When I began the book (with the problem of Marianne) it obviously had five stars, when you finish that part you won't understand why it was written in so many pages and it really doesn't have to do anything with the book, so the book has now four stars, in the middle of the book, when you see why it was written the [beginning], the book has only three stars ..., and that keeps during all the judgment of the doctor (I won't tell you which one because I will tell you the story), but when the judgment is almost over, when you almost finish the book you will see that this is definitely a five stars book, And when you read the last chapter you will see that you will recommend this book to your friends.

It is a mystery to me that Amazon.com should begin reviews of the mysteries by Anne Perry by quoting "Kirkus reviews." The results are predictable -- the reviewer dislikes all of the strengths of these novels. He cannot appreciate Perry's real skill in character development. He is opposed to any discussion of the status of women in Victorian England; dislikes Perry's careful depictions of social mores and class status in Victorian London --despite the fact that these are often the very crux of the novels. One of the best examples is "A Breach of Promise." I haven't the Kirkus review for that novel but I am willing to bet that he really really hated it!
Actually, this series of novels should be called the
Hester Latterly - William Monk - Oliver Rathbone series. Hester is often the central sleuth and it is the links between these three characters which move the plots forward ingeniously. As example of this I recommend "A Breach of Promise which the Kirkus reviewer undoubtedly hated.

A Sudden, Fearful Death is the fourth mystery in the Inspector Monk series of books by Anne Perry. Better known for her Pitt series, the Inspector Monk series are slighly earlier (just after the Crimean War), grittier, and in many ways more riveting. They are longer than the average Pitt novel, and this allows the author's wonderful ability to convey period detail and characterization to shine through.

In this mystery Inspector Monk is called in to investigate the murder of one of Florence Nightingale's Crimean nurses, who is working at a London hospital. Those of you who have read the previous three novels know how hard it can be for these young women to adapt to English hospitals after their stint abroad, and at first it seems that Prudence Barrymore might be a victim because of her desire to reform the medical system. As the plot unfolds, however, we realize that there is a great deal more going on at London's Royal Free hospital than meets the eye.

One of Perry's greatest talents lies in character development, and she is always careful to let a different character feature prominently in each novel. This time it is Lady Callandra Daviot's turn, Inspector Monk's female patron, who emerges as a more three-dimensional character. Hester Latterly, another Nightingale nurse, is also featured, along with the brilliant Inspector Monk and the lawyer of lawyers, Oliver Rathbone.

I would particularly recommend the Monk series to fans of TV's Law and Order, since these mysteries combine excellent sleuthing with taut court-room drama. If you like historical mysteries, you will love this series. If you already like Anne Perry, I encourage you to give Inpsector Monk a try!

An unusual, beautiful little book for the shelves of Francis Bacon fans. The photographs are beautiful, exhaustively document this legendary, but little known space, and have a haunting quality that complements other Bacon monographs. One senses the vibrancy of the artist's life, and only then the realization that, but for the fact he is deceased, the reader would not be holding this book and having this "privileged" view. Very strange!

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.

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.

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.

"Pentecost Alley" is another entry in Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. It is the thirteenth of these stories that I've read, so it would be safe to assume that I like the series. Perry seems to have a good feel for the period and her characters are well-drawn. She makes late nineteenth century London seem an exceedingly grim place, and perhaps by our standards it was, but other major cities of the day were likely worse (some still are). She sometimes spends a bit too much space on her soapbox expounding on the social evils of the day, something that Doyle avoided (to his credit -- his stories were always concise). Still, the social ills focused on are invariably central to the plot, so this is only a minor complaint. Some of Perry's earlier stories also suffered from rather simplistic plots. There was often a single character with a clearly dysfunctional personality, leaving the reader with only the details to figure out. All that is not a problem here, though. Perry makes it clear in the course of "Pentecost Alley" that she is against capital punishment (an opinion that is not necessarily germaine to the story), but the plot is intricate and intriguing. As public pressure mounts on Pitt, especially when it appears that the wrong man has been hanged for the murder of Ada McKinley, I felt his anxiety. The tension builds very effectively. Although I was able to identify a couple of characters who ended up in a central role, I still couldn't see how it all fitted together until very near the end.

