Rating: 
Summary: Teamwork featured in the third book in the "Monk" series
Review: The first two books in this series featured Monk with assistance as needed from freelance nurse, Hester, and the attorney, Rathbourne. The dynamic changes a bit in this book. Hester has the leading role as she is the link to the family of both the victim and the accused. Likewise, since the arrest happens early in the book, much of the book focuses on the formation of a legal defense resulting in a much bigger role for Rathbourne. Monk isn't forgotten but his role is secondary. (Indeed, the handful of times where he explores his forgotten past are almost awkward interruptions in the flow of the book.) I liked this use of the three characters -- probably because I like Hester a great deal. She's feisty and smart.The overall reading experience is a mixed bag. After an adequate start, the book really bogs down in the middle section. Some good editing would have trimmed about 30 pages. Fortunately, the final hundred pages are dandy -- more than making up for the tedium of the earlier parts of the book. It was also interesting to read a book that was focused on the motive for the crime rather than determining and locating the criminal. As seems to be the case in all the Perry books I've read so far, the plot is focused on getting behind the facade of respectable upper class Victorian families. Who else would have the money to hire our heroes? I enjoy the upstairs/downstairs insights as well as the historical social commentary. Bottom-line: I liked this Agatha nominated book. First time readers are strongly encouraged to read this series in order (starting with The Face of a Stranger).
Rating: 
Summary: Considerably below her usual standard
Review: The plot outline is this: A well-respected army general is murdered during a dinner party at the home of a friend. Soon his wife confesses to the crime, giving jealousy as her motive. Edith, the younger sister of the deceased general, is skeptical of the confession, and approaches her friend Hester for some help. Hester, in turn, enlists the famed attorney Oliver Rathbone and former Inspector William Monk to work on the case. The first 250 pages are so boring and so empty that one wonders why Perry wrote the book at all. All three of the above-mentioned investigators go out to gather information and interview the witnesses and acquaintances of the principal parties. They find absolutely nothing. It soon becomes clear that the wife is lying about her motive, but everyone is mystified as to what the real motive is. So for 250 pages we get almost nothing except conversations among the three people, exchanging no information because there is no information to exchange, and becoming increasingly pessimistic about their chances to save the wife from being hanged. A modern reader, on the other hand, has no trouble figuring out the wife's motive long before the people in the book do. So that element of suspense is missing. The only open question in the reader's mind is exactly how are the characters in the book going to find out the motive. Not only are the first 250 pages excruciatingly boring, but also the book is poorly edited. There are several threads in the story which are confusing, and several times people do things, or omit doing things, for which the motivation is either nonexistent or poorly explained. One of the subplots is Monk's emotional longing to reconstruct a case which this one reminds him of, but which he can't remember because of a head injury which impaired his memory. That previous case might have been in one of the prior Monk novels that I haven't read, but the entire subplot is just an annoyance and seems out of place in this novel. So what's good about this novel? The last 100 pages. Once we get to the courtroom, Perry's writing suddenly becomes far more powerful and surehanded. The drama builds, and even though the reader knows all the facts by now, it is highly uncertain how the whole thing will play out during the trial. Rathbone (and therefore Perry) does a masterful job of sequencing the witnesses, the questions, and the testimony. The final ending is moving and satisfying. Is the truly fine ending worth wading through the 250 pages of dross that precede it? Probably not. This is my fourth Anne Perry novel, and I know she can do much better than this. Read the others.
Rating:
Summary: Considerably below her usual standard
Review: The plot outline is this: A well-respected army general is murdered during a dinner party at the home of a friend. Soon his wife confesses to the crime, giving jealousy as her motive. Edith, the younger sister of the deceased general, is skeptical of the confession, and approaches her friend Hester for some help. Hester, in turn, enlists the famed attorney Oliver Rathbone and former Inspector William Monk to work on the case. The first 250 pages are so boring and so empty that one wonders why Perry wrote the book at all. All three of the above-mentioned investigators go out to gather information and interview the witnesses and acquaintances of the principal parties. They find absolutely nothing. It soon becomes clear that the wife is lying about her motive, but everyone is mystified as to what the real motive is. So for 250 pages we get almost nothing except conversations among the three people, exchanging no information because there is no information to exchange, and becoming increasingly pessimistic about their chances to save the wife from being hanged. A modern reader, on the other hand, has no trouble figuring out the wife's motive long before the people in the book do. So that element of suspense is missing. The only open question in the reader's mind is exactly how are the characters in the book going to find out the motive. Not only are the first 250 pages excruciatingly boring, but also the book is poorly edited. There are several threads in the story which are confusing, and several times people do things, or omit doing things, for which the motivation is either nonexistent or poorly explained. One of the subplots is Monk's emotional longing to reconstruct a case which this one reminds him of, but which he can't remember because of a head injury which impaired his memory. That previous case might have been in one of the prior Monk novels that I haven't read, but the entire subplot is just an annoyance and seems out of place in this novel. So what's good about this novel? The last 100 pages. Once we get to the courtroom, Perry's writing suddenly becomes far more powerful and surehanded. The drama builds, and even though the reader knows all the facts by now, it is highly uncertain how the whole thing will play out during the trial. Rathbone (and therefore Perry) does a masterful job of sequencing the witnesses, the questions, and the testimony. The final ending is moving and satisfying. Is the truly fine ending worth wading through the 250 pages of dross that precede it? Probably not. This is my fourth Anne Perry novel, and I know she can do much better than this. Read the others.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth missing sleep over!
