Rating: 
Summary: I LOVED IT!
Review: I've read all of Anne Perry's books in the last 18 months and am anxiously waiting for the next one to come out. I have become quite attached to Hester and Monk and nearly jumped out of bed with total glee at 1 in the morning when I finished. I had to remind myself that these are not real people. Unlike some other authors, Anne Perry seems to be keeping her story lines strong. I hope she continues for a long time. I can't wait to see what Hester, Monk and Rathbone will be up to next time. I'm also looking forward to hearing from Thomas and Charlotte soon.......
Rating: 
Summary: This book is a major comback for Anne Perry.
Review: Lovers of mysteries set in Victorian England have always valued Anne Perry's work. Except for a few total clinkers like "Sins of the Wolf," Anne Perry has had the ability to delve into her character's lives with sharp insight and her descriptions of Victorian England are magnificent. Unfortunately, Perry's work has suffered from several weaknesses of late, especially plodding, ridiculous, and tasteless plotlines. I have grown tired of Hester's Crimean War reminiscences and her stillborn love-life. Just when I was ready to give up on Perry, along comes "A Breach of Promise," which is a breath of fresh air. This book has spirit, an intriguing plot (not without some absurd coincidences, however), social commentary, and Hester, Monk and Rathbone at their most fascinating. The surprises in the book are genuine and startling and the ending is satisfying. Can Anne Perry follow this one up with another equally as good? It will be a tough challenge.
Rating:
Summary: A slightly unusual Perry premise...
Review: Most of Anne Perry's works dwell on the darker aspects of human nature, notably various sexual perversions hidden under the veneer of upper-class and middle-class Victorian society. Some of her recent works especially in the Inspector Monk series have also dwelt upon the status of Victorian women of good families, notably the tremendous barriers imposed to them professionally in medicine. More recently, her books have touched more explicitly upon political issues of the day.This is a slightly unusual Inspector Monk book, in that there is no sexual perversion hidden as the motive for a murder. I shouldn't give away too much of the plot for those who have not read this book. The story is about the fragility of reputation, the impossibly limited choices available to young women in that society, and the ways in which friendships can be misconstrued. One of the most effective scenes for me was where Sir Oliver Rathbone (the defense lawyer) is neatly boxed in by a match-making mother, and the way in which he understands and reads the minds of the women around him. This is one of the reasons I have kept this particular book, above all the others. The story-line is at least initially not as dark as the typical Anne Perry (warning: her works are not for the squeamish), with the first half of the book being about a trial for breach of promise brought against one of the most brilliant young architects who refuses to marry a young woman. Why he refuses to marry her is not made clear until the middle of the story, and it certainly comes as a shock to all concerned. The second half of the book is much darker, in that the murder is driven by the personal greeds of one of the principal characters in the trial. This person's crimes are only revealed right at the end, so in that respect, the book is an amazing cliff-hanger. We don't know if this person was guilty until the very end of the last murder. I have to admit to some problems with this work. Firstly, the motive for the architect's murder is not made clear. One of the problems is that we never get into the mind of his murderer, and that person's past is reconstructed by Monk. From that point of view, this book is not that successful. In the past, I have fully understood why person X murdered person Y (or several persons). In this particular instance, the murder seemed to make no sense. Secondly, I find it hard to believe that while men would be taken in by a cross-dresser, that women would also be unable to identify a cross-dresser. I won't go into more details, but I am surprised that more suspicions were not raised early on. Although the book is one of Perry's best, I have to also admit that her work is extremely dark. I began reading her in a very dark period in my life. Today, I find the earlier works very good but they are also deeply disturbing. Also in murder stories, I prefer a variety of motives when murder is committed, ranging from psychopathic casualness (chilling in of itself) to blind rage to greed or perversion. While Perry has been widening the range of motives for murder in her novels, most of her murders are committed for sexual (and the odd political) reasons. Reading a whole string of Perrys in a row can therefore be quite depressing and even yawn-producing [with the same narrow range of motives trotted out]. From that perspective, she has moved from being an auto-buy to a "wait-and-see". Perhaps, the surprise element in every series, even a great one, wears out sooner or later, and this has happened with the two brilliant series created by Perry. I still think she has a lot of talent in her; it is just that I no longer resonate with most of her stories.
Rating:
Summary: Keeps you going even when you've figured it out. Good read!
Review: One reads on about the peculiar social strictures of 19th Century Victorian England, and wonders how the race survived. God Bless all those feisty women. This one keeps you going for quite a while just trying to guess who the victim will be. While I had much of it figured out, I didn't anticipate either the victim or the rationale. This was a really fun read.
Rating: 
Summary: good book, poor reader
Review: Perry again delivers a book full of evocative Victorian details. She manages to give a feeling of what life was like in such a different time period -- but she's done it before, and better, in some of her earlier books. This time she's on a feminist soapbox about the treatment of talented women in an age when a woman's place was in the home (whether decorating it or scrubbing it) -- and she has her two continuing male characters, Oliver Rathbone and William Monk, delivering most of the (quite unlikely) feminist rhetoric. The ending wraps up two divergent storylines too neatly -- the coincidences just are not credible.
Rating:
Summary: Atmosphere Great, Plot Mediocre
Review: Perry again delivers a book full of evocative Victorian details. She manages to give a feeling of what life was like in such a different time period -- but she's done it before, and better, in some of her earlier books. This time she's on a feminist soapbox about the treatment of talented women in an age when a woman's place was in the home (whether decorating it or scrubbing it) -- and she has her two continuing male characters, Oliver Rathbone and William Monk, delivering most of the (quite unlikely) feminist rhetoric. The ending wraps up two divergent storylines too neatly -- the coincidences just are not credible.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK POORLY READ
Review: Simon Jones' reading was disappointing and irritating. It was choppy and brusk, nearly without any emotion or 'feeling'. His voices tended to be the same- nasal and abrupt for men, breathy for women, so it was difficult to tell the characters apart. His unfortunate treatment was very distracting for what is one of Ms Perry's best books and will discourage me from purchasing any more read by him. If you enjoy Anne Perry and wish to listen to her works on tape, I would recommend David McCallum's performances of her Pitt books- they are excellently done. Bottom line: read the book or try the unabridged by a different reader.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK POORLY READ
Review: Simon Jones' reading was disappointing and irritating. It was choppy and brusk, nearly without any emotion or 'feeling'. His voices tended to be the same- nasal and abrupt for men, breathy for women, so it was difficult to tell the characters apart. His unfortunate treatment was very distracting for what is one of Ms Perry's best books and will discourage me from purchasing any more read by him. If you enjoy Anne Perry and wish to listen to her works on tape, I would recommend David McCallum's performances of her Pitt books- they are excellently done. Bottom line: read the book or try the unabridged by a different reader.
Rating:
Summary: Her best yet!!!!
Review: So far, I think this is her best yet. It's plot centers on, as the title suggests, a breach of promise suit. Killian Meville, posibly the most brilliant architect of his time, has broken off a marriage with Zillah Lambert, a girl that nobody can find anything wrong with- Melville say he simply can't marry her. Sir Oliver Rathbone agrees to defend Melville. He hires William Monk to investigate. Assisted by nurse Hester Latterly, their investigation is cut short by a shocking murder- or suicide. It reveals a shocking fact about Melville that almost no one knew and opens up a whole new problem. I'm not telling any secrets, but to all Anne Perry addicts, there is a major event in the end of the book.
Rating:
Summary: A great read!
Review: The best Ann Perry I have ever read. Intricate plot. Interesting characters. Fine prose. And a wealth of history. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
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