Fans will enjoy "Pentecost Alley" as another chance to spend time with all the regular characters: Thomas, Charlotte, Emily, Gracie, Caroline, Grandmama, the children, etc., but beyond that this is a first rate mystery that any mystery fan can sink his teeth into. I think this is one of Perry's best efforts, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading a good mystery, whether familiar with the series or not.

As far as I'm concerned, Anne Perry's books are keepers. I was buying her books in hardcover as soon as I spotted them before there was an Amazon.com. Now I routinely pre-order them. When I pulled PENTECOST ALLEY off the shelf yesterday, I realized I had forgotten who all but the regular characters were and who was the killer. Some things dimly came back to me while I read, but the story was just as compelling. Yes, there's the usual contrast between the lives of the filthy rich and those of the filthy poor, but I've never known Anne Perry to fail to bring them to life.

Is Finley Fitzjames guilty? The more I learned about his father, Augustus, the worse he seemed, but that didn't mean his son was a murderer. If someone was framing Finley, why? Did anyone hate Finley that much or did someone want to get revenge on the father through the son? The best member of the Fitzjames family is the daughter, Tallulah. Underneath that party-loving exterior is intelligence and fire. She's certain that her beloved brother is innocent, but how can she prove it? While she's at it, can she make up her mind between her life of luxury and a very worthy, but poor man whom she loves but who thinks she's only a social butterfly?

Emily Radley's life has been just as useless as Tallulah's lately. Her husband is fighting for the right in Parliament so they don't have much time together. Her servants are so competent that they could easily manage the household without her. Worse, she has Grandmama living with her. The other women of the family have grown and changed since book one, but Grandmama is a narrow-minded and nasty as ever. It's a good thing we have Lady Vespasia to show us that an elderly widow can still be vital and involved. What Emily needs is to be involved in another of her brother-in-law's cases. Will her new aquaintance with Tallulah give her the chance to be something other than decorative and charming? When things go horribly wrong, as they will, Charlotte will have to step in, too. More than just her husband's career is at stake. There's been an outbreak of violence. Will more follow? Full scale riots? Anarchy? It's a very tense situation. No one has forgotten that Jack the Ripper business only a couple of years ago, nor the fact that the killer was never caught. Don't miss the scene where Emily, Charlotte, and Tallulah forsake their good clothes to visit the brothels for clues. I loved the frank assessment of their chances for success as ladies of the evening. Pay attention to the names of even the most briefly-noted characters. One of them is the same as that of a character in a famous classic novel. I wish I knew if that were coincidence or deliberate.

As usual in one of Anne Perry's mysteries, morality, principles, and soul searching play a prominent role. One of the other reviewers mentioned the author's past, but failed to mention that she was only a schoolgirl at the time.

If you're looking for a book that's fast-paced and shallow, with characters of cardboard, PENTECOST ALLEY is not for you. If you demand more from your mysteries, I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

This book has been my favorite of all the Thomas Pitt series. I love how Anne Perry investigates all levels of victorian London. This one caught my attention and I could hardly put it down. I highly recommend Anne Perry!

After hearing this as a book on tape, I found myself compelled to read all of Anne Perry's William Monk books. Hester Latterly is one of the more appealing characters out there! I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to wait for the next one!

Anne Perry is one of my favorite authors and this is one of her best books. By now, I am more than ready for her hero, Inspector William Monk, to make his mind up about his feelings for Hester Latterly, an independent, non-conformist, and highly likeable nurse who challenges all of Monk's ideas of what (or whom) constitutes the "perfect" woman. Ms. Perry weaves this problem (for Monk anyway) throughout the story and finally provides us hopeless (hopeful?) romantics with a few sops of encouragement. All of the supporting characters are finely and wonderfully drawn (likeable or not) and the attention to detail of the historical period is unmatched. Well worth anyone's time.

The Silent Cry is the best so far in Perry's Monk series. The mystery is genuinely mysterious, the period color superb, the characters well-developed and fully realized. The nurse Hester Latterly, Monk himself, and the other returning characters are as engaging and realistic as ever, and Perry's dialogue, as always, sounds like real Victorian people having real Victorian conversations. The book is slightly flawed by some minor incononsistencies in the plot, mostly having to do with the injuries to Rhys Duff, but these are not very troubling. The picture Perry paints of Victorian London and the social issues and manners of the time would make the book worth reading even if it weren't an outstanding mystery.

