β Scribed by Anne Perry
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
After a less-than-impressive outing with the more-turgid-than-tense Half Moon Street, Anne Perry is back on familiar--and entertaining-- turf with The Whitechapel Conspiracy. As if apologizing for their last efforts, the whole Victorian crew seems thankfully less concerned with respecting social mores than with ratcheting up the pressure in a nicely paced political-conspiracy potboiler.
For Inspector Thomas Pitt, doing one's job can have unpleasant consequences. When his testimony sends distinguished soldier John Adinett to the gallows for the murder of Martin Fetters, traveler and antiquarian, Adinett's friends (members of the Inner Circle, "those men who had secret loyalties which superseded every other honor or pledge") ensure that Pitt loses his command of the Bow Street station. He is forced to leave his family and take up an undercover existence in the slum district of Spitalfields, chasing anarchists (though he feels he might as well be chasing his own tail). But when his wife, Charlotte, their maid, Gracie, and her would-be suitor, Sergeant Tellman, apply themselves to the task of restoring Pitt's good name, they uncover an anarchist's conspiracy that dwarfs even Guy Fawkes's Gunpowder Plot. The secrets and lies of respected men lurking in the halls of power, who will stop at nothing short of abolishing the monarchy, form the backdrop for the trio's frantic investigations. To top everything off, Perry throws in a marvelously effective subplot--but to divulge how Jack the Ripper figures into the narrative would be to spoil a highly entertaining read.
The novel has its flaws; Charlotte's great-aunt Vespasia seems less the dynamic character she has been throughout the series than a mouthpiece of mourning for the waves of change. Yes, the reader is tempted to say, the potential downfall of the British monarchy would no doubt be painful and unspeakably unsettling for those who respect Victoria and her forebears--but must one natter endlessly on about it? Better to let the whole shebang go gracefully into that good night. No fears for contemporary Victorian-philes, though; with Thomas and Charlotte around, who could doubt that the monarchy will live to fight another day? --Kelly Flynn
In her 21st novel featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, Edgar Award-winner Perry pulls out the stops and delivers one of the finest performances of her career. Four years after the Ripper terrorized London, Thomas's testimony in a murder case is enough to convince a jury to convict distinguished soldier John Adinett of the murder of his friend, Martin Fetters, despite Adinett's having no clear motive for the killing. Upon conclusion of the case, Thomas finds himself removed from command of the Bow Street Station and sent to work undercover for the Special Branch in the East End. Somehow, unknowingly, he has offended the powerful members of the sinister Inner Circle, and his banishment to the slums puts him in the middle of alleged anarchist plots and dangerous conspiracies. His only allies are his wife, Charlotte, their servant girl, Gracie, and his subordinate officer, Tellman. As a team, they dig into the puzzle behind the Adinett-Fetters murder, believing that, if they can understand why the murder occurred, they can restore Pitt to his job. What none of them realize, however, is that the murder is only a small part of a terrifying conspiracy, one that threatens the very fabric of English society. That the conspiracy itself is so plausible is a testament to Perry's knowledge of her period. This is a mesmerizing and suspenseful tale, rich in period detail, rife with articulate and believable characters. (Feb. 1)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
London, 1888. He comes out of the darkness and fog and strikes! Soon, the world will learn of Jack the Ripper and his bloody crimes. On the brink of suicide, young Albert Besame meets Arthur Machen, a writer whose tales of terror will one day make him the leader of the βDecadentβ literary movement b
### Amazon.com Review After a less-than-impressive outing with the more-turgid-than-tense *Half Moon Street*, Anne Perry is back on familiar--and entertaining-- turf with *The Whitechapel Conspiracy*. As if apologizing for their last efforts, the whole Victorian crew seems thankfully less concerned
A thrilling new Steampunk fantasy from a talented debut author TWO GODS-ONE CHANCE FOR MANKIND In Victorian London, the Whitechapel section is a mechanized, steam-driven hell, cut off and ruled by two mysterious, mechanical gods-Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock. Some years have passed since the G
Le 24 septembre 1941, pendant le Blitz qui écrase Londres sous des tonnes de bombes, Amelia Pritlowe, infirmière du London Hospital, apprend la mort de son père. Celui-ci lui a laissé une lettre posthume lui révélant que sa mère n'est pas morte d'une maladie pulmonaire, comme l'histoire fami
"Martin keeps the twists and turns coming in the sensuous and spirited first Maximum Security romantic thriller.... Readers will find it hard to wait for the next book in this tantalizing series about detectives, bodyguards, and bounty hunters." --Publishers Weekly New York Times bestselling autho
A bloodsucker discovers he's not the only monster stalking the streets of Victorian London, when his nightly search for sustenance brings him face-to-face with the city's most notorious butcher - Jack the Ripper. A short story from our Spectres horror line.