson-Watt becomes the center of several men's focus. Unbeknownst to Vespasia, Iris carries a message for Victor that may help unmask a British traitor. As Victor plots his moves, he is reminded of a similar case from twenty years before, when a young Frenchwoman also carried a clandestine message—one that resulted in her murder, still...
Death in Focus
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
In the start of an all-new mystery series set in pre-World War II Europe, an intrepid young photographer carries her imperiled lover's final, urgent message into the heart of Berlin as Hitler ascends to power.On vacation from London on the beautiful Italian coast, twenty-eight-year-old Elena Standish and her older sister Margot have finally been able to forget some of the lasting trauma of the Great War. Touring with her camera in hand, Elena has found new inspiration in the striking Italian landscape, and she's met an equally striking man named Ian. Not ready to part from one another, she and Ian share a train trip home to England. But a shocking murder disrupts their agenda, forcing Elena to personally deliver a message to Berlin that could change the fate of Europe.Back home, Elena's diplomat father and secretive grandfather—the former head of MI6, unbeknownst to his family—are involved in their own international machinations. Working behind the...
A Christmas Resolution
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
A smitten woman is about to marry a dangerous man—unless Detective Hooper and his new wife, Celia, can prevent it—in this wickedly tangled holiday mystery from bestselling author Anne Perry.Detective John Hooper, William Monk's right-hand man at the Thames River Police, is blissfully happy in his new marriage to Celia, the cousin of a victim in one of the river police's recent murder cases. Celia wants the same happiness for her good friend Clementine, who's just announced her engagement to Seth Marlowe, a member of her church. Christmas is nearing, and this should be extra cause for celebration, but when Marlowe begins receiving threatening letters about his first wife's death, it becomes clear that he is far from the devout man Clementine thought he was. In his rage, Marlowe accuses Celia of sending the letters, claiming she wants to ruin his engagement to Clementine. At a loss as to how to defend herself, Celia enlists Hooper to investigate the letters'...
Cain His Brother
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
In his family life Angus Stonefield had been gentle and loving, in business a man of probity, and in his relationship with his twin brother, Caleb, a virtual saint. Now Angus is missing, and it appears more than possible that Caleb—a creature long since abandoned to depravity—has murdered him. Hired to solve the mystery, William Monk puts himself in Angus’s shoes, searching for clues to the missing man’s fate and his vicious brother’s whereabouts. Slowly Monk inches toward the truth—and also, unwittingly, toward the destruction of his good name and livelihood. Struggling to rebuild his own identity, detective William Monk steps into the shoes of Angus Stonefield--missing and presumed murdered--to track down the truth. If Stonefield is indeed a murder victim, the likely culprit is his own brother, Caleb--Angus's identical twin in appearance, but his sinister opposite at heart.
A Christmas Journey
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Review'This brief work has an almost Jamesian subtlety, and with its powerful message of responsibility and redemption - "We need both to forgive and to be forgiven" - it conveys a moral force in keeping with the season' Wall Street Journal 12/12/03 -- Wall Street Journal 20031212 Product DescriptionAttending the party and taking a leading role in the ensuing investigation is one of the most beloved characters from Anne Perry's Thomas Pitt series: Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould. Lady Vespasia's friend Isobel has made a cruel remark about Gwendolen Kilmuir on the night Gwendolen was meant to have become engaged to the eligible Bertie Rosythe. Gwendolen flees the room, and the next morning her body is found in the lake in the gardens of the estate. It appears she has jumped from the bridge. The host, Omegus Jones and Vespasia decide to find who or what might have led Gwendolen to resort to such an extreme measure. They vow to make the guilty party seek forgiveness and expiation through the task of taking a sealed letter written by Gwendolen before her death to her mother up in the north of Scotland. The journey will be both physically and emotionally arduous but will bring answers to some unexpected and profound questions.
A Christmas Hope
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Anne Perry's "vastly entertaining" (The Star-Ledger) holiday novels are "as delicious as mince pie and plum pudding" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). A Christmas Hope is just as delectable--the gripping story of an unforgettable battle between goodness and evil in Victorian London--and a lonely woman's search for meaning in her life. Claudine Burroughs, a volunteer in Hester Monk's clinic for sick and injured prostitutes, no longer expects closeness with her coldly ambitious husband and dreads the holidays. Then, at a glittering yuletide gala, she meets the attractive poet Dai Tregarron and suddenly her spirits lift. Alas, an hour later, this fascinating man is enmeshed in a nightmare--accused of killing a young streetwalker who had been smuggled into the party. Even though she suspects that an upper-class clique is quickly closing ranks to protect the real killer, Claudine and the clinic's disreputable bookkeeper, Squeaky Robinson, vow to...
Blood on the Water
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
As Anne Perry's New York Times bestselling novels always remind us, she is a matchless guide to both the splendor and the shame of the British Empire at the height of its influence. In her twentieth William Monk mystery, she brings us to London's grand Mayfair mansions, where the arrogant masters of the Western world hold sway--and to the teeming Thames waterfront, where one summer afternoon, Monk witnesses the horrifying explosion of the pleasure boat Princess Mary, which takes nearly two hundred of the merrymakers on board to their deaths. The tragedy is no accident. As commander of the River Police, Monk should handle the case, but the investigation is turned over to the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. An Egyptian man is swiftly caught, tried, and sentenced to die. But almost as quickly, Monk presents evidence that Habib Beshara, though a nasty piece of work, was elsewhere at the time of the blast. The investigation, now in complete disarray,...
A Christmas Garland: A Novel
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
“An annual treat,” declared The Wall Street Journal of Anne Perry’s Victorian-era holiday mysteries. Now she continues this magnificent tradition with A Christmas Garland, a yuletide tale set in exotic India. This time the mistress of mystery tells the story of a terrible crime that sets the stage for another: accusing an innocent man of murder.The year is 1857, soon after the violent Siege of Cawnpore, with India in the midst of rebellion. In the British garrison, a guard is killed and an Indian prisoner escapes, which leads to yet more British deaths. Cries for revenge are overwhelming. Despite no witnesses and no evidence against him, a luckless British medical orderly named John Tallis is arrested as an accomplice simply because he was the only soldier unaccounted for when these baffling crimes were committed.Though chosen to defend Tallis, young Lieutenant Victor Narraway is not encouraged to try very hard. Narraway’s superiors merely want a show trial. But inspired by a soldier’s widow and her children, and by his own stubborn faith in justice, Narraway searches for the truth. In an alien world haunted by memories of massacre, he is the accused man’s only hope.The trial of John Tallis equals the white-knuckle best of Anne Perry’s breathtaking courtroom dramas. And thanks to a simple Christmas garland and some brilliant detective work, Narraway perseveres against appalling odds, learning how to find hope within himself—and turn the darkest hour into one full of joy and light.PRAISE FOR THE CHRISTMAS NOVELS OF ANNE PERRY A Christmas Homecoming“Could have been devised by Agatha Christie . . . [Perry is] a modern master.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette“Vastly entertaining . . . uplifting and thought-provoking by turns.”—The Star-LedgerA Christmas Odyssey“[Perry] writes with detail that invades the senses.”—Lincoln Journal StarA Christmas Promise“Poignant . . . should be on the Christmas stocking list of anyone who likes a sniffle of nostalgia.”—The Washington TimesA Christmas Grace“[A] heartwarming, if crime-tinged, complement to the holiday season.”—BooklistA Christmas Beginning“Intriguing . . . Perry’s use of period detail is, as always, strong and evocative.”—The Seattle TimesFrom the Hardcover edition.Review'Delightful ... The perfect gift for a whodunit addict who likes to curl up with a good book after Christmas lunch' -- Oxford Times 'A bite-sized mystery that could be fitted in after your Christmas lunch' -- Daily Telegraph About the AuthorAnne Perry is the author of two Victorian–era series––one featuring investigator William Monk, the other featuring police inspector Thomas Pitt––as well as a series set amid World War I. She lives in the Scottish Highlands.