Southampton Row is an enjoyable read. Ms. Perry's knowledge of the Victorian era is undeniable extensive and the rich tapestry she is able to weave intrigued me. Reading this novel, I experienced the sounds, smells, and sights of Victorian London, not to mention the political climate of the time.

In Southampton Row, Pitt is troubled by his duty to discredit the sly Sir Charles Voisey. He's much better at solving murders. Fortunately for him, and the readers of this novel, Pit gets to do what he's best at. Pitt is a likeable hero and a pleasure to read.

Although the male characters are well written, what fascinated me most about Southampton Row are the female characters. Pitt's wife, Charlotte, is portrayed as a reluctantly obedient wife, but the other female characters are strong and individual, not stereotypical. Pitt's sister-in-law, Emily, is an intelligent political figure. Vespasia, Charlotte's great-aunt, is a pillar of strength and influence. Mrs. Underhill shines as the discontented, but dutiful, wife of the Bishop. In fact, all the female characters in Southampton Row are portrayed in fantastic detail. Ms. Perry gets inside the mind of every woman in her story. After reading the novel, I felt as though I knew all these women personally, like old friends.

Southampton Row is only the second Anne Perry novel I've read so far. It will definitely not be the last.

"Southampton Row", English author Anne Perry's latest novel in the Inspector Pitt series places the intrepid Inspector in a setting that leaves the reader intrigued and troubled. It is Pitt's success in "The Whitechapel Conspiracy" that now threatens him and his family. Charles Voisey, the Inspector's Whitechapel nemesis reappears to haunt Pitt again. Thanks to the machinations of the Inner Circle, Pitt loses his position at the Bow Street Station and is sent to work at the Special Branch Office, a division within the Police Force set up to investigate terrorist activities. The terrorist in Pitt's life turns out to be Voisey, who as part of his continuing effort to republicanize English politics campaigns for Parliament. Pitt is assigned to shadow Voisey and determine his weaknesses. The campaign and Voisey's connection to the murder of a spiritual medium in Southampton Row threaten Pitt profesionally and personally. The new setting involves more than just the detection of a murderer in Southampton Row, it involves the mind games played in the web of deception woven by the Inner Circle and all those forced to deal with it.
In "Southampton Row", Inspector Pitt is compelled to think and act like those he despises most, the members of the super-secret Inner Circle. In the process, Pitt develops more than his usual sincere search for truth and justice, he demonstrates a newfound ability to think like Voisey. This leaves the reader wondering if the good Inspector is now walking the same path as Voisey. Has he, through his work, become contaminated with the characteristics of those he despises most. What price truth? Honor? The safety of loved ones? Will Thomas compromise his principals to protect Charlotte and their children? The novel forces the reader to grapple with these same questions of conscience.
"Southampton Row" is Perry's most compelling novel to date. It is a must-read for fans of Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. Best of all, this reader sees several potential story lines for future books in this series.

This latest Thomas Pitt mystery is definitely a page turner. From the glittering drawing rooms where politics is discussed and policies decided, to the country side of Dartmoor, Anne Perry weaves a tale that is compelling and absorbing. And while I was disappointed that Charlotte Pitt and Gracie (the Pitts enterprising maid) did not figure prominently in this installment, I liked that Emily Radley (Charlotte's younger sister) had a bigger role in this novel -- she has been somewhat sidelined in the last few books, and I missed her character dreadfully.

In the previous Pitt mystery novel, "The Whitechapel Conspiracy" Pitt defeated the Inner Circle's plan to replace the English monarchy with a republic. This feat earned him the enmity of Charles Voisey, who was to be England's first president. Now, Voisey is running for the south Lambeth seat in Parliament on the Tory ticket. Meanwhile Pitt, who instead of being able to return to his previous position at Bow Street, has been seconded to Special Branch -- a department within the police force that deals primarily with the terrorist threats of the Irish Separatists. Now, Pitt's brief is to keep an eye on Voisey, and to see if Voisey is doing anything underhanded to ensure that he wins the election. But from what little Pitt can see, Voisey seems to be doing nothing nefarious in order to sway the voters -- save being a rather charismatic speaker. And then Pitt's superior commands him to investigate the murder of the clairvoyant, Maude Lamont. Pitt discovers that Voisey's Liberal opponent for the Lambeth seat is Aubrey Serracold and that Serracold's flamboyant and outspoken wife, Rose, was one of Lamont's clients. There is the fear that either Rose had something to do with Lamont's murder, or that Voisey will use this bit of information to discredit Serracold. Pitt is determined to bring the murderer of Maude Lamont to justice, no matter who he or she is. But the question he fears is if his superiors at Special Branch will allow justice to be done, or if they too, like the Inner Circle, have their own agenda, and if they will do whatever necessary to break the Inner Circle, no matter the cost.

