Ashworth Hall : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Not Anne Perry's Best
Review: I have read many of Anne Perry's books and enjoyed all of them until I read this mess. The characters are boring and the story is also. I got half way through it and decided it wasn't going to improve. I am sorry for readers who bought it and couldn't return it to the library! In a word I would describe it BOOOOORRRRRRIIINNNG!

Rating:
Summary: Extremely boring account of boring people
Review: I have read many of Anne Perry's books and enjoyed all of them until I read this mess. The characters are boring and the story is also. I got half way through it and decided it wasn't going to improve. I am sorry for readers who bought it and couldn't return it to the library! In a word I would describe it BOOOOORRRRRRIIINNNG!

Rating:
Summary: The Pitts deal with politics and murder once again
Review: Police Superintendent Thomas Pitt has the unenviable task of safeguarding Ainsley Greville during a meeting to discuss home rule between Irish Catholics and Protestants at ASHWORTH HALL. Though the location seems to be more of a place for a tea party, the participants do not give any pretense of being friends. Religious and National differences leave both sides loathing the other side. However, as bad as things seem, they only get worse when Greville is murdered. While Thomas, his wife Charlotte, and his assistant Tellman investigate the case, the meetings continue, but in an even more hostile environment. Even the servants of the gathering of leaders are bickering. If Thomas and cohorts do not solve the murder soon, the impassioned emotions may lead to more killings and perhaps even civil war. The Victorian Era is incredibly described by that master of English historical who-done-it, Anne Perry. The over fifteen tales starring the Pitts are clearly some of the juiciest fruits on the sub-genre tree. ASHWORTH HALL may be the best of a superior lot because a political thriller adds even more dimension to an already multi-faceted tale. Ms. Perry succeeds in reminding readers that unbridled anger (regardless of whether it is historical or the nineties) is not the way to resolve conflict. Great novel from a great "historian". Harriet Klausner ----

Rating:
Summary: Another solid whodunit along with historical atmosphere
Review: This is the third Anne Perry novel I have read. They are all well crafted, intelligent cozy mysteries, along with an interesting portrayal of the culture and politics of Victorian England. This particular book revolves around a peace conference for Ireland which is being held at Ashworth Hall, hence the title. Ashworth Hall happens to be the home of the sister-in-law of Inspector (now Superintendent) Pitt, who is the hero of this series of Perry's novels. Moreover, the politician presiding over the conference has been the subject of death threats in the recent past. So Pitt is asked to attend the conference, without revealing his identity, as a security measure to prevent foul play.

Unfortunately, Pitt fails. Two murders are committed despite his efforts, terrifying both the guests and the sizable contingent of servants. We then have the usual collection of suspects and motives, and Pitt eventually sorts through all of the information to solve the mystery - with considerable help from his wife Charlotte and their maid Gracie.

It's a tightly written mystery, along with a convincing portrayal of Victorian mores and the unending hatreds in Ireland. It doesn't quite rise to the level of true literature, as Elizabeth George's and P. D. James's books often do, but it's a solid, high-quality production.

Rating:
Summary: Another solid whodunit along with historical atmosphere
Review: This is the third Anne Perry novel I have read. They are all well crafted, intelligent cozy mysteries, along with an interesting portrayal of the culture and politics of Victorian England. This particular book revolves around a peace conference for Ireland which is being held at Ashworth Hall, hence the title. Ashworth Hall happens to be the home of the sister-in-law of Inspector (now Superintendent) Pitt, who is the hero of this series of Perry's novels. Moreover, the politician presiding over the conference has been the subject of death threats in the recent past. So Pitt is asked to attend the conference, without revealing his identity, as a security measure to prevent foul play.

Unfortunately, Pitt fails. Two murders are committed despite his efforts, terrifying both the guests and the sizable contingent of servants. We then have the usual collection of suspects and motives, and Pitt eventually sorts through all of the information to solve the mystery - with considerable help from his wife Charlotte and their maid Gracie.

It's a tightly written mystery, along with a convincing portrayal of Victorian mores and the unending hatreds in Ireland. It doesn't quite rise to the level of true literature, as Elizabeth George's and P. D. James's books often do, but it's a solid, high-quality production.