Review: This book ranks Anne Perry right up there with Agatha Christie. You'll never know "whodunnit" until the very end. Perry writes a great mystery with just a touch of unwanted romance and intellectual tension between Hester Latterly and Inspector Monk.
Rating:
Summary: Setting takes precedence over plot, characters
Review: This book seemed to go on and on long after any intelligent reader would have figured out the reason why Alexandra murdered her husband. The author, having set up several protagonists and unwilling to concentrate on one of them, seems to regard the time period of Victorian England, its social interactions and mores, as more important than fleshing out the characters or moving the plot along. Monk's investigations into his past, dropped in at inappropriate intervals, made me want to shout, "Enough, already."
Rating:
Summary: Anne Perry takes a delicate subject and puts a Victorian spi
Review: This novel features William Monk, Hester Latterly,and Oliver Rathbone. The mystery lies in the motive, and not the killer. The case looks most hopeless, and it is not until the defense case is almost over before the outcome is known.In this novel, the author takes great pains to humanize Monk's memory lapses. We understand why he is not able to think of Hester as a romantic interest. The key element that is Anne Perry's success is her knowledge of Victorian England. Her use of this historical era is sheer genius. I, therefore, found it odd that she used the word plastic in a description. I would suggest to the reader that the next Anne Perry work would be Sins of the Wolf. Here the relationship between Monk, Rathbone, and Hester is put to the ultimate challenge.
Rating:
Summary: a very good book
Review: This was a great mystery novel. I was totally shocked and disgusted by the motive for the murder. I stayed up till about 1 in the morning to finish reading this and then I couldn't sleep because I was so shocked. Needless to say, I did not fare well in school the next day. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery novel.
Rating:
Summary: Not a whodunnit, but a whydunnit--absolutely brilliant!
Review: You might think that a confession in the first few chapters of a mystery novel would be a bad idea. Why keep reading? Anne Perry proves she knows best once again in this, the third novel in the William Monk series. Here we read on page after exciting page because we want to know WHY Alexandra Carlyon would murder her husband, Thaddeus. Fans of Anne Perry know that the author is fascinated with secrets, who keeps them, and why. Because this book focuses on disclosures in Alexandra Carlyon's murder trial, rather than a murder investigation per se, we are able to follow each labrynthine path that the author lays down. Did Alexandra murder her husband because of jealousy? Because she was in love with someone else? Or to protect someone she loved? This book is gripping and intriguing--a real page-turner. If you like Victorian mysteries and the modern TV series Law and Order you will love this book. Part detective work, part legal work, the case will keep you guessing!
Rating:
Summary: Not a whodunnit, but a whydunnit--absolutely brilliant!
Review: You might think that a confession in the first few chapters of a mystery novel would be a bad idea. Why keep reading? Anne Perry proves she knows best once again in this, the third novel in the William Monk series. Here we read on page after exciting page because we want to know WHY Alexandra Carlyon would murder her husband, Thaddeus. Fans of Anne Perry know that the author is fascinated with secrets, who keeps them, and why. Because this book focuses on disclosures in Alexandra Carlyon's murder trial, rather than a murder investigation per se, we are able to follow each labrynthine path that the author lays down. Did Alexandra murder her husband because of jealousy? Because she was in love with someone else? Or to protect someone she loved? This book is gripping and intriguing--a real page-turner. If you like Victorian mysteries and the modern TV series Law and Order you will love this book. Part detective work, part legal work, the case will keep you guessing!
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