Against the backdrop of the political questions of the day -- Home Rule for the Irish, the fear that a disintegrating Empire could mean the fall of the British economy and the massive loss of jobs, and the demand for eight hour days -- the clash between the Tories and the Liberals; as well as the swirling human emotions of fear, ambition, grief and pain, Anne Perry has worked her magic again to produce a novel that is compelling as it is intriguing. (I really love the manner in which she makes all her characters real -- flawed yet tragically human. It's a no mean feat, and I've practically never really come acorss anyone else who can do this.) I didn't expect that the next Pitt mystery novel could top or equal "The Whitchapel Conspiracy." I was wrong: "Southampton Row" is a moer than brilliant follow up to "The Whitechapel Conspiracy."

I have read and enjoyed all of Anne Perry's books, but certainly not for the mystery plot - the solution is always contrived (here, the murderer left too much to chance, in "Cain His Brother" the main character would have had to be an acrobat and have the gift of teletransportation to have done what he was supposed to in the time he was supposed to have done it), and there are holes you can drive an hansom through. I think that's because Ms. Perry's main goal is putting across her views on the social and gender inequalities in English society in the Victorian age. I totally agree with her feminist and liberal views, so I go on reading her books, but she could really make a greater effort in consistency. Here, as in "Weighed in the Balance", the coincidence of having Hester Latterly working in a place where someone is connected to the main mystery is just too much. The main plot was quite sufficient to make her point - though I guessed what was Melville's real problem before I was a third of the way into the book - having the link between the plot and subplot was contrived and unnecessary. And I agree with the other readers who think the ending was much too abrupt. Also, it's very 1990's and American (yes, I know she comes from New Zealand, same difference) to have the characters call each other by their first names, specially a nurse in someone's employ does not call her employers by name or, talking to a child, refer to his parents by first name. Did Jane Austen ever let us know what Mr. and Mrs. Bennet's, or Mrs. Dashwood's, first names were? It bothers me in that it does not give the right formal atmosphere of social conversation of the time. I was glad to see that Ms. Perry seems to have outgrown her love of the verb "to obey" and all its form (obedience, obediently, etc.). She only uses it about ten times in this book - albeit sometimes inappropriately, as when Monk "obediently" follows a servant taking him in to see the master of the house - whereas I've counted up to 25 times in earlier books. A little thing, I agree, but very annoying to a reader (Americans don't use that word so much, do they?). Anyway - to sum it up, this was not the best of Anne Perry's efforts, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I do wish next time she develops the ending more - it's always so satisfying to confront the culprit - and pays more attention to consistency and verbal mores.

_A Breach of Promise_ is like a breath of fresh air in the William Monk series by Anne Perry. I have read all of her Victorian mysteries and had been rather disapponted by _The Silent Cry_, the immediately preceding book, thinking that perhaps Miss Perry had mined out her mid-Victorian setting and that we would not have any more excellent books such as the first book in the series, _The Face of a Stranger_. I was totally wrong. This book is fantastic. The premise of a breach of promise suit didn't seem to be all that interesting before I opened the book, but Perry captures the emotions and the fears and the lives of the characters wonderfully, including some secondary characters, a Lt. Gabriel Sheldon and his wife, Perdita, who have their own problems which play against the main plot in a masterful manner. I recommend this book to any of Perry's fans and say that you won't be disappointed.

Anne Perry has done it again! "A Breach of Promise" is the best yet in the William Monk/Hester Latterly/Oliver Rathbone series, and Perry succeeds brilliantly in portraying the fog-bound hypocrisy of Victorian England. The atmosphere of cold, foggy and drizzly Victorian London can be almost be felt and the attitudes and behaviour of the English aristocracy of the time are harshly, yet compassionately, portrayed. And if that is a contradiction in terms, read the book to find out why.