Anne Perry's Christmas Vigil
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
IN THESE TWO HOLIDAY MYSTERIES SET IN VICTORIAN LONDON, CHRISTMAS COMES WITH A HELPING OF MAGIC AND MURDER.A CHRISTMAS PROMISEThree days before Christmas, in London's East End, thirteen-year-old Gracie Phipps encounters eight-year-old Minnie Maude Mudway, freezing and alone. Only the day before, someone murdered Minnie Maude's Uncle Alf and made off with his rag-and-bones cart--as well as with Charlie, the beloved donkey who pulled it. Now, Grace and Minnie Maude set off to rescue Charlie. But the path that Uncle Alf had taken to his death was not his regular route, and in his cart, the children are told, was a dazzling golden casket that could very well be a Pandora's box of evil or a shining prize of hope.A CHRISTMAS ODYSSEYTen days before Christmas, James Wentworth feels not joy but grief. His reckless son, Lucien, has been lured into a world of drugs and wild passion. Wentworth's only hope, he believes, is his old friend...
A Sunless Sea wm-18
Part #18 of "William Monk" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
No Graves As Yet wwi-1
Part #1 of "World War I" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Through Anne Perry’s magnificent Victorian novels, millions of readers have enjoyed the pleasures and intrigue of a bygone age. Now, with the debut of an extraordinary new series, this New York Times bestselling author sweeps us into the golden summer of 1914, a time of brief enchantment when English men and women basked in the security of wealth and power, even as the last weeks of their privileged world were swiftly passing. Theirs was a peace that led to war.
On a sunny afternoon in late June, Cambridge professor Joseph Reavley is summoned from a student cricket match to learn that his parents have died in an automobile crash. Joseph’s brother, Matthew, as officer in the Intelligence Service, reveals that their father had been en route to London to turn over to him a mysterious secret document—allegedly with the power to disgrace England forever and destroy the civilized world. A paper so damning that Joseph and Matthew dared mention it only to their restless younger sister. Now it has vanished.
What has happened to this explosive document, if indeed it ever existed? How had it fallen into the hands of their father, a quiet countryman? Not even Matthew, with his Intelligence connections, can answer these questions. And Joseph is soon burdened with a second tragedy: the shocking murder of his most gifted student, beautiful Sebastian Allard, loved and admired by everyone. Or so it appeared.
Meanwhile, England’s seamless peace is cracking—as the distance between the murder of an Austrian archduke by a Serbian anarchist and the death of a brilliant university student by a bullet to the head of grows shorter by the day.
Anne Perry is a sublime master of suspense. In No Graves As Yet , her latest haunting masterpiece, she reminds us that love and hate, cowardice and courage, good and evil are always a part of life, in our own time as well as on the eve of the greatest war the world has ever known.
From the Hardcover edition.
Highgate Rise
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Clemency Shaw, the wife of a prominent doctor, has died in a tragic fire in the peaceful suburb of Highgate. But the blaze was set by an arsonist, and it is unclear whether she or Dr. Shaw was the intended victim--or did the doctor himself set the blaze in order to inherit his wife's large fortune? Baffled by the scarcity of clues in this terrible crime, Inspector Thomas Pitt turns to the people who had been closest to the couple--Clemency's stuffy but distinguished relatives. Meanwhile, Pitt's wellborn wife, Charlotte, retraces the dangerous path that Clemency walked in the last months of her life, finding herself enmeshed in a sinister web that stretches from the lowest slums to the loftiest centers of power.
A Christmas Revelation
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
"Perry's Victorian-era holiday mysteries [are] an annual treat."—The Wall Street JournalIn this intriguing, uplifting holiday mystery from bestselling author Anne Perry, an orphan boy investigates a woman's kidnapping—and discovers there's more at stake than a disappearance. It wouldn't quite be Christmas without a holiday mystery decorated with all the Victorian trimmings, as only New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry can render it. Now the tradition continues as mayhem is once again found under the mistletoe, and intrigue stalks the cobblestone streets and gaslit parlors of old London Town. Formerly a river urchin living on the banks of the Thames, nine-year-old Worm has never experienced a family Christmas. But thanks to a job at Hester Monk's clinic in Portpool Lane, he's found a makeshift family in kindly volunteer Miss Claudine Burroughs and curmudgeonly old bookkeeper Squeaky Robinson. When Worm witnesses the...
Midnight at Marble Arch tp-28
Part #28 of "Thomas Pitt" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
The Hyde Park Headsman
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Not since the bloody deeds of Jack the Ripper have Londoners felt such terror as that aroused by the gruesome beheadings in Hyde Park. And if newly promoted Police Superintendent Thomas Pitt does not quickly apprehend the perpetrator, he is likely to lose his own head, professionally speaking.Yet even with the help of Charlotte Pitt's subtle investigation, the sinister violence continues unchecked. And in a shocking turn of events that nearly convinces the pair of sleuths that they have met their match, the case proves to be Pitt's toughest ever . . . ."Very satisfying, a lovely way to spend a rainy spring weekend." -- USA Today"Thrilling . . . [Perry's] understanding of the historically rich period enables her to devise a plot true to its time yet timeless in its approach to human nature." -- The Orlando SentinelFrom the Paperback edition.
A Breach of Promise
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
In a sensational breach-of-promise suit, two wealthy social climbers are suing on behalf of their beautiful daughter, Zillah. The defendant is Zillah's alleged fiancé, brilliant young architect Killian Melville, who adamantly declares that he will not,cannot, marry her. Utterly baffled by his client's refusal, Melville's counsel, Sir Oliver Rathbone, turns to his old comrades in crime--William Monk and nurse Hester Latterly. But even as they scout London for clues, the case suddenly and tragically ends, in an outcome that no one--except a ruthless murderer--could have foreseen.
Shoulder the Sky wwi-2
Part #2 of "World War I" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
In the firmament of great historical novelists, Anne Perry is a star of the greatest magnitude. First there were her acclaimed Victorian mysteries, sparkling with passion and suspense. Now readers have embraced this bestselling new series of World War I novels–which juxtapose the tranquil life of the English countryside with the horrors of war.
By April of 1915, as chaplain Joseph Reavley tends to the soldiers in his care, the nightmare of trench warfare is impartially cutting down England’s youth. On one of his rescue forays into no-man’s-land, Joseph finds the body of an arrogant war correspondent, Eldon Prentice. A nephew of the respected General Owen Cullingford, Prentice was despised for his prying attempts to elicit facts that would turn public opinion against the war. Most troublesome to Joseph, Prentice has been killed not by German fire but, apparently, by one of his own compatriots. What Englishman hated Prentice enough to kill him? Joseph is afraid he may know, and his sister, Judith, who is General Cullingford’s driver and translator, harbors her own fearful suspicions.
Meanwhile, Joseph and Judith’s brother, Matthew, an intelligence officer in London, continues his quiet search for the sinister figure they call the Peacemaker, who, like Eldon Prentice, is trying to undermine the public support for the struggle–and, as the Reavley family has good reason to believe, is in fact at the heart of a fantastic plot to reshape the entire world. An intimate of kings, the Peacemaker kills with impunity, and his dark shadow stretches from the peaceful country lanes of Cambridgeshire to the twin hells of Ypres and Gallipoli.
In this mesmerizing series, Anne Perry has found a subject worthy of her gifts. Illuminating the murderous conflict whose violence still resounds in our consciousness–as well as the souls of men and women who lived it– Shoulder the Sky is a taut, inspiring masterpiece.
Long Spoon Lane
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
After bombs explode during an anarchist attack in Long Spoon Lane, two of the culprits are captured and the leader is shot . . . but by whom? As Thomas Pitt of the Special Branch delves into the case, he finds that there's more to the terrorism than the brutality of misguided idealists. Clues suggest that Inspector Wetron is the mastermind. As the shadowy leader of the Inner Circle, Wetron is using his influence with the press to stir up fears of more attacks and to rush a bill through Parliament that would severely curtail civil liberties. To defeat Wetron, Pitt must run in harness with his old enemy, Sir Charles Voisey. The unlikely allies are joined by Pitt's clever wife, Charlotte, and her great aunt, Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould. As they strive to prevent future destruction, nothing less than the fate of the British Empire hangs in precarious balance.
