A Dangerous Mourning

A Dangerous Mourning
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2009-05-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345513940

No breath of scandal has ever touched the aristocratic Moidore family–until Sir Basil’s beautiful widowed daughter is stabbed to death in her own bed, a shocking, incomprehensible tragedy. Inspector William Monk is ordered to investigate in a manner that will give the least possible pain to the influential family. But Monk, brilliant and ambitious, is handicapped by lingering traces of amnesia and by the craven ineptitude of his supervisor, who would like nothing better than to see Monk fail. With the help of nurse Hester Latterly, a progressive young woman who served with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, Monk gropes warily through the silence and shadows that obscure the case, knowing that with each step he comes closer to the appalling truth.

Defend and Betray

Defend and Betray
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2009-05-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345513967

After a brilliant military career, esteemed General Thaddeus Carlyon finally meets his death, not in the frenzy of battle but at an elegant London dinner party. His demise appears to be the result of a freak accident, but the general’s beautiful wife, Alexandra, readily confesses that she killed him–a story she clings to even under the threat of the noose. Investigator William Monk, nurse Hester Latterly, and brilliant Oliver Rathbone, counsel for the defense, work feverishly to break down the wall of silence raised by the accused and her husband’s proud family. With the trial only days away, these there sleuths inch toward the dark and appalling heart of the mystery.

The William Monk Mysteries

The William Monk Mysteries
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 1153
Release: 2005-03-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345480937

Few authors have made Victorian London as engaging and lively as Anne Perry has and her rich descriptions and charismatic characters have long captivated fans around the world. Now in one enticing volume, here are Anne Perry’s first three classic novels featuring private investigator William Monk. THE FACE OF A STRANGER His name, they tell him, is William Monk, and he is a London police detective. His memory vanished after a terrible accident, intent on hiding his condition and starting a new life, Monk tackles a grisly murder case in which each new revelation leads him to the answers he seeks but dreads to find. . . . A DANGEROUS MOURNING Called upon to investigate the brutal murder of a blue-blooded young widow, Monk is plagued by his lingering amnesia and an inept supervisor. But nurse Hester Latterly offers her assistance, and together they grope warily through the silence and shadows that obscure the aristocrat’s demise. DEFEND AND BETRAY After a brilliant military career, General Thaddeus Carlyon meets his death not on the battlefield but at a London dinner party, and his wife confesses to the murder. But Monk and Hester Latterly suspect deceit, and with the trial only days away, they feverishly work to unravel the dark heart of the mystery.

Death of a Stranger

Death of a Stranger
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2010-09-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345514165

Few authors have written more mesmerizingly about Victorian London than Anne Perry. Readers enter her world with exquisite anticipation, and experience a rich variety of characters and class: aristocrats living in luxury, flower sellers on street corners, ladies of the evening seeking customers on gaslit streets, gentlemen in hansom cabs en route to erotic diversions unknown in their Mayfair mansions. Now Perry gives her myriad fans the book they’ve been waiting for—the novel in which William Monk breaks through the wall of amnesia and discovers at last who he once was. DEATH OF A STRANGER For the prostitutes of Leather Lane, nurse Hester Monk’s clinic is a lifeline, providing medicine, food, and a modicum of peace—especially welcome since lately their ailments have escalated from bruises and fevers to broken bones and knife wounds. At the moment, however, the mysterious death of railway magnate Nolan Baltimore in a sleazy neighborhood brothel overshadows all else. Whether he fell or was pushed, the shocking question in everyone’s mind is: What was such a pillar of respectability doing in a seedy place of sin? Meanwhile, brilliant private investigator William Monk acquires a new client, a mysterious beauty who asks him to ascertain beyond a shadow of a doubt whether or not her fiancé, an executive in Nolan Baltimore’s thriving railway firm, has become enmeshed in fraudulent practices that could ruin him. As Hester ventures into violent streets to learn who is responsible for the brutal abuse of her patients, Monk embarks upon a journey into the English countryside, where the last rails are being laid for a new line. But the sight of tracks stretching into the distance revives memories once stripped from his consciousness by amnesia—as a past almost impossible to bear returns, eerily paralleling a fresh tragedy that has already begun its inexorable unfolding.

Cain His Brother

Cain His Brother
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2010-01-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345514025

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.

A Sudden, Fearful Death

A Sudden, Fearful Death
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2009-09-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345513983

In a London hospital, Prudence Barrymore, a talented nurse who had once been one of Florence Nightingale’s angels of mercy in the Crimean War, meets sudden death by strangulation. Private inquiry agent William Monk is engaged to investigate this horrific crime–which intuition tells him was no random stroke of violence by a madman. Greatly helped by his unconventional friend Hester Latterly, another of Miss Nightingale’s nurses, and barrister Oliver Rathbone, Monk assembles a portrait of the remarkable woman. Yet he also discerns the shadow of a tragic evil that darkens every level of society, and a frightening glimmer of his own eclipsed past.

