Death of a Stranger
by Anne Perry
Ballantine Books, 337 pages
Through 13 William Monk mysteries
by Anne Perry, private investigator (and former police officer) Monk
has worked with a major handicap: there is a huge chunk of his memory
missing. Through the 13 previous Monk novels set in Victorian England,
he has discovered bits and pieces of his past, found out things about
himself he wishes he hadn't, fallen in love and married. But always
there has been something he wants to find out – and fears learning.
In Death of a Stranger, the 14th novel in the series, he is finally
forced to confront his lost past.
A mysterious woman, Katrina
Harcus, is Monk's client in Death of a Stranger. She tells Monk
she is about to become engaged to Michael Delgarno, an executive in
a railroad company owned by Nolan Baltimore. She asks Monk to find out
if there is fraud involved in the building of a new railroad line and
whether, if there is, Delgarno is involved. She gives Monk a sheaf of
papers she has stolen from Delgarno's rooms. As Monk goes through them,
he finds one that is from the period he can't remember and that is signed
"William Monk."
Complicating matters further
is the murder of Nolan Baltimore in an area rife with prostitution
in fact, his body has been found in a house of ill repute. Monk's wife,
Hester, has been trained as a nurse by Florence Nightingale. She and
some assistants run a clinic in the area where Baltimore's body has
been found. Because of Baltimore's murder, the area is now crawling
with police, which has made it almost impossible for the prostitutes
to earn the money they need to survive and to pay their pimps.
As a result, several of the ladies of the evening have been brutally
punished by their pimps and have come to Hester for treatment. A desperation
fills the area and Hester decides she must find out who is abusing her
patients. In turn, this leads to her conviction that she must find out
who killed Baltimore.
The two cases, of course,
come together and the plot takes as many turns as a railroad line.
Perry is a brilliant writer
who makes her readers completely at home in Victorian England. Her characters
are richly drawn and her plots are intricate and clever. Each of her
books stands alone it isn't necessary to have read the earlier
mysteries to follow Death of a Stranger, though if you have read
them it will probably increase your pleasure in the book. But, either
way, don't wait for the paperback on this one it's too good to
postpone.
A fresh look at John
Grisham's The Brethren in light of 9/11's events>>
©2002
Laura
Haywood for SeniorWomenWeb