The Silent Cry
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Deep in London's dangerous slums, Victorians transact their most secret and shameful business. For a price, a man can procure whatever he wants. But for one such man, the price he pays is his life. In sunless Water Lane, respected solicitor Leighton Duff lies dead, kicked and beaten to death. Beside him is the barely living body of his son, Rhys. The police cannot fathom these brutal assaults until shrewd investigator William Monk, aided by nurse-turned-sleuth Hester Latterly, uncovers a connection between them and a series of rapes and beatings of local prostitutes. But then the case takes an even more shocking turn.From the Trade Paperback edition.
![Anne Perry - [Thomas Pitt 24]](https://picture.readfrom.net/img/long-spoon-lane/anne_perry_-_thomas_pitt_24.jpg "Anne Perry - [Thomas Pitt 24]")
Anne Perry - [Thomas Pitt 24]
Part #24 of "Thomas and Charlotte Pitt" series by Long Spoon Lane
Science Fiction / Dystopia / Apocalyptic / Post Apocalyptic
After bombs explode during an anarchist attack in Long Spoon Lane, two of the culprits are captured and the leader is shot . . . but by whom? As Thomas Pitt of the Special Branch delves into the case, he finds that there’s more to the terrorism than the brutality of misguided idealists. Clues suggest that Inspector Wetron is the mastermind. As the shadowy leader of the Inner Circle, Wetron is using his influence with the press to stir up fears of more attacks and to rush a bill through Parliament that would severely curtail civil liberties. To defeat Wetron, Pitt must run in harness with his old enemy, Sir Charles Voisey. The unlikely allies are joined by Pitt’s clever wife, Charlotte, and her great aunt, Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould. As they strive to prevent future destruction, nothing less than the fate of the British Empire hangs in precarious balance.From Publishers WeeklyCarnage comes early in Perry's engrossing Victorian historical, the follow-up to Seven Dials (2003), when Special Branch investigator Thomas Pitt is summoned in the middle of the night to the aftermath of a bombing, the work of unknown anarchists intent on wreaking havoc in London in revenge for high-level police corruption. The chase leads to the group's lair in an abandoned building along grimy Long Spoon Lane, where the body of Magnus Landsborough, son of a well-connected lord, raises disturbing questions about both the young man's association with the underground cell and police procedures to combat terrorists. Pitt and fellow detective Victor Narraway soon find themselves up against a powerful secret society known as the Inner Circle. True-to-life parliamentary debate ensues over how much power police should be granted to quash the anarchist threat to Queen and country. The action slows when myriad characters, including wives, servants and politicians, hold excessively detailed discussions of the case, but the pace picks up with a spirited pursuit through London and across the Thames. Perry manages to paint a convincing historical backdrop with echoes of modern-day fears of urban terrorism. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistGreed, revenge, loyalty, justice, and a thirst for power each play a role in the latest Charlotte and Thomas Pitt adventure, which, like its predecessors, draws much of its intensity from nineteenth-century London's social and political climate. The city is in an uproar. Anarchists have set off a bomb to protest police shakedowns in a working-class neighborhood, and one of their own, the son of a Parliament member, has been shot to death. Finding out who killed the young radical and why falls to Thomas, now working for Special Branch, but to succeed he must join forces with the ruthless Charles Voisey; his old Bow Street friend Sergeant Tellman; and wise, socially connected Aunt Vespasia. Arguments about broadening police powers as a reaction to terrorist activity can't help but strike a chord with American readers, who will appreciate the cleverly orchestrated political machinations as much as the personal agendas--both of which come fully into play when it comes to solving the mystery. Stephanie ZvirinCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
A Christmas Message
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
In the spirit of the season, New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry presents readers with the gift of another holiday mystery, taking them to the Holy Land for an intriguing and miraculous journey of discovery. The year is 1900, and Victor Narraway is giving his wife, Vespasia, an unforgettable Christmas present—a trip to Jerusalem for the holiday. Vespasia is enchanted by the exotic landscape of Palestine, and charmed by a fellow traveler they meet at their hotel in Jaffa. But when the man is murdered over a torn piece of ancient parchment he was taking to Jerusalem, Victor and Vespasia risk their lives to finish his mission and deliver the mysterious document to its home. Pursued by a shadowy figure with evil intent, they embark on a dangerous yet ultimately enlightening pilgrimage to the holy city, where the mysterious message on the parchment may finally be revealed. Rich in mystery, suspense, and wonder, A Christmas Message...
Cater Street Hangman tp-1
Part #1 of "Thomas Pitt" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
The Shifting Tide
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
William Monk knows London's streets like the back of his hand. But the river Thames and its teeming docks--where wharf rats and night plunderers ply their trades--is unknown territory. Only Monk's dire need for work persuades him to accept an assignment from shipping magnate Clement Louvain, to investigate the theft of a cargo of African ivory from Louvain's recently docked schooner, the Maude Idris. But why didn't Louvain report the ivory theft directly to the River Police? Another mystery is the appearance of a desperately ill woman who Louvain claims is the discarded mistress of an old friend. Is she connected to the theft, or to something much darker? As Monk endeavors to solve these riddles, he can't imagine the trap that will soon so fatefully ensnare him.
Bethlehem Road
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
When Members of Parliament are murdered crossing Westminster Bridge, Thomas and Charlotte Pit must sift through the many suspects to find the killer—before he strikes againIn the few minutes it takes to cross Westminster Bridge, Sir Lockwood Hamilton has his throat slit and is tied securely to the lamppost with his evening scarf. The killer then vanishes without being seen. Inspector Thomas Pitt thinks the motive might have been personal . . . or political. When a second Member of Parliament is murdered in the same way, politics appear to be the reason. Soon the suspect list includes anarchists and suffragettes. Public outrage mounts and fear grips London and Parliament after a third lamppost murder.Deep in his end of the investigation, Pitt must rely on his wife, Charlotte, and Great-aunt Vespasia to explore the drawing rooms of the upper class for clues to the mystery. With burning social issues swirling around them, the three of them must solve the case before...
A Christmas Deliverance
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
A courageous doctor and his apprentice fight to save London’s poor—and discover that the hearts of men can be colder than a winter chill—in this gripping holiday mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry.“Perry’s Victorian-era holiday mysteries [are] an annual treat.”—The Wall Street JournalScuff has come a long way from his time as a penniless orphan scraping together a living on the banks of the Thames. Now he’s studying medicine at a free clinic run by Dr. Crowe, a thoughtful if stoic mentor. But lately Crowe has been distracted, having witnessed an altercation between a wealthy former patient of his named Ellie—a woman that he not only treated but developed unacknowledged feelings for—and her controlling fiancé. It seems someone is forcing Ellie to marry the man. When Crowe’s emotions come flooding back, he sets out to uncover the troubling...
Revenge in a Cold River
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Master of mystery and historical intrigue Anne Perry once again transports readers to the banks of the Thames in Victorian London for her thrilling new William Monk novel. In Revenge in a Cold River, Monk faces his darkest hour ever as he spars with a quarry hell-bent on vengeance. When Commander Monk of the Thames River Police is called to investigate the drowning of an escaped prisoner, he's forced to contend with customs officer McNab, who clearly bears a bitter grudge against him. But the reason is a mystery in itself. Monk's memory loss—a secret he guards closely—leaves him vulnerable to repercussions from his missing past . . . especially his exploits overseas, in the tumultuous Gold Rush days of San Francisco. And now McNab, as icy and unfathomable as the steel-gray Thames itself, appears intent on using whatever damning facts he can find to his advantage to ruin Monk's future as an officer of the law. After a second prisoner takes...
Silence in Hanover Close
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
A three-year-old unsolved murder could prove fatal for Thomas Pitt—and his familyWhen Thomas Pitt is required to reopen an unsolved murder case in exclusive Hanover Close, he doesn't know how dangerous it will be for his family—and himself. Three years before, Robert York, an important member of the British Foreign Office, was murdered. Pitt believes a mysterious woman may hold the key to the York's death, and his suspicion deepens when a York housemaid dies suddenly after a revealing talk with Pitt. Charlotte, meanwhile, goes undercover as a friend's country cousin to snoop around the drawing rooms of Hanover Close. Disaster hits home when Pitt himself is accused of murdering the woman he'd been seeking and is thrown in prison. Only Charlotte and her recently widowed sister, Emily, Lady Ashworth, stand between Pitt and the gallows. Ignoring the danger, Charlotte advances her charade, diving deeper into the confidences of the York family and their friends,...
