Seven Dials (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt Novels (Audio))

Rating:
Summary: another fascinating Victorian mystery
Review: After exposing the workings of the Inner Circle, Thomas Pitt was fired as superintendent of Bow Street. For his and his family's sake he went to work for Special Branch, a top secret agency charged with keeping Great Britain safe from its' enemies. His latest case involves an Egyptian woman, Ayesha Zakhari, the mistress of cabinet minister Saville Ryerson.

The police believe that Ayesha shot and killed minor diplomat Edwin Lovatt, her lover when he was stationed in Egypt over a decade ago. Ryerson and Ayesha were disposing the body when the police caught them. The government doesn't want Ryerson implicated in a scandal and he doesn't want his mistress who he loves very much to hang for murder. Pitt's boss sends him to Egypt in the hope of discovering more about the players and if anyone else had a reason to kill Lovatt.

Anne Perry has written another fascinating Victorian mystery and this one is better than most (and that is saying something) because the reader receives an intriguing look at Egypt through the filtered eyes of a veteran foreign police officer. The audience also gain the perspective of how many Egyptians feel towards their British masters. History aside, in SEVEN DIALS, the hero's wife is working on a missing person case that has to do with Pitt's homicide investigation. Watching these two cases intersect is mesmerizing and realistic if one has faith in coincidence.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Didn't Want it to End
Review: I can't find a negative thing to say about Perry's stories. I just think she has the greatest way with words and the things her characters say without saying anything, by just a scowl, or smothered smile are so eloquent. I don't know if she means to continue with Charlotte and Thomas or Mr Monk now that she is starting a new series, but I will miss them for sure. This was a great story and even with the obvious it's not the whole story. Sometimes I wonder who really solves these crimes Thomas or Charlotte. Don't mis this new chapter in their lives.

Rating:
Summary: Anne Perry Goes Platinum
Review: I think by this point in time it might be more appropriate to call Anne Perry's stunning Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Victorian mysteries a saga rather than a series. Her masterful exploration of the minutiae of 19th century manners and mores not only reminds me of Galsworthy or Trollope, but her overall vision of Pitt's world has evolved into something almost epic in scope. "Seven Dials" is an especially fascinating extension of her steadily intensifying image (most recently "Whitechapel Conspiracy and "Southhampton Row") of Thomas Pitt as Hero, struggling desperately and essentially alone to defend Queen and Empire against sinister political forces which seek to destroy them. This latest, enormously complex novel begins shortly after Pitt's recent forced reassignment to the Special Branch when he is dragged from his bed at dawn and ordered to report to Victor Narraway, head of Her Majesty's Secret Service, for briefing. Edwin Lovat, a junior diplomat, has been shot to death late at night in the garden at luxurious Eden Lodge; the owner of the weapon, its Egyptian tenant...beautiful, enigmatic Ayesha Zakhari...has been caught in the act of trying to dispose of the body, and her current paramour, senior cabinet minister Saville Ryerson, has inexplicably arrived on the scene within minutes of her apprehension. Pitt's charge is to investigate the matter but protect Ryerson if at all possible since even a whiff of scandal could jeopardize on-going negotiations in a potentially explosive labor situation in Ryerson's Manchester district (dependent on Eqyptian cotton for its weaving industry) and might be disasterous to already fragile Anglo-Egyptian relationships. Ryerson swears his lady is innocent; the lady refuses to say anything, and Pitt's search for the truth eventually leads him to Egypt where he uncovers horrifying evidence of a terrible atrocity linking past and present in a deadly conspiracy that, if revealed, could shake the British Empire. Meanwhile, Charlotte and her faithful servant, Gracie, undertake an investigation of their own: an apparently small matter of Gracie's friend Tilda's missing brother. Only Anne Perry...echoing Charles Dickens...could manipulate such diverse events so adroitly that a relatively minor subplot leads surely but inevitably to its utterly logical interconnection with the main thread of the story thereby solving both mysteries and providing a shattering conclusion to this gripping adventure.

As always, Anne Perry's superb plotting and vivid characterizations kept me glued to my seat until I was able to satisfy myself that, once again, the Pitts and their friends had emerged triumphant against danger and misfortune and justice had effectively been served. I was especially pleased by Ms. Perry's delightful resolution of one plotting element...something that has been hanging fire for several books now...that brought a smile to my face as I watched it unfold.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic Anne Perry
Review: I've always enjoyed Anne Perry's Charlotte and Pitt mysteries more than her Monk and Latterly mysteries. They are not perhaps as deep but they are usually much more fun. I find it easier to identify with the main characters and the ambience of their lives is more satisfying.

Seven Dials, the most recent Charlotte and Pitt mystery, is for me one of her better recent books. The writer's facility for setting a scene, whether it is a society event, the slums of the east end of London or the streets of Alexandria is unparalleled. She makes her way unerringly through the mind-boggling convolutions of Victorian morality without miring the reader in its tedious virtue.

This is another of Anne Perry's good yarns, complete with Gracie, Aunt Vespasia and sister Emily. It is full of strong emotions, well-honed dialogue and spiced this time with Pitt's visit to Egypt.

Rating:
Summary: one of her best
Review: Seven Dials is one of the best books Perry has written lately. A minor diplomat is killed, apparently by an Egyptian woman, and an important political figure looks to be impicated--but his downfall would be detrimental to delicate negotiations, so Special Branch, in the form of Pitt, is called in. There's a good mystery with far-reaching political ramifications, some domestic drama, and Pitt gets to take a trip to Egypt. Followers of the series who want to check in on the characters will get to do so. Nearly everyone gets some juicy material. Especially good is the further exploration of Narraway's character; he was a bit two-dimensional previously, but he gets flsehed out a bit here. Charlotte gets to do some "detecting," as do Gracie and (at Gracie's insitence) Tellman. The only quarrel I have is that, once again, two different cases eventually intersect. The coincidence is hard to swallow, but the rest, the plot, the pacing, and the characters are good enough that it's easily overlooked.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and insightful
Review: When a diplomat is found murdered, it is obvious who killed him--the foreign woman whose gun lies smoking next to his body. The British Special Service is called in not to find the killer, but to protect her lover, M.P. Ryerson. The government's relationship with its Egyptian 'protectorate' has been uneasy and Ryerson is the one man in a position to balance the Empire's interests. Detective Thomas Pitt might not like his job, but he's got to do it. Except that nothing about this case is exactly what it appears to be.

While Pitt is looking for the truth behind the obvious, his servant Gracie and wife Charlotte are investigating a completely different, but equally baffling problem. The brother of one of Gracie's friends has disappeared, forgetting his sister's birthday and his other obligations. With no clear case for the police, Charlotte turns to her aristocratic relatives to dig beneath society's veneer to learn the nasty secrets that are known but never spoken of.

Author Anne Perry has created a rich view of Victorian England and Empire. The brief view of Alexandria, Egypt depicts the exotic wonder of this ancient land while Perry also shows a sympathetic eye to the caste-ridden society of England itself. The coincidence that Charlotte's investigation merges with Pitt's is a bit far-fetched, but does not really marr the power of this story.

Pitt, his boss Narraway, and Pitt's aunt Vespasia are especially complex and interesting characters while Gracie provides a comic touch. SEVEN DIALS is entertaining and, for all its century-old setting, raises issues that remain current.