Pentecost Alley : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: One Of The Best
Review: "Pentecost Alley" is another entry in Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. It is the thirteenth of these stories that I've read, so it would be safe to assume that I like the series. Perry seems to have a good feel for the period and her characters are well-drawn. She makes late nineteenth century London seem an exceedingly grim place, and perhaps by our standards it was, but other major cities of the day were likely worse (some still are). She sometimes spends a bit too much space on her soapbox expounding on the social evils of the day, something that Doyle avoided (to his credit -- his stories were always concise). Still, the social ills focused on are invariably central to the plot, so this is only a minor complaint. Some of Perry's earlier stories also suffered from rather simplistic plots. There was often a single character with a clearly dysfunctional personality, leaving the reader with only the details to figure out. All that is not a problem here, though. Perry makes it clear in the course of "Pentecost Alley" that she is against capital punishment (an opinion that is not necessarily germaine to the story), but the plot is intricate and intriguing. As public pressure mounts on Pitt, especially when it appears that the wrong man has been hanged for the murder of Ada McKinley, I felt his anxiety. The tension builds very effectively. Although I was able to identify a couple of characters who ended up in a central role, I still couldn't see how it all fitted together until very near the end.

Fans will enjoy "Pentecost Alley" as another chance to spend time with all the regular characters: Thomas, Charlotte, Emily, Gracie, Caroline, Grandmama, the children, etc., but beyond that this is a first rate mystery that any mystery fan can sink his teeth into. I think this is one of Perry's best efforts, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading a good mystery, whether familiar with the series or not.

Rating:
Summary: The 15th novel in a mystery series set in Victorian England.
Review: > A prostitute has been brutally murdered in the same general area of the Jack the Ripper knifings two years before. And this crime, too, may be the handiwork of an upper class "gentleman" with influence.
> So enter Supt. Thomas Pitt, assigned to handle "sensitive" crimal matters. And when Pitt goes to work, so does his amateur sleuth wife, Charlotte, and her almost too meddling sister, Emily.
> There are some great twists and turns in this book, which is hard to put down. I've never read Anne Perry's books before; I'm tackling the previous 14 now.
> Of interest, I think, is that Perry is herself a murderer who has chosen this genre as an expression of her talent.

Rating:
Summary: One Of The Best
Review: "Pentecost Alley" is another entry in Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. It is the thirteenth of these stories that I've read, so it would be safe to assume that I like the series. Perry seems to have a good feel for the period and her characters are well-drawn. She makes late nineteenth century London seem an exceedingly grim place, and perhaps by our standards it was, but other major cities of the day were likely worse (some still are). She sometimes spends a bit too much space on her soapbox expounding on the social evils of the day, something that Doyle avoided (to his credit -- his stories were always concise). Still, the social ills focused on are invariably central to the plot, so this is only a minor complaint. Some of Perry's earlier stories also suffered from rather simplistic plots. There was often a single character with a clearly dysfunctional personality, leaving the reader with only the details to figure out. All that is not a problem here, though. Perry makes it clear in the course of "Pentecost Alley" that she is against capital punishment (an opinion that is not necessarily germaine to the story), but the plot is intricate and intriguing. As public pressure mounts on Pitt, especially when it appears that the wrong man has been hanged for the murder of Ada McKinley, I felt his anxiety. The tension builds very effectively. Although I was able to identify a couple of characters who ended up in a central role, I still couldn't see how it all fitted together until very near the end.

Fans will enjoy "Pentecost Alley" as another chance to spend time with all the regular characters: Thomas, Charlotte, Emily, Gracie, Caroline, Grandmama, the children, etc., but beyond that this is a first rate mystery that any mystery fan can sink his teeth into. I think this is one of Perry's best efforts, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading a good mystery, whether familiar with the series or not.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent detective story with lots of Victorian atmosphere
Review: Anne Perry consistently writes good mystery and/or detective stories in themselves. What is a bonus is her outstanding descriptions of life in Victorian England. Having read many detective stories over the years, I find I need something extra to capture my interest and her ability to evoke a long gone colorful era is second to none.

Rating:
Summary: Just as Good the Second Time Around
Review: As far as I'm concerned, Anne Perry's books are keepers. I was buying her books in hardcover as soon as I spotted them before there was an Amazon.com. Now I routinely pre-order them. When I pulled PENTECOST ALLEY off the shelf yesterday, I realized I had forgotten who all but the regular characters were and who was the killer. Some things dimly came back to me while I read, but the story was just as compelling. Yes, there's the usual contrast between the lives of the filthy rich and those of the filthy poor, but I've never known Anne Perry to fail to bring them to life.

Is Finley Fitzjames guilty? The more I learned about his father, Augustus, the worse he seemed, but that didn't mean his son was a murderer. If someone was framing Finley, why? Did anyone hate Finley that much or did someone want to get revenge on the father through the son? The best member of the Fitzjames family is the daughter, Tallulah. Underneath that party-loving exterior is intelligence and fire. She's certain that her beloved brother is innocent, but how can she prove it? While she's at it, can she make up her mind between her life of luxury and a very worthy, but poor man whom she loves but who thinks she's only a social butterfly?