Buckingham Palace Gardens
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mysteries are perhaps the best loved of all her Victorian bestsellers, luring us into the multilayered richness of London, from the great mansions and secluded drawing rooms to the city's festering slums. Now, in her most mesmerizing novel yet, she invites us to a house-party at Buckingham Palace. The Prince of Wales has asked four wealthy entrepreneurs and their wives to the palace to discuss a fantastic idea: the construction of a six-thousand-mile railroad that would stretch the full length of Africa. But, alas, the prince's gathering proves disastrous when the mutilated body of a prostitute hired for a late-night frolic (after the wives have retired to bed) turns up among the queen's monogrammed sheets in a palace linen closet.With great haste, Thomas Pitt, brilliant mainstay of Special Services, is summoned to resolve the crisis. The Pitts' cockney maid, Gracie, is also recruited--to pose as a palace servant and listen...
A Christmas Promise
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Anne Perry's Victorian Christmas novels have attracted as many faithful readers as her two New York Times bestselling series featuring investigators Thomas Pitt and William Monk. A Christmas Promise is the seventh in Perry's holiday series, and it will surely bring joy to this special season. Three days before Christmas, in the freezing slums of London's East End, thirteen-year-old Gracie Phipps encounters Minnie Maude Mudway, who is only eight, alone, and determined to find her friend Charlie. However Charlie is no ordinary companion: He is a donkey who belonged to Minnie Maude's Uncle Alf. Gracie is shocked to learn that only the day before, someone brutally murdered Uncle Alf and made off with his rag-and-bones cart and the beloved beast who pulled it. Now, come hell or high water, Minnie Maude means to rescue Charlie-and Gracie decides to help. But the path that Uncle Alf had taken to his death was not his regular route, and in his cart were not just the usual bits of worn silver and china but also, the children are told, a dazzling golden box. What its contents may have been no one can say, for, like Charlie and the cart, it too has vanished. Uncertain where their four-legged friend may be, the children are drawn into an adult world far beyond their innocent imaginings. And in a shop gleaming with beautiful objects, they recruit an unexpected ally: Mr. Balthasar, who warns them that the shining prize may be a Pandora's box of evil. Set in the Victorian world where Anne Perry reigns supreme, A Christmas Promise culminates in a radiant finale that will remain with you long after the final page is turned.
At Some Disputed Barricade wwi-4
Part #4 of "World War I" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Anne Perry's gift for illuminating the heart's deepest secrets shines through in her bestselling series of World War I novels. With compelling immediacy, she depicts the struggles of men and women torn by their convictions and challenged by the perils of war. July 1917. Joseph Reavley, a chaplain, and his sister, Judith, an ambulance driver, are bone-weary as they approach the fourth year of the conflict; the peace of the English countryside seems a world away. On the Western Front, the Battle of Passchendaele has begun, and among the many fatalities from Joseph's regiment is the trusted commanding officer, who is replaced by a young major whose pompous incompetence virtually guarantees that many good soldiers will die needlessly. But soon he, too, is deadkilled by his own men. Although Joseph would like to turn a blind eye, he knows that he must not. Judith, however, anguished at the prospect of courts-martial and executions for the twelve men arrested for the crime, has no such inhibitions and, risking of her own life, helps all but one of the prisoners to escape. Back in England, Joseph and Judith's brother, Matthew, continues his desperate pursuit to unmask the sinister figure known as the Peacemakeran obsessed genius who has committed murder and treason in an attempt to stop Britain from winning the war. As Matthew trails the Peacemaker, Joseph tracks his comrades through Switzerland and into enemy territory. His search will lead to a reckoning pitting courage and honor against the blind machinery of military justice. At Some Disputed Barricade is an Anne Perry masterpiece --brilliant, surprising, and unforgettable.
Dark Tide Rising
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
"Riveting . . . one of the series' more powerful recent entries."—Publishers WeeklyWhen a ransom exchange turns deadly in this thrilling mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry, Commander William Monk faces an unthinkable possibility: betrayal by his own men. Jacob's Island is a broken-down waterside slum, a place of perpetual gloom where Monk is just as likely to lose a man to the mud and tides as to the criminals who hide in the shadows. Kidnappers have chosen this warren of tunnels and alleys as the site of a ransom exchange for Kate Exeter, the wife of wealthy real estate developer Harry Exeter. Harry asks the Thames River Police to secretly accompany him to the spot and ensure that no harm comes to him or his captive wife. But on arrival, Monk and five of his best men are attacked from all sides, and Monk is left wondering who could have given away their plans. As Monk follows leads from Kate's worried cousin...
Treason at Lisson Grove
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
NATIONAL BESTSELLERBONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Anne Perry's Dorchester Terrace.The man who lies bleeding to death in a London brickyard is no ordinary drifter but a secret informant with details of an international plot against the British government. Special Branch officer Thomas Pitt, hastening to rendezvous with him, arrives seconds after the knife-wielding assassin—who, in turn, flees on an erratic course that leads Pitt in wild pursuit to picturesque St. Malo on the French coast. Meanwhile, Pitt’s supervisor, Victor Narraway, stands accused of embezzling government funds. Since the man who ruined Narraway’s career is in Ireland, Pitt’s clever wife, Charlotte, agrees to pose as Narraway’s sister and accompany him to Dublin to investigate. But unknown to Pitt and Narraway, a shadowy plotter is setting a trap that, once sprung, could destroy not just reputations but the British empire itself.
Murder on the Serpentine
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
In the history of Anne Perry's bestselling Victorian mystery series, the stakes have never been greater than now—as a mission for queen and country places the future of the British Empire squarely in Thomas Pitt's hands. It is not the custom for the commander of Special Branch to receive a royal summons—so Thomas Pitt knows it must be for a matter of the gravest importance. The body of Sir John Halberd, the Queen's confidant, has been found in the shallow water of the Serpentine in Hyde Park, bearing the evidence of a fatal blow to the head. At Her Majesty's request, Sir John had been surreptitiously investigating Alan Kendrick, a horse-racing enthusiast who seems to have had an undue amount of influence on her son, the Prince of Wales. Now Commander Pitt must navigate the corridors of power with the utmost discretion and stealth, for it seems certain that Sir John's killer is a member of the upper classes. Aided by his wife, Charlotte, and her...
Treason at Lisson Grove: A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Anne Perry’s very special world of mystery, passion, and danger has attracted an entire generation of readers to her bestselling Victorian novels. Treason at Lisson Grove, her first Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novel in three years, is a masterpiece, inspired by history and spinning on a razor’s edge of tension, with a cast of characters as rich as the universe Perry evokes. The man who lies bleeding to death in a London brickyard is no ordinary drifter but a secret informant prepared to divulge details of a potentially devastating international plot against the British government. Special Branch officer Thomas Pitt, hastening to rendezvous with him, arrives a second too late, preceded by a knife-wielding assassin. As the mortally wounded man’s life slips away, so too does the information Pitt desperately needs. The killer in turn flees on an erratic course that leads Pitt in wild pursuit, from London’s cobblestone streets to picturesque St. Malo on the French coast.Meanwhile, Pitt’s supervisor, the formidable Victor Narraway, finds himself accused of embezzling government funds. With Pitt incommunicado in France, Narraway turns to Pitt’s clever wife, Charlotte, for help. The man who badmouthed Narraway and ruined his career with innuendo can be found in Ireland—so Charlotte agrees to pose as Narraway’s sister and accompany him to Dublin to investigate. But unknown to Pitt and Narraway, a shadowy plotter is setting a trap that, once sprung, could destroy not just reputations but the British empire itself.From the Hardcover edition.
Resurrection Row
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Bodies that won't stay buried—is it a practical joke? Or murder?Lord Fitzroy-Hammond of Resurrection Row has been dead and buried three weeks when he turns up sitting atop a hansom cab. Grave robbing, though a crime, isn't Inspector Thomas Pitt's usual fare. But when the macabre joke is repeated, and the man's corpse is found sitting in the family pew the Sunday following his second interment, Pitt begins to wonder if perhaps there's some message in it. The case grows increasingly bizarre as other disinterred bodies appear.A new mother, Charlotte Pitt only takes a cursory interest in the grave robbing case until she hears Thomas mention the name of her late sister's husband, Dominic Corde, as a possible suspect. As Pitt follows leads into the slums and rookeries, Charlotte, too, is drawn into the politics and horrors of greed and exploitation.For Pitt and Charlotte, what begins as a mysterious case of musical corpses, becomes a deadly pursuit through the London...
