Reviews

Acceptable Loss by Anne Perry

dina_b's review against another edition

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3.0

Eu sou fã dos livros de Anne Perry, principalmente a serie William Monk e tenho-o seguido desde o principio. Gostei de rever Monk e Hester, como reencontrar amigos de longa data. Nesta historia negra de pornografia infantil na era vitoriana, tive uma certa dificuldade com o enredo, achei que havia muita repetição, com muitas personagens a duvidarem-se constantamente, a confissão do culpado no final foi feito de uma maneira brusca depois de tudo o que se passou em tribunal. Mas gostei de acompanhar Monk e Hester agora com o Scuff a viver com eles, parece que a pequena familia se compõe. Acho que a relação de Oliver com a sua esposa foi o principal enredo nesta historia, não foi a intriga do caso, nem Monk/Hester, mas sim Oliver e Margaret, que neste livro tornou-se uma miuda petulante e mimada, sem discernimento, sem coração e má, fiquei desiludida e irritada com ela que só me apetecia dar-lhe duas bofetadas para ver se acordava, tive muita pena de Oliver que teve um duro acordar em relação a esposa. Isto fez com que fossse mais gritante aos seus olhos e aos nossos a diferença entre Hester e Margaret. Vou ver o que o futuro reserva para Oliver.

elodiethefangirl's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

aoosterwyk's review against another edition

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3.0

My first of this series. May try another.

retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition

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5.0

This closely follows Execution Dock, the preceding book in the William Monk series. I am so glad that I read Execution Dock when Acceptable Loss was already available to read immediately, because it really finishes the main story of the other books. In this one we find out that Oliver Rathbone's father-in-law murdered Mickey Parfitt to maintain the secrecy of his ownership of Parfitt's despicable business and his use of blackmail to maintain his power over men he blackmails. Monk and Hester work tirelessly to prove it. Rathbone is defending him, but eventually can't save him from the truth. Rathbone's wife sides with her father and leaves Oliver. The friendship is mended, but the marriage looks destroyed.

bak8382's review against another edition

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4.0

Coming on the heels of his last case, [b:Execution Dock: A Novel|3655727|Execution Dock A Novel (William Monk, #16)|Anne Perry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266797132s/3655727.jpg|3698925], William Monk finds himself investigating the death of the unsavory Mickey Parfitt, who was murdered with an expensive cravat. Parfitt ran a boat of unspeakable horrors, and Monk hopes that finding Parfitt's killer will lead to the mastermind and financier of the boat. This case hits close to home for both Monk and his friend Oliver Rathbone, and the reverberations will be felt long after the case is closed.

It's definitely important to read [b:Execution Dock: A Novel|3655727|Execution Dock A Novel (William Monk, #16)|Anne Perry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266797132s/3655727.jpg|3698925] prior to this novel, as it continues unresolved story lines. The personal lives of all the primary characters are greatly affected in this one, and it will be really interesting to see where Perry goes from here.

judyward's review against another edition

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3.0

I don't know how this happened, but I read the eighteenth book in the William and Hester Monk series before reading this one. As a result, I pretty much knew where the plot was heading for the entire book. Still it was an interesting journey. William Monk, Commander of the River Police in London during the Victorian era, is desperate to put an end to the sexual abuse of boys as young as 5 years old and the blackmail that goes alone with it. Especially since it appears that the powers that control this horrible practice are from the upper class. This book is a continuation of the earlier book "Execution Dock" and I urge readers to read Anne Perry's book in order.

okenwillow's review against another edition

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5.0

http://www.myinnershelf.com/livres/feuille-de-route-15

we_are_all_mad_here26's review against another edition

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4.0

I have now faced the truth: I love this series. And it seems I will forgive almost anything in it, including (in this case) whole paragraphs of nothing but internal question after internal question, and a rather unlikely ending. It doesn't matter. I loved it.

(No aquiline noses anymore though, or at least, very few. That is a definite plus.)

lian_tanner's review against another edition

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3.0

Like all of the William Monk books, this was gripping from start to finish (except for the repetitious mental torment scenes that have always been the downside of Perry's novels for me). Perry writes atmosphere so well, the crimes are hideous, and Monk and Hester continue to be some of my favourite characters.

But the book had its failings - and one of them in particular was serious. The last case Monk took to court ('Execution Dock') was lost because he didn't prepare the evidence adequately, and defense lawyer Rathbone tore it to shreds. So there were constant musings in this book that the evidence against the man Monk was pursuing MUST be watertight. But then Monk went to court with a very shaky case - one that was almost thrown out. There was no attempt to compare the handwriting on the crucial note with the handwriting of the accused - it was merely stated that he 'must' have written the note. There was no attempt to trace the note after it left the hospital - it seemed to be enough to know who had taken it. No one even thought of looking for 'Jackie', who was named in the note. The whole thing was so circumstantial that I'm surprised the prosecutor agreed to take the case.

I'll still read the next Monk/Hester novel. But while I used to utterly love Perry's books, these days I find myself more critical.

demottar's review against another edition

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3.0

Perry needs to stop with the cliffhanger endings and explore new themes in her next book. This wasn't one of my favorites, because it felt like a half-baked continuation of Execution Dock which was fairly good, but still too drawn out. Despite reading 300+ pages, I'm still unclear about who
Spoilerkilled Arthur Ballinger, who led Hattie Bensen from her safe house, and whether or not the sex trafficking ship is officially gone.


Many reviewers seemed to enjoy the second half of this book more, but I thought the courtroom scene was preposterous (there were almost no facts testified to!) and I always enjoy watching Monk and Hester go through the motions of detecting.

Acceptable Loss showed us a new side to Margaret, though Oliver appears much the same, always running to Henry's house in Primrose to talk over his confounding legal cases. The book would not have suffered if almost all of the internal agonizing dialogue had been cutout.

I don't see how Margaret can come back from that last conversation with Hester, though! How exciting.