A Sunless Sea

A Sunless Sea
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2012-08-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345535936

Anne Perry’s spellbinding Victorian mysteries, especially those featuring William Monk, have enthralled readers for a generation. The Plain Dealer calls Monk “a marvelously dark, brooding creation”—and, true to form, this masterpiece is as deceptively deep and twisty as the Thames. As commander of the River Police, Monk is accustomed to violent death, but the mutilated female body found on Limehouse Pier one chilly December morning moves him with horror and pity. The victim’s name is Zenia Gadney. Her waterfront neighbors can tell him little—only that the same unknown gentleman had visited her once a month for many years. She must be a prostitute, but—described as quiet and kempt—she doesn’t appear to be a fallen woman. What sinister secrets could have made poor Zenia worth killing? And why does the government keep interfering in Monk’s investigation? While the public cries out for blood, Monk, his spirited wife, Hester, and their brilliant barrister friend, Oliver Rathbone, search for answers. From dank waterfront alleys to London’s fabulously wealthy West End, the three trail an ice-blooded murderer toward the unbelievable, possibly unprovable truth—and ultimately engage their adversaries in an electric courtroom duel. But unless they can work a miracle, a monumental evil will go unpunished and an innocent person will hang. Anne Perry has never worn her literary colors with greater distinction than in A Sunless Sea, a heart-pounding novel of intrigue and suspense in which Monk is driven to make the hardest decision of his life. Includes an excerpt from Anne Perry’s next William Monk novel, Blind Justice Praise for A Sunless Sea “Anne Perry’s Victorian mysteries are marvels.”—The New York Times Book Review “Unexpected twists and revelations keep the plot humming with typical Anne Perry deception and wit.”—Bookreporter “Much more than a whodunit, this book [is] possibly the author’s best yet.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Death on Blackheath

Death on Blackheath
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2015-03-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345548426

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Anne Perry’s superb New York Times bestselling novels set in the glorious reign of Victoria are loved by readers far and wide. Now, with this new Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mystery, Perry returns us to that charmed era, when wealth and power rule—but where, alas, poisonous corruption lies coiled in the heart of the empire. As commander of the powerful Special Branch, Thomas Pitt has the job of keeping Britain safe from spies and traitors. So there’s no obvious reason why he is suddenly ordered to investigate two minor incidents: the blood, hair, and shards of glass discovered outside the home of naval weapons expert Dudley Kynaston, and the simultaneous disappearance of Mrs. Kynaston’s beautiful lady’s maid. But weeks later, when the mutilated body of an unidentified young woman is found near Kynaston’s home, Pitt realizes that this is no ordinary police investigation. Far from it. Is Kynaston—one of Britain’s most valuable scientists—leading a double life? Is Pitt saddled with a conspiracy so devilishly clever that it will ruin him? A baffled Pitt has never needed his friends more desperately, including his indomitable wife, Charlotte; his canny old colleague Victor Narraway; and his personal drawing-room spy, Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould. But even these allies may not be able to save Pitt—or Britain. Only Anne Perry could have created the tense unfolding of plot and counterplot, love and betrayal, scandal and murder that follows. Death on Blackheath is rich with fascinating characters, authentic period flavor, knife’s-edge suspense, and a haunting, unforgettable denouement. Praise for Death on Blackheath “There’s just no stopping Anne Perry. . . . [Her] Victorian mysteries never disappoint.”—Bookreporter “Thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining . . . The period detail is beautifully done, and realistic characters and tense action are woven seamlessly together.”—Historical Novels Review “What distinguishes [Anne] Perry’s work is her clean, penetrating style and her contemporary take on antique, prewar society.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch Praise for Anne Perry’s most recent Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels 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 Buckingham Palace Gardens “An intricate plot about a murder at the palace [with] an irresistibly appealing Upstairs, Downstairs perspective . . . a fine introduction to Perry’s alluring world of Victorian crime and intrigue.”—The New York Times Book Review

Silence in Hanover Close

Silence in Hanover Close
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2011-10-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345523733

When Inspector Thomas Pitt is asked to reopen a three-year-old murder case that had taken place in London’s luxurious Hanover Close, he is all too aware that his superiors want him to simply smooth things over. But penetrating the reserve of high society households will take more finesse than Pitt can muster. Enter Charlotte Pitt, his wellborn wife, and her sister, Emily. As the social equals of the inhabitants of the Close, the women are privy to conversations that would never reach the ears of a mere policeman. What they find is a secret so shocking it will lead to more deaths—including, quite possibly, Pitt’s own.

The Shifting Tide

The Shifting Tide
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011-06-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345514181

“Engrossing . . . The mysterious and dangerous waterfront world of London’s ‘longest street,’ the Thames, comes to life.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel 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. Praise for The Shifting Tide “With her visionary sensibility, Anne Perry is the master of the ‘you are there’ school of hist-myst storytelling. . . . [Here are] scenes that could have come out of Dickens's Our Mutual Friend.”—The New York Times Book Review “As always, Perry uses her characters and story to comment on ethical issues that remain as relevant today as they were in Victorian times.”—Publishers Weekly “No one writes more elegantly than Perry, nor better conjures up the rich and colorful tapestry of London in the Victorian era.”—The Plain Dealer “Among the best [of the Monk books] . . . This one has all Perry’s trademark atmosphere.”—The Globe and Mail