The Angel Court Affair
Part #30 of "Thomas and Charlotte Pitt" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
RetailIn New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry, the glorious era when Britain reigned supreme has found its most brilliant modern interpreter. Perry’s gripping new Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novel invites us back to Victorian London, where greed and ambition never sleep, and passion sometimes runs riot.As the nineteenth century draws to a close, most of Europe is in political turmoil, and terrorist threats loom large across the continent. Adding to this unrest is the controversial Sofia Delacruz, who has come to London from Spain to preach a revolutionary gospel of love and forgiveness that many consider blasphemous. Thomas Pitt, commander of Special Branch, is charged with protecting Sofia—and shielding Her Majesty’s government from any embarrassment that this woman, as beautiful as she is charismatic, might cause.When Sofia suddenly vanishes and two of her female disciples are gruesomely murdered, Pitt is challenged as never before. Is Sofia’s cousin, wealthy banker Barton Hall, somehow involved? And why has handsome cricket star Dalton Teague insinuated himself into Pitt’s investigation? Fearful that this sensational crime may trigger an international incident, Pitt welcomes the help of three allies: his clever wife, Charlotte; her great-aunt, Lady Vespasia; and Victor Narraway, Pitt’s friend and former commander at Special Branch. From the narrow streets of Toledo and a lonely monastery high in the hills of Spain, to the halls and wharves of London, Pitt and his friends race against time in their desperate bid to catch a murderer.Anne Perry is the acknowledged mistress of Victorian intrigue. No one else can match her period flavor, her all-too-human characters, or her haunting truths, which speak so clearly to our own time. The Angel Court Affair may be the best of all the beloved Thomas Pitt novels.Praise for Anne Perry’s most recent Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels Death on Blackheath “Thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining . . . The period detail is beautifully done, and realistic characters and tense action are woven seamlessly together.”—*Historical Novels Review“A complex and rewarding plot and outstanding characterization . . . a book that fans of Stieg Larsson’s Dragon Tattoo trilogy will find interesting.”—Huntington News Midnight at Marble Arch“Sweeping and scandalous . . . Perry has perfected a delicate touch.”*—The New York Times Book Review“Perry is a master at illuminating the wrongs of the Victorian age.”—Booklist (starred review)Dorchester Terrace “The always clever Anne Perry infuses Dorchester Terrace with the right amount of intrigue and complex relationships that have made this prolific series one of the finest in modern mystery fiction.”—Bookreporter Treason at Lisson Grove “Perry has always done her historical homework on the darker elements of the British ruling class, and she has outdone herself this time.”—The Washington Times**
Ashworth Hall
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
When a group of powerful Irish Protestants and Catholics gather at a country house to discuss Irish home rule, contention is to be expected. But when the meeting's moderator, government bigwig Ainsley Greville, is found murdered in his bath, negotiations seem doomed. To make matters worse, it appears the late Greville may have led a less than savory personal life.Unless Thomas Pitt and his wife, Charlotte, can root out the truth, simmering hatreds and passions may again explode in murder, the home rule movement may collapse, and civil war may destroy all of Ireland. . . .From the Paperback edition.
A Christmas Journey c-1
Part #1 of "Christmas" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Readers of Anne Perry's bestselling suspense novels revel in a world that is all their own, sharing the privileged existence of Britain's wealthy and powerful elite in West End mansions and great country houses. It is also a world in which danger bides in unsuspected places and the line between good and evil can be razor thin. This new novel features Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould—one of the most memorable characters from the Thomas Pitt series—who appears here as a lively young woman, the ultimate aristocrat who can trace her blood to half the royal houses of Europe.
It's Christmas and the Berkshire countryside lies wrapped in winter chill. But the well-born guests who have gathered at Applecross for a delicious weekend of innocent intrigue and passionate romance are warmed by roaring fires and candlelight, holly and mistletoe, good wine and gorgeously wrapped gifts. It's scarcely the setting for misfortune, and no one—not even that clever young aristocrat and budding...
![Anne Perry - [Thomas Pitt 10]](https://picture.readfrom.net/img/bethlehem-road/anne_perry_-_thomas_pitt_10.jpg "Anne Perry - [Thomas Pitt 10]")
Anne Perry - [Thomas Pitt 10]
Bethlehem Road
Erotica / BDSM / Romance
More than 15 million copies of Edgar Award winner Anne Perry's historical mysteries have been sold. In Bethlehem Road, Inspector Pitt and his wife investigate the murder of a Member of Parliament. Before they can begin to piece together what happened to Sir Lockwood Hamilton, one of his colleagues is discovered murdered-on the exact same spot.
A Christmas Return
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
'Tis the season of giving—and with this wonderful book, New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry shares a brand-new holiday mystery filled with bygone relationships and hidden secrets. As Charlotte Pitt's grandmother Mariah Ellison finds herself investigating a long-unsolved slaying, it becomes clear that grappling with intrigue and foul play runs in the family. A festive Christmas package left on Mariah's doorstep contains an ominous present, sparking memories of a twenty-year-old murder that shattered her friendship with the victim's widow. Though the gift is a bitter reminder of that tragic time, in the spirit of the season Mariah travels to Surrey in hopes of reconciling with her estranged friend and solving the crime that drove them apart. On arrival, Mariah joins forces with the murdered man's grandson, a sleuth in his own right who's discovered promising evidence as well as a suspect. But Surrey's picturesque hills conceal dark doings and...
Dark Assassin
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
On a patrol boat near Waterloo Bridge, police superintendent William Monk notices a young couple engaged in an intense discussion. Seconds later, the two plunge to their deaths in the icy waters of the Thames. Was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder? Ever the investigator, Monk learns that the woman, Mary Havilland, had planned to marry the fair-haired man who shared her fate. He also discovers that Mary's father had recently died in a supposed suicide. But Mary's friends share their own darks suspicions with Monk, who now faces the mysteries surrounding three deaths. Aided by his intrepid wife, Hester, Monk searches for answers. From luxurious drawing rooms where powerful men hatch their unscrupulous plots, to the sewers beneath the city where poor folk fight crippling poverty, Monk must connect the clues before death strikes again.
Execution Dock
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
PReaders of Anne Perry#8217;s bestselling William Monk novels feel as if they#8217;ve experienced the many shades of Victorian London, from Belgravia to Limehouse, from drawing room to brothel. In bExecution Dock/b, Perry#8217;s first Monk novel in three years, we find ourselves on the bustling docks along the River Thames. Here the empire#8217;s great merchant ships unload the treasures of the world. And here, in dank and sinister alleys, sex merchants ply their lucrative trade.PThe dreaded kingpin of this dark realm is Jericho Phillips. On his floating brothel, sex slaves are forced to endure unspeakable acts. Now one such soul, thirteen-year-old Fig, is found with his throat cut, his tortured body tossed into the river.PCommander William Monk of the River Police swears that Phillips will hang for this abomination. But the miscreant is as wily as he is monstrous, and his wealthy clients seem far beyond the reach of the law. Monk#8217;s attempt to bring about justice becomes the first electrifying episode in a nightmare that will test his courage and integrity.PHowever, reinforcements are on the way. Monk#8217;s wife, Hester, who runs a free clinic for abused women, draws a highly unusual guerrilla force to her husband#8217;s cause#8211;a canny ratcatcher, a retired brothel keeper, a fearless street urchin, and a rebellious society lady. To one as criminally minded as Phillips, these folks are mere mosquitoes, to be sure. But as he will soon discover, some mosquitoes can have a deadly sting.PThis gripping, terrifying story hurtles toward to a denouement that will leave the reader breathless but cheering.b Execution Dock /bis Anne Perry at her incomparable, magnificent best.
Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century
Peter Graham
It was the telephone call that famous mystery writer Anne Perry had been dreading for thirty-five years. "There's a ridiculous rumour going around in New Zealand. There's a film being made about a murder. They say you're Juliet Hulme, one of the... We must put it to rest." "You can't," Perry said. "It's the truth."This is the spellbinding true story of mystery novelist Anne Perry, her friend Pauline Parker, and the brutal crime they committed in the name of friendship. On June 22, 1954, the teenage friends went for a walk in a New Zealand park with Pauline's mother, Honora. Half an hour later, the girls returned alone, claiming that Pauline's mother had had an accident. But when Honora Parker was found in a pool of blood with the brick used to bludgeon her to death close at hand, Juliet and Pauline were quickly arrested, and later confessed to the killing. Their motive? A plan to escape to the United States to become writers, and Honora's determination to keep them apart....
Angels in the Gloom wwi-3
Part #3 of "World War I" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
The third entry in Perry's World War I series moves from the horror of the trenches to the English countryside, where chaplain Joseph Reavley, wounded at the front, has returned to recuperate under his sister's Hannah's care. Still fresh is his grief for their parents, both killed by the mysterious Peacemaker, who, in the guise of seeking an end to the conflict, is sabotaging Britain's war effort. The murder of a scientist whose work might have ensured Allied success leads Joseph (and his brother, Matthew, who works for British intelligence) on a twisted trail that they hope will lead to the Peacemaker. As in previous books in this series and in her Victorian detective series, Perry creates a meticulously detailed backdrop, whether home front or frontlines, while leaving plenty of room for her characters to contemplate issues of honor, loyalty, and love: Will Joseph return to the front or minister to the bereft at home? Will Matthew's growing affection for Irish double agent Detta Hannassey interfere with his mission? The characters, familiar now after two books, grow stronger and richer here, as Perry illuminates the emotional and physical character of war and asks the inevitable question, At what cost peace?
Cardington Crescent tp-8
Part #8 of "Thomas Pitt" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Callander Square
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Everyone on Callander Square has something to hide—but someone will kill to keep a secretWhen two dead infants are dug up in the Callander Square gardens, the upper-class residents dismiss the burials as the desperate act of a low-born girl and resent the intrusion of Inspector Thomas Pitt into their well-ordered lives. Pitt is not convinced that the case should be so easily dropped. Also intrigued by the mystery, Pitt's well-born wife, Charlotte, pursues her own investigation into places Thomas would never have access—the parlors and inner chambers of the mansions on the fashionable square. With her sister Emily, Lady Ashworth, who lives on Callander Square, she delves into the lives and secrets of the residents. Thomas and Charlotte, now expecting their first child, form the perfect sleuthing couple. Elegant closets soon spill their skeletons exposing long-hidden secrets—secrets that could lead even the most upright aristocrat to kill.But will Pitt's...
Bedford Square tp-19
Part #19 of "Thomas Pitt" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Farriers' Lane
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
BONUS: This edition contains excerpts from Anne Perry's Treason at Lisson Grove and Execution Dock.When the distinguished Mr. Justice Stafford dies of opium poisoning, his shocking demise resurrects one of the most sensational cases ever to inflame England: the murder five years before of Kingsley Blaine, whose body was found crucified in Farriers' Lane. Amid the public hysteria for revenge, the police had arrested a Jewish actor who was soon condemned to hang. Police Inspector Thomas Pitt, investigating Stafford's death, is drawn into the Farriers' Lane murder as well, for it appears that Stafford may have been about to reopen the case. Pitt receives curiously little help from his colleagues on the force, but his wife, Charlotte, gleans from her social engagements startling insights into both cases. And slowly both Thomas and Charlotte begin to reach for the same sinister and deeply dangerous truth.
A Christmas Beginning c-5
Part #5 of "Christmas" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Whatever the season, a new novel by bestselling author Anne Perry is always a wonderful gift, but her holiday novels are particularly special treats, and A Christmas Beginning is a deeply felt story of passion and redemption.
Superintendent Runcorn of Scotland Yard is spending Christmas on the wild and beautiful island of Anglesey off the north coast of Wales. On one of his solitary strolls, the lonely bachelor stumbles upon a lifeless body in the village churchyard. The unfortunate victim is quickly identified as Olivia Costain, the local vicar's younger sister.
In life, Olivia had been a free spirit, full of charm and grace. For Runcorn, she is a haunting reminder of Melisande Ewart, the one woman he's never been able to forget. Everyone on Anglesey is quick to insist that only a stranger to the island could have committed the heinous crime. But the evidence proves otherwise, and the unpopular work of discovering who among Olivia's friends and neighbors—and...
An Anne Perry Christmas: Two Holiday Novels
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
SUMMARY:
For the first time in one cozy volume: Anne Perry’s first two Christmas novels–yuletide offerings full of holiday magic . . . and murder A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY “One of the best books to brighten the joyous season.” –USA Today “This brief work has an almost Jamesian subtlety. . . . [A] powerful message of responsibility and redemption.” –The Wall Street Journal In the Berkshire countryside, family and guests have gathered for a delicious weekend fête surrounded by roaring fires and candlelight. It’s scarcely the setting for misfortune, and no one–not even that clever budding sleuth Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould–anticipates the tragedy that is to darken this holiday house party. A CHRISTMAS VISITOR “Satisfyingly dark and suspenseful.” –Entertainment Weekly “Wondrous . . . a welcome entry to the seasonal thriller.” –Richmond Times-Dispatch At the Dreghorn family reunion, the tranquility of a snowbound English estate is shattered by what an apparently accidental death. The victim’s distraught wife summons her godfather, the distinguished mathematician and inventor Henry Rathbone, to the scene. And questions about the tragic event soon turn into whispers of murder.
Blind Justice wm-19
Part #19 of "William Monk" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
A Christmas Guest
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Anne Perry has dazzled readers for decades with her gripping Victorian novels and has won new fans with her acclaimed World War I series. Perry's thrilling Christmas novels, recent additions to her unique repertoire, are set in the most joyous season of the year. In A Christmas Guest, Mariah Ellison, better known as the vinegar-tongued Grandmama from the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, makes a stunning appearance in a bracing story full of devious delight . . . and certain death.For Grandmama Ellison, Christmas is no reason to celebrate. And when her daughter and son-in-law plan a Christmas vacation to Paris sans hers truly, the cantankerous Grandmama is forced to stay elsewhere--and travels to the chilly, windswept Romney Marshes to spend the holiday with Charlotte Pitt's parents, Caroline and Joshua Fielding. Grandmama is immediately miserable. For starters, Christmas with the Fieldings is nothing like the cultured life to which she's accustomed, and the...
The Search for Anne Perry
Joanne Drayton
In 1994, director Peter Jackson released the film HEAVENLY CREATURES, based on a famous 1950s matricide committed in New Zealand by two teenage girls embroiled in an obsessive relationship. This film launched Jackson's international career. It also forever changed the life of Anne Perry, an award-winning, bestselling crime writer, who at the time of the film's release was publicly outed as Juliet Hulme, one of the murderers. A new light was now cast, not only on Anne's life, but also her novels, which feature gruesome and violent deaths, and confronting, dark issues including infanticide and incest.Acclaimed literary biographer Joanne Drayton intersperses the story of Anne's life with an examination of her writing, drawing parallels between Anne's own experiences and her characters and storylines. Anne's books deal with miscarriages of justice, family secrets exposed, punishment, redemption and forgiveness, themes made all the more poignant in light of her past. Anne...
A Christmas Beginning
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Whatever the season, a new novel by bestselling author Anne Perry is always a wonderful gift, but her holiday novels are particularly special treats, and A Christmas Beginning is a deeply felt story of passion and redemption.Superintendent Runcorn of Scotland Yard is spending Christmas on the wild and beautiful island of Anglesey off the north coast of Wales. On one of his solitary strolls, the lonely bachelor stumbles upon a lifeless body in the village churchyard. The unfortunate victim is quickly identified as Olivia Costain, the local vicar's younger sister. In life, Olivia had been a free spirit, full of charm and grace. For Runcorn, she is a haunting reminder of Melisande Ewart, the one woman he's never been able to forget. Everyone on Anglesey is quick to insist that only a stranger to the island could have committed the heinous crime. But the evidence proves otherwise, and the unpopular work of discovering who among Olivia's friends and neighbors--and...