The plot itself is well thought-out although the denouement fell curiously flat, almost as though Perry ran out of stamina. And the relationship between William Monk and Hester Latterly is growing by leaps and bounds - I look forward to see how Perry will develop this theme in her subsequent books. I feel that Monk and Latterly are a more hard-edged couple than Perry's other creation of Thomas and Charlotte Pitt - although both William Monk and Thomas Pitt are examples of people from outside the charmed social circles who carry considerable loads of cynicism and angst.

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.

I've only started reading Anne Perry a couple months ago and started with the William Monks books as they seemed a little more recent and accessible. I've always been a lover of Victorian mysteries and this has to be one of the best I have ever read and one of the better books I have read period. Basically the book can be broken into thirds, first third is relatively interesting as it lays out the opening facts in the case, the second half gets extremely frustrating and to some degree boring and the last third will keep you up until 4AM in the morning like it did me because you can't put it down. I think the second third was done on purpose as I think Anne wanted us to be as frustrated as the characters were at the lack of progress in the case. You do start to suspect the motive but it unravels slowly and when it does, all I can say is "Oh my god!" The last third is riveting as you can't wait to see how it all plays out especially in light of Victorian social mores. Don't get me wrong, Anne Perry has a number of annoying quirks in her writing, she loves SAT words like prevaricate and equivocate and uses them every chance she gets, her use of third person omniscient gets a little out of hand and her characters are a little slow to deduce things that you know they should have 100 pages earlier. If you can get past these difficulties and some others, however, Anne Perry creates very strong characters and in this case, a riveting tale.

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!

I have been a fan of Anne Perry's Monk series since the start. During the first half of this novel I was impressed and felt this was the best in the series since the first two or three. Hester and Monk's relationship was better depicted in this book than in the last one, although at times their chemistry still seems a bit arbitrary. The battle scenes are compelling and gripping. I was fascinated by a British viewpoint of our Civil War. However, in too many of her recent works, the villain is predictable and obvious from the moment of introduction, primarily because she keeps using the same tired plot twist. As I read the second half of this novel, the "trial with Oliver taking on yet another impossible defense" half, I kept hoping that Perry would surprise me and I would be wrong about the villain. She didn't and I wasn't. As for the very end, Perry introduced us to the wonderful technology of mid 19th-century underwater diving, only to rush through it way too fast. The concluding paragraph is particularly hasty, as though Perry wrote it on her way to mail the manuscript to her publisher.

It's no wonder Anne Perry is a writer whose work I look for. Her main characters are so human, and so lovable. The way she incorporates history into the story, you can believe that the tale is an actual part of the true history. She is so talented and creative.

Slaves of Obsessions evolves with the guns needed for the Union and Confederate States of America to fight the Civil War. You will find a devoted family, the Albertons, in the center of it, complete with an idealist daughter passionate on the subject of slavery. There is a triple murder, the daughter disappears,and guns are stolen. Mrs. Alberton hires our heroes, William and Hester Monk, to find answers. The case takes them to the battlefields in America, the trial in England, with another hero, Oliver Rathbone, as the guy with the right questions. The story has Hester running for her husband's life, bringing the good guys to the rescue in the nick of time. And thank God, we do not want to be losing the Monks. There are more mysteries to solve.

Anne Perry is an exqusite writer. Her prose is beautiful and she evokes the era of Victorian England in a wonderful and believable way. In the latest book of this series William Monk and his bride Hester are invited to dinner at the home of Donald Alberton, an arms dealer. An unpleasant scene occurs when Lyman Breeland, a passionate supporter of the Union discovers that Alberton has already promised a shipment of guns to Philo Trace, a southerner. Alberton's daughter, Merrit, is in love with Breeland and she argues with him for her father to support the anti-slavery stand. Alberton claims that he has promised the guns to Trace and cannot back out of the deal, despite his personal feelings about the war in America. Breeland and Merrit flee and one of the main characters is brutally murdered. Breeland's watch is found near the murder scene, which puts the suspicion squarely on him. The rest of the book shifts to American Civil War battlefields and then to a courtroom in England. The identity of the murderer is elusive and is twisted with personal and political motives. As always, Perry provides a very good read.