Rating:
Summary: Very good read
Review: This was the first of Anne Perry's books that I've read. It was a good look at Victorian English life and Irish problems. I hope to read more of her books with the Pitts as characters

Rating:
Summary: The Pitts and the Irish Problem-one of Perry's lesser books
Review: _Ashworth Hall_ is another of Anne Perry's long-running series of mysteries featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. In this one, Perry deals with the "Irish Problem". The novel deals with a conference between two leading Catholics and two leading Protestants, in England at the title Hall, Charlotte's sister Emily's country home. A death threat aimed at the English diplomat heading the conference leads the government to send Pitt to the weekend meeting, incognito, with the excuse that Emily has simply invited her sister. Pitt fails utterly, as the diplomat is murdered, and in the course of the investigation, another man is also murdered. Pitt, Charlotte, and their longtime servant Gracie unravel the strings of the various murders, uncovering long-festering strands of the Irish Problem (especially as Gracie has a brief romance with an Irish Catholic), as well as typically sordid family details. This all plays out with the famous Parnell/O'Shea divorce case in the background, which case in fact lead to Parnell's discrediting as a serious factor, and thus possibly put off any "solution" to the "problem" for at least decades, if not, dare I say, sadly, for much longer still

I found this pretty unsatisfying. Much was very predictable. Perry's habit of telling, at endless length, what is motivating her characters, and what her characters are feeling, rather than showing, is really getting on my nerves. Also her constant repetition of the same themes of rich men committing callous adultery, their wives taking it more or less stoically, until something precipitates violence, realistic as it may be, is getting very stale. I guessed two of the villains pretty much right off: granted that Perry did pull one additional twist which surprised me. But all in all, this is one of the weakest of Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt books. (Note that many of the earlier books are very enjoyable.)

Rating:
Summary: The Pitts and the Irish Problem-one of Perry's lesser books
Review: _Ashworth Hall_ is another of Anne Perry's long-running series of mysteries featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. In this one, Perry deals with the "Irish Problem". The novel deals with a conference between two leading Catholics and two leading Protestants, in England at the title Hall, Charlotte's sister Emily's country home. A death threat aimed at the English diplomat heading the conference leads the government to send Pitt to the weekend meeting, incognito, with the excuse that Emily has simply invited her sister. Pitt fails utterly, as the diplomat is murdered, and in the course of the investigation, another man is also murdered. Pitt, Charlotte, and their longtime servant Gracie unravel the strings of the various murders, uncovering long-festering strands of the Irish Problem (especially as Gracie has a brief romance with an Irish Catholic), as well as typically sordid family details. This all plays out with the famous Parnell/O'Shea divorce case in the background, which case in fact lead to Parnell's discrediting as a serious factor, and thus possibly put off any "solution" to the "problem" for at least decades, if not, dare I say, sadly, for much longer still

I found this pretty unsatisfying. Much was very predictable. Perry's habit of telling, at endless length, what is motivating her characters, and what her characters are feeling, rather than showing, is really getting on my nerves. Also her constant repetition of the same themes of rich men committing callous adultery, their wives taking it more or less stoically, until something precipitates violence, realistic as it may be, is getting very stale. I guessed two of the villains pretty much right off: granted that Perry did pull one additional twist which surprised me. But all in all, this is one of the weakest of Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt books. (Note that many of the earlier books are very enjoyable.)

Rating:
Summary: The Pitts and the Irish Problem-one of Perry's lesser books
Review: _Ashworth Hall_ is another of Anne Perry's long-running series of mysteries featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. In this one, Perry deals with the "Irish Problem". The novel deals with a conference between two leading Catholics and two leading Protestants, in England at the title Hall, Charlotte's sister Emily's country home. A death threat aimed at the English diplomat heading the conference leads the government to send Pitt to the weekend meeting, incognito, with the excuse that Emily has simply invited her sister. Pitt fails utterly, as the diplomat is murdered, and in the course of the investigation, another man is also murdered. Pitt, Charlotte, and their longtime servant Gracie unravel the strings of the various murders, uncovering long-festering strands of the Irish Problem (especially as Gracie has a brief romance with an Irish Catholic), as well as typically sordid family details. This all plays out with the famous Parnell/O'Shea divorce case in the background, which case in fact lead to Parnell's discrediting as a serious factor, and thus possibly put off any "solution" to the "problem" for at least decades, if not, dare I say, sadly, for much longer still

I found this pretty unsatisfying. Much was very predictable. Perry's habit of telling, at endless length, what is motivating her characters, and what her characters are feeling, rather than showing, is really getting on my nerves. Also her constant repetition of the same themes of rich men committing callous adultery, their wives taking it more or less stoically, until something precipitates violence, realistic as it may be, is getting very stale. I guessed two of the villains pretty much right off: granted that Perry did pull one additional twist which surprised me. But all in all, this is one of the weakest of Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt books. (Note that many of the earlier books are very enjoyable.)