The Twisted Root
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
BONUS: This edition contains excerpts from Anne Perry's Treason at Lisson Grove and Execution Dock.A young bridegroom enlists private investigator William Monk to track down his fiancée, Miriam Gardiner, who disappeared suddenly from a party at a luxurious Bayswater mansion. Monk soon finds the coach in which Miriam fled and, nearby, the murdered body of the coachman, but there is no trace of the young passenger. What strange compulsion could have driven the beautiful widow to abandon the prospect of a loving marriage and financial abundance? Monk and clever nurse Hester Latterly, themselves now newlyweds, desperately pursue the elusive truth--and an unknown killer whose malign brilliance they have scarcely begun to fathom.
Midnight at Marble Arch
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
In this superbly accomplished new Charlotte and Thomas Pitt adventure, Anne Perry takes us beneath the glittering surface of wealthy Victorian society into a nightmare world of fear and intimidation, where women are too often blamed for the violent attacks against them, and powerful men take what they want, leaving others to pay the price. The horrifying rape and apparent suicide of Catherine Quixwood, wife of a wealthy merchant banker, falls outside the new jurisdiction of Special Branch head Thomas Pitt, but so pervasively offensive are the rumors about the victim that Pitt quietly takes a hand in the investigation. Yet even with the help of his ingenious wife, Charlotte, and his former superior, Victor Narraway, Pitt is stumped. Why did high-minded, cultured Catherine choose not to accompany her husband to a grand party on the night of her demise? Why did she dismiss all her servants for the evening and leave the front door unlocked? What had been her...
One Thing More
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
In Revolutionary France, a grisly murder threatens to derail an ambitious plan to save the condemned kingClie Laurent stands in the convention hall of the French Republic, watching the deputies vote one by one. Most of them have just one word to say: Death. As the night wears on, the outcome of the vote moves beyond doubt, and Louis XVI is condemned to the guillotine. Clie will have just four days to save the king's life. As the Revolution reaches a fever pitch, Clie falls in with a group of royalists who are willing to do whatever it takes to keep France from killing its king. Their plan is daring, but just might work—until the group's leader is murdered in cold blood. Somewhere among the royalists lies a traitor, and Clie and her friends must find him soon, lest they lose their heads before Louis loses his.
A Dangerous Mourning
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Inspector William Monk has his hands full when an aristocrat's daugher is stabbed to death in her own bed. He is instructed to proceed without delay, but finds his efforts hamstrung by the lingering traces of amnesia and the craven ineptitutde of his supervisor, who would love to see him fail. With the help of Hester Latterly, formerly a nurse with Florence Nightingale, Monk gropes warily through the silence and shadows, knowing that with each step he comes closer to the appalling truth...."A richly textured, masterfully plotted, thoroughly enjoyable story." THE KIRKUS REVIEWSFrom the Paperback edition.
Tathea
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Exiled from her palace by a bloody coup, an empress travels the dangerous wilds of her kingdom in search of enlightenment—and righteous vengeanceThe empress Tathea is awakened by the sounds of insurrection. The army, the aristocracy, and the royal guard have all turned against her husband, and stained the palace with his blood. Were she an ordinary ruler, she might follow him to the grave, but Tathea is a child of the wild lands. She comes from the desert, so to the desert she flees. Across the kingdom she travels, searching for shelter, friendship, and an explanation for the tragedy that destroyed her old life. As she fights to stay alive, she finds a book whose message might tip the scales in the battle between good and evil, changing the world forever. If her life is to have meaning, Tathea will have to spread the word.
Rutland Place tp-5
Part #5 of "Thomas Pitt" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Dorchester Terrace
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Anne Perry's acclaimed Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels have made London's exclusive world of wealth and power an addictive literary destination for readers everywhere. This new masterpiece, a haunting story of love and treason, invites us not only into the secret places of Britain's power but also into the innermost sanctums of the fin de siècle Austro-Hungarian Empire.Thomas Pitt, once a lowly policeman, is now the powerful head of Britain's Special Branch, and some people fear that he may have been promoted beyond his abilities. He, too, feels painful moments of self-doubt, especially as rumors reach him of a plot to blow up connections on the Dover-London rail line--on which Austrian duke Alois Habsburg is soon to travel to visit his royal English kin.Why would anyone destroy an entire train to kill one obscure Austrian royal, or are the rumors designed to distract Pitt from an even more devastating plot? He must resolve this riddle at once, before...
Resurrection Row tp-4
Part #4 of "Thomas Pitt" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
A Christmas Escape
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
For countless readers, Christmastime means a delicious new holiday mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry. A Christmas Escape, her twelfth noel to the season, transports us to a Mediterranean island for an unconventional Yuletide adventure--and an unforgettable volcanic encounter. Lonely Charles Latterly arrives at his small hotel hoping that the island's blue skies and gentle breezes will brighten his spirits. Unfortunately, there's no holiday cheer to be found among his fellow guests, who include a pompous novelist, a stuffy colonel, a dangerously ill-matched married couple, and an ailing old man. The one charming exception is orphaned teenager Candace Finbar, who takes Charles under her wing and introduces him to the island's beauty. But the tranquility of the holiday is swiftly disrupted by a violent quarrel, an unpleasant gentleman's shocking claims of being stalked, and the ominous stirrings of the local volcano. Then events take an...
Death of a Stranger
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Amazon.com ReviewPrivate enquiry agent William Monk is hired to investigate a potential case of fraud in the construction of a new railway line. His client is the fiancée of a man she fears is embroiled in the scheme, and Monk's investigation causes a strange sense of déjà vu--a former policeman afflicted with a case of amnesia concerning his prior life, Monk finds both the case and its milieu unsettlingly familiar. His case is somehow connected to the death of a railway magnate in a sleazy area of London where Monk's wife Hester, a nurse, operates a shelter for abused prostitutes. The women have been doubly victimized by an extortion scheme in which the dead man, who turns out to have been Monk's employer during his "lost" years, may have been involved. More than an ingenious way to fill in Monk's backstory, Anne Perry's newest mystery featuring the enigmatic investigator deepens the reader's understanding of an unusual and compelling protagonist and brings Victorian-era England vividly to life. --Jane AdamsFrom Publishers WeeklyBestseller Perry's latest novel (after 2001's Funeral in Blue) to feature mid-Victorians William Monk and his wife, Hester, offers an ingenious and baffling plot, compelling characters, both major and minor, plus plenty of courtroom drama, but is something of a diamond in the rough. In London's East End, Hester, a former nurse with Florence Nightingale, has established a shelter for prostitutes where the ill and injured can be treated. One night, a well-known railway magnate is found dead in a nearby brothel, and the police presence in the area grinds the illicit business of the pimps and prostitutes to a halt. William, meanwhile, has undertaken a private investigation into possible fraud. His client, the fiancee of a young executive for the same railway as the murder victim, fears her betrothed may be implicated in the fraud scheme. As William recognizes parallels with the past, memories that he lost in an accident seven years earlier start to haunt him. Unfortunately, the book suffers from hasty execution, as reflected in repetitious phrasing, pronouns with unclear antecedents and confusing narrative transitions between Hester and William and between William in the present and William before his amnesia. The result is a challenging read, though established fans will likely forgive the author her lapses because she tells such a wonderful story.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Treachery at Lancaster Gate
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Gripping and provocative, the latest Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery by New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry peers unflinchingly into the corrupt affairs of Victorian society on the brink of the century's turn. The world is poised for social and political change, but England holds tight to its traditions, classes, and prejudices. When an explosion in London kills two policemen and seriously injures three more, many believe that anarchists are the culprits. But Thomas Pitt, commander of Special Branch, knows the city's radical groups well enough to suspect otherwise: that someone with decidedly more personal motives lit the deadly fuse. As he investigates the source of the fatal blast, he's stunned to discover the bombing was a calculated strike against the ranks of law enforcement. But still more shocking revelations await, as Pitt's inquiries lead him to a member of Parliament hoping for a lucrative business deal, a high-ranking police officer...