Emily Radley's life has been just as useless as Tallulah's lately. Her husband is fighting for the right in Parliament so they don't have much time together. Her servants are so competent that they could easily manage the household without her. Worse, she has Grandmama living with her. The other women of the family have grown and changed since book one, but Grandmama is a narrow-minded and nasty as ever. It's a good thing we have Lady Vespasia to show us that an elderly widow can still be vital and involved. What Emily needs is to be involved in another of her brother-in-law's cases. Will her new aquaintance with Tallulah give her the chance to be something other than decorative and charming? When things go horribly wrong, as they will, Charlotte will have to step in, too. More than just her husband's career is at stake. There's been an outbreak of violence. Will more follow? Full scale riots? Anarchy? It's a very tense situation. No one has forgotten that Jack the Ripper business only a couple of years ago, nor the fact that the killer was never caught. Don't miss the scene where Emily, Charlotte, and Tallulah forsake their good clothes to visit the brothels for clues. I loved the frank assessment of their chances for success as ladies of the evening. Pay attention to the names of even the most briefly-noted characters. One of them is the same as that of a character in a famous classic novel. I wish I knew if that were coincidence or deliberate.

As usual in one of Anne Perry's mysteries, morality, principles, and soul searching play a prominent role. One of the other reviewers mentioned the author's past, but failed to mention that she was only a schoolgirl at the time.

If you're looking for a book that's fast-paced and shallow, with characters of cardboard, PENTECOST ALLEY is not for you. If you demand more from your mysteries, I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

Rating:
Summary: Just as Good the Second Time Around
Review: As far as I'm concerned, Anne Perry's books are keepers. I was buying her books in hardcover as soon as I spotted them before there was an Amazon.com. Now I routinely pre-order them. When I pulled PENTECOST ALLEY off the shelf yesterday, I realized I had forgotten who all but the regular characters were and who was the killer. Some things dimly came back to me while I read, but the story was just as compelling. Yes, there's the usual contrast between the lives of the filthy rich and those of the filthy poor, but I've never known Anne Perry to fail to bring them to life.

Is Finley Fitzjames guilty? The more I learned about his father, Augustus, the worse he seemed, but that didn't mean his son was a murderer. If someone was framing Finley, why? Did anyone hate Finley that much or did someone want to get revenge on the father through the son? The best member of the Fitzjames family is the daughter, Tallulah. Underneath that party-loving exterior is intelligence and fire. She's certain that her beloved brother is innocent, but how can she prove it? While she's at it, can she make up her mind between her life of luxury and a very worthy, but poor man whom she loves but who thinks she's only a social butterfly?

Emily Radley's life has been just as useless as Tallulah's lately. Her husband is fighting for the right in Parliament so they don't have much time together. Her servants are so competent that they could easily manage the household without her. Worse, she has Grandmama living with her. The other women of the family have grown and changed since book one, but Grandmama is a narrow-minded and nasty as ever. It's a good thing we have Lady Vespasia to show us that an elderly widow can still be vital and involved. What Emily needs is to be involved in another of her brother-in-law's cases. Will her new aquaintance with Tallulah give her the chance to be something other than decorative and charming? When things go horribly wrong, as they will, Charlotte will have to step in, too. More than just her husband's career is at stake. There's been an outbreak of violence. Will more follow? Full scale riots? Anarchy? It's a very tense situation. No one has forgotten that Jack the Ripper business only a couple of years ago, nor the fact that the killer was never caught. Don't miss the scene where Emily, Charlotte, and Tallulah forsake their good clothes to visit the brothels for clues. I loved the frank assessment of their chances for success as ladies of the evening. Pay attention to the names of even the most briefly-noted characters. One of them is the same as that of a character in a famous classic novel. I wish I knew if that were coincidence or deliberate.

As usual in one of Anne Perry's mysteries, morality, principles, and soul searching play a prominent role. One of the other reviewers mentioned the author's past, but failed to mention that she was only a schoolgirl at the time.

If you're looking for a book that's fast-paced and shallow, with characters of cardboard, PENTECOST ALLEY is not for you. If you demand more from your mysteries, I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

Rating:
Summary: Anne Perry's Victorian mystery series is out of steam.
Review: I became entranced by Anne Perry when I read her first book, The Cater Street Hangman, and I have read just about all of them since, but I found this one long and tedious. The book had an intriguing crime, but it enfolded as a series of visits to upper-crust houses that did little to hold my interest or advance the plot. It seems to me that Anne Perry needs a new idea! This book was the selection for our mystery book discussion group, and none of the four of us who tried it liked it

Rating:
Summary: another engaging pitt book
Review: I came across Anne Perry's books by accident a few years ago, and have been thoroughly enjoying each new one that I encounter. Pentecost Alley continues the Perry tradition of melding social and political consciousness with good mystery plotting. I am certainly not the first - or last- to note Perry's wonderfully constructed characters and her heady Victorian atmosphere. This novel, in particular, comes with well-crafted, surprising twists which effectively transform the reader's perception of the events under investigation as the story unfolds. The ending is a bit contrived, but it is so satisfyingly achieved that I simply did not care. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Inspector Pitt, Charlotte and Emily excell again.
Review: In Pentecost Alley, Inspector Pitt receives unsolicited assistance from his wife Charlotte and her sister Emily in solving a politically sensitive murder of a prostitute in the Whitechapel area. This is the same area where Jack the Ripper stalked only two years previously. Thomas must deal with riots and pressure from his superiors as he plods his way through this mystery. Ms. Perry has devised a truly convoluted tale. She gets better and better. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt are so truly believeable that one begins to believe they really lived in Victorian times. If you've never read Anne Perry, you have a real treat in store.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite Anne Perry
Review: This book has been my favorite of all the Thomas Pitt series. I love how Anne Perry investigates all levels of victorian London. This one caught my attention and I could hardly put it down. I highly recommend Anne Perry!