Rating: 
Summary: Ms. Perry needs to tighten her writing.................
Review: I have been reading Anne Perry's books since college. I especially like her series with William Monk, Hester Latterly and Oliver Rathbone. I must say, however, that The Twisted Root needed to be more tightly edited. The ending of the book seemed very loosely pulled together; it probably needed at least two to three more pages of explication to round out the last of the twists and turns presented at the very end of the book. Ms. Perry developed characters who seemed strangely isolated from the context of their work or lives. More questions than answers were raised for me. Didn't Sgt. Robb have any superiors to answer to on his first murder case, which just happened to involve a wealthy family? Why didn't we see Dr. Beck again after his assistance to Hester? Weren't any of the other nurses at the hospital worthy of Hester's attentions? I also thought some of her descriptions were redundant - of John Robb, Hester's concerns about old, abandonned soldiers. Strangely, even for a Victorian couple, the warmth between the now-married-to-each-other Monk and Hester seemed more that of good friends than a couple in love. I do look forward to the next Monk/Latterly story, but with caution.
Rating: 
Summary: A True Victorian WhoDunIt
Review: I have read every book that Anne Perry has written and I enjoy every one, but I particularly like The William Monk series. I find this series is darker than the Pitt ones and every book has fine examples of Victorian British courtroom drama. I marvel at the way that Ms. Perry can portray the Victorian mindset - the prejudices and the close-mindedness. Improbable as it seems to us in our modern day world, being quick to censure and to judge others against some impossible ideal was very prevalent in late 1800 England. There are a lot of plot twists and turns in this book, and it has its usual surprise ending. In some ways the ending seems less probable than other books in the series, but it doesn't impair the fun of the read.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe I've read too many Anne Perry books.
Review: I saw the end of this book coming a mile away. Perry's books are all so DARK, it becomes easy to guess what horrible secret (incest, pedophilia, necrophilia, etc.) will be revealed. And WHY does Monk always wait until the trial is underway before he really starts investigating?! I think Perry's plots are becoming strangled by her own conventions as an author.
Rating:
Summary: Still Worth Reading
Review: I suppose it's difficult for an author to know how much background to reiterate when some readers may be first-timers while others have absorbed all the earlier books in the series. Still, I wish Perry would realize that it's also difficult for loyal fans to plow through yet another rehashing of nurses' plight in the Crimea and 19th-century England. I find myself skimming an author whose every word I used to savor. Also detracting from this book was the way characters - even whole courtrooms - kept jumping to ridiculous conclusions with scant provocation. Despite these complaints, I still enjoy the characters and the world that Perry has so carefully created. She's a skilled enough writer that it's fun watching how she gets from A to Z even when it's pretty obvious what Z's going to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Twisted Root The Very Best By Far
Review: I would like very much to know how to let Anne Perry know how much her books have meant to me through the years! I have read them all, and while I prefer the William Monk series, I must say that her Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series are in the same category of excellence! She makes England's Victorian era absolutely "come alive" with her knowledge of the history, culture and diverse ethnic groups of the century. There are not too many books that I cannot "put aside" for at least short periods of time...but Twisted Root was not one of them....I resented ANYTHING OR ANYONE interfering with my finishing this excellent, mesmerizing book!Miss Perry.....please write on and on and on....cannot wait for your next one! Devotedly! Jeanne Diffee
Rating:
Summary: Twisted Root The Very Best By Far
Review: I would like very much to know how to let Anne Perry know how much her books have meant to me through the years! I have read them all, and while I prefer the William Monk series, I must say that her Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series are in the same category of excellence! She makes England's Victorian era absolutely "come alive" with her knowledge of the history, culture and diverse ethnic groups of the century. There are not too many books that I cannot "put aside" for at least short periods of time...but Twisted Root was not one of them....I resented ANYTHING OR ANYONE interfering with my finishing this excellent, mesmerizing book! Miss Perry.....please write on and on and on....cannot wait for your next one! Devotedly! Jeanne Diffee
Rating: 
Summary: Anne Perry needs to take a break
Review: I'm a long-time fan of Anne Perry and I especially like the Monk series, but I think it's time Ms. Perry puts away her computer and takes a bit of a vacation. Her writing has become tedious and formulaic. I knew who did it halfway through the book and the ending was predictable, mainly because any regular reader has seen it all before. She was once an excellent writer but I kept feeling that she's become lazy and doesn't care much about her art. The same adjectives appear on just about every page - She uses the words "tragedy," "courage," and "intelligence," so often they lose all meaning. Every heroine "fights against injustice" or some other over-used description. Every character is described in the same repetitive manner and the vocabulary not only doesn't vary among her novels, it doesn't vary among her characters. I barely recognized this version of Oliver Rathbone. The Rathbone of previous works would never give up on a client, must less resign himself to their guilt. The evidence that Robb used to make an arrest was laughable at best. And Perry's repeated descriptions of a chronically foot-sore Monk were annoying. I've always loved Anne Perry's work. I just wonder where one of my favorite authors has gone.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Twist to the End
Review: I'm an avid fan of Anne Perry and even if I can't get a complete selection of her books in Manila, there's always Amazon! This must be one of her best books yet. In her typically rich and descriptive style, one is transported into the Victorian period in the middle of a mystery. This time around Willaim Monk and Hester Latterly and married and there is new depth in the characters with the change in their relationship. Right from the top, the sudden disappearance of the betrothed, the franctic fiance, the seemingly perfect relationship between the two gets the reader completely involved in this complex mystery. The end provides a completely satifying twist.
Rating:
Summary: Perry does it again!
Review: It is amazing that Anne Perry can keep coming up with such marvelous and convoluted plots! Her newest, Twisted Root, again saves its major surprises for the end, just when you think there's no way to work out a satisfactory answer. Again, it also give insightful info about the Victorian era and it was nice to finally see Hester and Monk married, although this part of the story took a back seat to the plot. All in all, it's a very enjoyable read!
Rating:
Summary: Married Monk
Review: The Twisted Root Anne Perry's first William Monk book after his marriage to Hester Latterly the nurse who worked in the battlefields of Crimea, explores new tensions between the leading characters. While there are not the battles between them that there were in previous novels, there still is plenty of tension. somehow they are both more vulnerable and softer now that they are a matched set. Book is loaded with the intersting characters as in previous novels. Some you hope to see again as Cleo, and the police sergeant Robb. Perry's mystery is not as engaging as her characters and her settings. Hospital scenes are fabulous, as are the courtroom scenes. While her mystery may be easy to solve, I would read her Monk books for the character and historical insight she provides.
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