Slaves of Obsession wm-11
Part #11 of "William Monk" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Blind Justice
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
For a generation, Anne Perry’s New York Times bestselling novels have invited readers to explore the brilliantly seductive heart of Victorian London, where great wealth and great evil live side by side, and great men sometimes make unfortunate choices.In Perry’s stunning new novel, Hester Monk, the wife of William Monk, commander of the Thames River Police, questions the finances of a London church whose members’ hard-earned charitable gifts appear to have ended up in the pocket of charismatic preacher Abel Taft, paying for his fine home and the stylish outfits of his wife and daughters.Taft is accused of extortion, and brilliant barrister Oliver Rathbone, newly appointed a judge, is chosen to preside over his trial. It seems clear that Taft is indeed guilty. However, at the last second, the defense produces a witness who completely undermines the charges. Then Rathbone makes a well-meaning but reckless move that could ruin his career, his reputation, and his life.Blind Justice presents a rich and lively panorama of London life, from the teeming Thames docks to the wealthy West End, while unfolding a magnificent courtroom drama. And while justice, law, and morality hang in the balance, Hester and Monk race to save their distinguished friend Rathbone from disgrace. The incomparable art of Anne Perry grips us fast until the final, unforgettable scene.PRAISE FOR ANNE PERRY AND HER WILLIAM MONK NOVELS A Sunless Sea“Anne Perry’s Victorian mysteries are marvels.”—The New York Times Book Review Acceptable Loss “Masterful storytelling and moving dialogue.”—The Star-Ledger Execution Dock“[An] engrossing page-turner . . . There’s no one better at using words to paint a scene and then fill it with sounds and smells than Anne Perry.”—The Boston GlobeDark Assassin“Brilliant . . . a page-turning thriller . . . blending compelling plotting with superbly realized human emotion and exquisite period detail.”—Jeffery Deaver, author of EdgeThe Shifting Tide“The mysterious and dangerous waterfront world of London’s ‘longest street,’ the Thames, comes to life.”—South Florida Sun-SentinelFrom the Hardcover edition.From Publishers WeeklySet in Victorian England, bestseller Perry's entertaining, if flawed, 19th William Monk novel (after 2012's A Sunless Sea) poses a complicated moral question. The Thames River policeman's wife, Hester, can't help wanting to assist Josephine Raleigh, a nurse who works with her at a clinic for prostitutes and is in despair over her father's debt, since Hester's own father killed himself when he was unable to meet his financial obligations. Hester is disturbed to learn that the senior Raleigh's woes stem from being coerced into making donations he couldn't afford to a suburban London church, whose leader, Abel Taft, is charged with fraud. A new judge, Sir Oliver Rathbone, a friend of the Monk's, presides over the trial. The interesting ethical bind Rathbone finds himself facing could have been more sharply framed, and the resolution's tidiness will be a minus for some. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maas Literary Agency. (Aug. 27) ReviewPRAISE FOR ANNE PERRY AND HER WILLIAM MONK NOVELS A Sunless Sea“Anne Perry’s Victorian mysteries are marvels.”—The New York Times Book Review Acceptable Loss “Masterful storytelling and moving dialogue.”—The Star-Ledger Execution Dock“[An] engrossing page-turner . . . There’s no one better at using words to paint a scene and then fill it with sounds and smells than Anne Perry.”—The Boston GlobeDark Assassin“Brilliant . . . a page-turning thriller . . . blending compelling plotting with superbly realized human emotion and exquisite period detail.”—Jeffery Deaver, author of EdgeThe Shifting Tide“The mysterious and dangerous waterfront world of London’s ‘longest street,’ the Thames, comes to life.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A Christmas Visitor
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
ReviewPraise for Anne Perry’s A Christmas Journey“A Christmas Journey is that rarest of seasonal thrillers: one that exemplifies the message and spirit of the holiday. . . . This brief work has an almost Jamesian subtlety, and with its powerful message of responsibility and redemption–‘We need both to forgive and to be forgiven’–it conveys a moral force in keeping with the season.”–The Wall Street Journal“A doozy of a Christmas mystery.”–The Dallas Morning NewsFrom the Hardcover edition.Product DescriptionRenowned for her acclaimed Victorian novels as well as a stunning new series set in World War I, Anne Perry consistently dazzles us with stories rife with emotion, intrigue, and psychological depth. She recently expanded her talents with the delightfully rendered novella, A Christmas Journey, which USA Today called “one of the best books to brighten the joyous season.” Now she has given readers another gift–a yuletide offering full of holiday magic . . . and murder.The Dreghorn family is gathering for an anticipated reunion in the Lake District of England. The blissful tranquility of the snowbound estate, however, is soon shattered by what appears to be an accidental death. The victim’s distraught wife, Antonia, summons her godfather, distinguished mathematician and inventor Henry Rathbone–one of the most beloved characters from Perry’s bestselling William Monk series. But questions about the tragic event turn into whispers of murder, sending shock waves among members of the Dreghorn clan, who haven’t seen each other in ten years.Now Rathbone must put his analytical and creative capacities to the test as he assumes the role of an amateur investigator. But while searching for clues and mulling over potential motives, he cannot help but wonder: Will another poor soul meet the same untimely end–and be silenced like the night?In this Christmas novella, featuring a colorful, somewhat eccentric cast of characters and an irresistible plot as twisty as a ribbon, Rathbone rescues the holiday with a grace that would impress William Monk himself.From the Hardcover edition.
Belgrave Square
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
When an obscure moneylender named William Weems is murdered in the humble Clerkenwell district, there are no mourners--and there is more than a little discreet rejoicing among those whose meager earnings he so mercilessly devoured. Yet when Inspector Pitt finds in the murdered man's office a list containing the names of some of London's most distinguished gentlemen, he begins to realize the magnitude of his duty. William Weems, it transpires, was no common usurer but a vicious blackmailer. Fortunately, Pitt's clever, well-born wife, Charlotte, has entrée to London's best society. Her insights prove to be invaluable to Pitt's investigation as she observes, at glittering balls and over gossipy tea tables, a world of passion, power, and greed that the police are seldom permitted to see.
The Shifting Tide wm-14
Part #14 of "William Monk" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Traitors Gate tp-15
Part #15 of "Thomas Pitt" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Funeral in Blue wm-12
Part #12 of "William Monk" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
The Scroll b-1
Part #1 of "Bibliomysteries" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
The Bibliomysteries series includes short tales by Anne Perry, Jeffery Deaver, Ken Bruen, and C. J. Box
An ancient scroll draws a bookseller into a chilling mystery
Monty Danforth finds the tin buried beneath a shipment of leather-bound classics. Inside is a millennia-old vellum manuscript written in an unfamiliar but unmistakably ancient language. Danforth tries to photocopy and photograph it, but he ends up with blank images, as though the ink were made of something impervious to modern technology. As the scroll’s mystery enchants him, this hapless bookseller falls into a cutthroat conspiracy that he may never escape.
Soon a dead-eyed old man and his granddaughter come calling for the scroll. Danforth refuses to sell them the manuscript, but they will not be the last to demand it. Powerful forces crave the secrets locked within this ancient document, and Danforth will survive only if he can master its power.
Dorchester Terrace tp-27
Part #27 of "Thomas Pitt" series by Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
A Christmas Secret
Anne Perry
Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy
From Publishers WeeklyPerry's latest short Christmas novel is a well-written if unsurprising period mystery, set in late 19th-century England. Reverend Dominic Corde and his wife, Clarice, are at a turning point in their lives; a chance opportunity has given Dominic the temporary position as vicar of a small village in Oxfordshire, substituting for the incumbent, Reverend Wynter. Their hopes that the position might become permanent are both enhanced and threatened when Clarice discovers Wynter's murdered corpse in the cellar. The resolution is not particularly complicated, but Perry does a nice job of weaving in themes of forgiveness and redemption without being heavy-handed. (Dec.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistDominic and Clarice Corde, minor characters who fell in love in Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novel Brunswick Gardens (1998), are called to the small village of Cottisham in Oxfordshire, where Dominic is to replace Reverend Wynter, who unexpectedly went on holiday right before Christmas. While fetching coal from the cellar, Clarice discovers the vicar's body in the second cellar. Some holiday. Although the local doctor says Wynter died of natural causes, Clarice and Dominic don't agree and begin their own investigation as snow blankets the village. What secrets did Wynter know that may have caused his death? Along with rummaging about in the villagers' closets in search of a motive, the sleuths also deal with Dominic's lack of confidence in his abilities to minister to his flock this Christmas season. Engaging characters, a vivid sense of time and place, and a cozy setting add enjoyment to this Victorian mystery. Sue O'BrienCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved