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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Well done! It was good to see Pitt settling into his role as head of Special Branch. I enjoyed this installment in the series much more than the last 2
This is the 27th book in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series. While there is a mystery involved--why would anyone want to kill an obscure member of the Austrian royal family or is the threat a red herring--the heart of this book is an examination of the class system in Victorian England and how difficult it was to overcome class prejudices. Thomas Pitt, the son of a gameskeeper, was successful as a poice detective and in excelled in solving cases in the Special Branch. Now, however, he has been promoted to the head of the Special Branch, a position to has always been held by a "gentleman", and many people blieve that he is incapable of performing the job. Thomas, himself, worries about his ability to be successful, in large part, because of the way in which he is marginalized and dismissed by many high-ranking officials in Her Majesty's government. An interesting departure for this series.
Sadly, I am rapidly losing interest in the Pitts as protagonists. This book was boring.
Anne Perry is one of my favorites. As the 27 in the Pitt murder mystery series, Perry has moved the plot into a political area. I greatly enjoy the history of politics in England and Europe, especially Austria.
This is another Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novel I read as an audiobook. So far, I have only had Devina Porter do the narrations, but this time it was Michael Page. It was difficult to adjust at first, but he made the book more serious and gravelly which was a nice addition to this story.
The story intertwines with the adjustments happening in the lives of the Pitts, the Radleys, and Victor Narroway. Victory Narroway is a character I had not run into so far (I’ve been reading the books out of order), but he is a very interesting and complex character. The premise of the story is the attempt to thwart the assassination of a visiting dignitary and easing the fears of an elderly spy who is terrified of revealing secrets that are better left silent. You meet an strong set of characters that are very well developed – I particularly like how Adrianna Blantyre was portrayed. I am not sure why, but I particularly liked her. Lady Vespasia makes a strong appearance in this book as well, which always makes the story more intriguing – she is such a strong and unique character. However, she does not play as much of a flashy role as she sometimes does. She is a very important influence in this book, just much subtler than usual. Also, Charlotte is not as much a part of the story line as I would like. I love her character, but she did not play as much of role as she usually does. She is, however, woven in and out of the story beautifully and I hope that she regains her strong partner position one Pitt settles into his new role.
Anne Perry again does a fantastic job of creating a complex, changing, and surprising story line where twists and turns abound. This is so far the most political book that I have read so far, but this is understandable as it is the first book in which Thomas Pitt takes over as head of Special Branch. The story was political in that it focused on political motives of the vast majority of characters. I am not very strong in unwinding politics or seeing how all of the strings connect, but the author does a fantastic job of not losing you without giving too much away. What I was most impressed by was the emotional impact of the book. So far it is the most emotionally wrenching and pulling that I have seen so far in her work. You feel so much for Thomas and the other members of the story. From the fear, passion, arrogance, insecurity, moral dilemmas, and avarice, you are pulled in every direction by the characters and their desires. The end was as good as the turmoil within the rest of the book. Again, there are aspects of the book that I wish will be concluded in later books, but I can not go into those aspects without spoiling some of the best twists in the book! It is definitely worth the read. Just be prepared to really think and puzzle out events if you are trying to guess the murders before Pitt!
https://bookmouseblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/dorchester-terrace-charlotte-and-thomas-pitt-27-by-anne-perry/
The story intertwines with the adjustments happening in the lives of the Pitts, the Radleys, and Victor Narroway. Victory Narroway is a character I had not run into so far (I’ve been reading the books out of order), but he is a very interesting and complex character. The premise of the story is the attempt to thwart the assassination of a visiting dignitary and easing the fears of an elderly spy who is terrified of revealing secrets that are better left silent. You meet an strong set of characters that are very well developed – I particularly like how Adrianna Blantyre was portrayed. I am not sure why, but I particularly liked her. Lady Vespasia makes a strong appearance in this book as well, which always makes the story more intriguing – she is such a strong and unique character. However, she does not play as much of a flashy role as she sometimes does. She is a very important influence in this book, just much subtler than usual. Also, Charlotte is not as much a part of the story line as I would like. I love her character, but she did not play as much of role as she usually does. She is, however, woven in and out of the story beautifully and I hope that she regains her strong partner position one Pitt settles into his new role.
Anne Perry again does a fantastic job of creating a complex, changing, and surprising story line where twists and turns abound. This is so far the most political book that I have read so far, but this is understandable as it is the first book in which Thomas Pitt takes over as head of Special Branch. The story was political in that it focused on political motives of the vast majority of characters. I am not very strong in unwinding politics or seeing how all of the strings connect, but the author does a fantastic job of not losing you without giving too much away. What I was most impressed by was the emotional impact of the book. So far it is the most emotionally wrenching and pulling that I have seen so far in her work. You feel so much for Thomas and the other members of the story. From the fear, passion, arrogance, insecurity, moral dilemmas, and avarice, you are pulled in every direction by the characters and their desires. The end was as good as the turmoil within the rest of the book. Again, there are aspects of the book that I wish will be concluded in later books, but I can not go into those aspects without spoiling some of the best twists in the book! It is definitely worth the read. Just be prepared to really think and puzzle out events if you are trying to guess the murders before Pitt!
https://bookmouseblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/dorchester-terrace-charlotte-and-thomas-pitt-27-by-anne-perry/
Too much blah, blah, blah, and a boring mystery besides. I think I'm done with this series. The word "horror" was used about 100 times in the book.
Despite being the 27th novel in this series, Anne Perry doesn't disappoint. What I like about her two major series that I've read - the Pitt series (of which this is one) and the Monk series - is that there is very little sentimentality about the eras, romance, while there, does not overtake the plot and characters are never one dimensional.
I don't read every single new book, so I missed the last one which links to this one. However, it wasn't necessary to know what happened in the previous book. In this novel, Thomas Pitt is no longer a policeman. He has been elevated to head of "Special Branch," an organization that monitors issues of national security. He is still wrestling with concerns about how he will fill the shoes of his predecessor. He is the first head who was not from an upper class background.
When a minor Austrian Duke is scheduled to visit London. Soon it becomes more and more apparent that there is a plot to kill the Duke. But why? He is a minor figure, is not in the line of succession to the Emperor Franz Josef, and has a reputation for being interested in science and philosophy.
In the meantime, a 70+ yr old Italian woman living in London is descending into dementia and is terrified that she might say something that would endanger others. To her niece who takes care of her she seems like someone babbling about things that never happened. However, many others know that she was a firebrand revolutionary in the 1840's, trying to free parts of Italy from the grip of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
I know next to nothing of this period, but I have to say it whet my appetite to learn more. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was meaty and has a lot of history crammed into the pages. Plus, the ending is a dynamo!
I don't read every single new book, so I missed the last one which links to this one. However, it wasn't necessary to know what happened in the previous book. In this novel, Thomas Pitt is no longer a policeman. He has been elevated to head of "Special Branch," an organization that monitors issues of national security. He is still wrestling with concerns about how he will fill the shoes of his predecessor. He is the first head who was not from an upper class background.
When a minor Austrian Duke is scheduled to visit London. Soon it becomes more and more apparent that there is a plot to kill the Duke. But why? He is a minor figure, is not in the line of succession to the Emperor Franz Josef, and has a reputation for being interested in science and philosophy.
In the meantime, a 70+ yr old Italian woman living in London is descending into dementia and is terrified that she might say something that would endanger others. To her niece who takes care of her she seems like someone babbling about things that never happened. However, many others know that she was a firebrand revolutionary in the 1840's, trying to free parts of Italy from the grip of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
I know next to nothing of this period, but I have to say it whet my appetite to learn more. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was meaty and has a lot of history crammed into the pages. Plus, the ending is a dynamo!
It has been a number of years since I've read Anne Perry and I am so glad I did. With Thomas Pitt head of Special Branch it has brought new dimension to all the characters and the story.
I have been reading Anne Perry's Victorian mysteries for so long that there is little mystery left to her stories for me. In this latest Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery, I had surmised by about a hundred pages in who the villain(s) of the piece were going to be. I read the rest of the book in light of my theory, which did, in fact, turn out to be right.
Figuring out the puzzle early on did not necessarily lessen the pleasure of the read. Actually, there is a certain satisfaction in feeling smarter than the "detectives" and I probably smirked all the way through the last third of the book as Pitt finally caught up to me and began to figure things out.
This book features most of the characters readers have come to know so well in the previous 26 books in the series. We have the elegant Aunt Vespasia whose society connections always play a role in the solution of the Pitt mysteries. We have the sister Emily and her husband Jack Radley, now a minor official in the Foreign Office. And we have Victor Narraway, former head of the Special Branch which Pitt now heads. Narraway is an ally and former mentor of Pitt and an admirer of Pitt's wife Charlotte.
The story, briefly, is this. Pitt receives information that anarchists may be planning to assassinate an Austrian duke who is soon to travel to England. He must evaluate the information and formulate plans to ensure that the assassination does not take place. Inexplicably, his superior, Lord Tregarron, does not seem to take the threat to the duke seriously, and Pitt finds he must go around Tregarron and find other resources in the effort to protect the duke. Fortunately, he has Narraway and Vespasia. And Charlotte, of course.
Meanwhile, an old woman lies dying in her house at Dorchester Terrace. Serafina Montserrat was once a formidable force in the revolutions of 1848. She had cast her lot with the Croatians who were attempting to extricate themselves from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her lover, a leader of that struggle, was betrayed by someone close to him and was executed after being tortured by government forces. His execution was witnessed by his eight-year-old daughter Adriana who was subsequently rescued by Serafina and handed over safely to the care of her grandparents. Now, as she is dying, Serafina is terrified that, as her mind wanders, she may reveal secrets which could prove detrimental to relations between England and the Balkan states.
Serafina dies, but her former colleague Vespasia suspects it is not a natural death. An autopsy reveals her suspicions are accurate. The old woman was murdered with an overdose of laudanum. Then a second woman, that same Adriana,now wife of a Foreign Office official and a Croatian immigrant, also dies of a laudanum overdose. Suicide or murder? And do the two deaths have any connection to the supposed plot against the duke? William Pitt must sort it all out and save the day - with a little help from his friends.
I don't really read Perry for plot or for mystery any more. I read her mostly because of long-time familiarity with and affection for her characters and for her descriptions. Her descriptions of the fashionable dress of the day, the interior decorations of the period, and the social mores of the time are worth the price of the books to me. Her books are always well-researched and do an excellent job of making one feel that one is "there," observing the action.
In this entry, one of the characters goes on a long rant about the importance of Austria and the Balkans as the linchpin that holds Europe together. He speaks with remarkable prescience about what will happen if governments fall and Germany and Russia are pulled into the vortex of the resulting conflicts. Of course, Perry is writing these "prescient" words with a hundred years' hindsight of a century of war. It doesn't make them any less chilling or less interesting.
Figuring out the puzzle early on did not necessarily lessen the pleasure of the read. Actually, there is a certain satisfaction in feeling smarter than the "detectives" and I probably smirked all the way through the last third of the book as Pitt finally caught up to me and began to figure things out.
This book features most of the characters readers have come to know so well in the previous 26 books in the series. We have the elegant Aunt Vespasia whose society connections always play a role in the solution of the Pitt mysteries. We have the sister Emily and her husband Jack Radley, now a minor official in the Foreign Office. And we have Victor Narraway, former head of the Special Branch which Pitt now heads. Narraway is an ally and former mentor of Pitt and an admirer of Pitt's wife Charlotte.
The story, briefly, is this. Pitt receives information that anarchists may be planning to assassinate an Austrian duke who is soon to travel to England. He must evaluate the information and formulate plans to ensure that the assassination does not take place. Inexplicably, his superior, Lord Tregarron, does not seem to take the threat to the duke seriously, and Pitt finds he must go around Tregarron and find other resources in the effort to protect the duke. Fortunately, he has Narraway and Vespasia. And Charlotte, of course.
Meanwhile, an old woman lies dying in her house at Dorchester Terrace. Serafina Montserrat was once a formidable force in the revolutions of 1848. She had cast her lot with the Croatians who were attempting to extricate themselves from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her lover, a leader of that struggle, was betrayed by someone close to him and was executed after being tortured by government forces. His execution was witnessed by his eight-year-old daughter Adriana who was subsequently rescued by Serafina and handed over safely to the care of her grandparents. Now, as she is dying, Serafina is terrified that, as her mind wanders, she may reveal secrets which could prove detrimental to relations between England and the Balkan states.
Serafina dies, but her former colleague Vespasia suspects it is not a natural death. An autopsy reveals her suspicions are accurate. The old woman was murdered with an overdose of laudanum. Then a second woman, that same Adriana,now wife of a Foreign Office official and a Croatian immigrant, also dies of a laudanum overdose. Suicide or murder? And do the two deaths have any connection to the supposed plot against the duke? William Pitt must sort it all out and save the day - with a little help from his friends.
I don't really read Perry for plot or for mystery any more. I read her mostly because of long-time familiarity with and affection for her characters and for her descriptions. Her descriptions of the fashionable dress of the day, the interior decorations of the period, and the social mores of the time are worth the price of the books to me. Her books are always well-researched and do an excellent job of making one feel that one is "there," observing the action.
In this entry, one of the characters goes on a long rant about the importance of Austria and the Balkans as the linchpin that holds Europe together. He speaks with remarkable prescience about what will happen if governments fall and Germany and Russia are pulled into the vortex of the resulting conflicts. Of course, Perry is writing these "prescient" words with a hundred years' hindsight of a century of war. It doesn't make them any less chilling or less interesting.