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vesper1931's review against another edition
4.0
1883 and two gardeners are digging up the beds in Callander Square and discover two bodies of new born babies. Inspector Pitt is called in to investigate. Meanwhile Lady Ashworth persuades her sister Charlotte, wife to Pitt to help in the investigation. Secrets are everywhere in the Square but who are guilty.
An enjoyable Victorian mystery story with likeable characters.
An enjoyable Victorian mystery story with likeable characters.
takethyme's review against another edition
4.0
I ‘met’ the tall Charlotte Ellison who lacked a filter on her mouth, her beautiful but conniving sister Emily, the secretive Lord William Ashworth and Inspector Thomas Pitt when I read [b:The Cater Street Hangman|853180|The Cater Street Hangman (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt, #1)|Anne Perry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1388194745s/853180.jpg|1809461]. The mystery was good and I enjoyed Thomas’s character. He was a working man’s son who was educated side by side with a nobleman’s heir. His wisdom and speech did not match his disheveled clothes or wild hair. He wasn’t handsome but he fell in love with Charlotte. And he solved the case.
The young couple were now into their second year of marriage, Charlotte was in the early stages of her first pregnancy and Thomas still couldn’t believe she gave up everything to marry a poorly-paid police officer. Mrs. Pitt has mellowed slightly and matured. She does her best to think before she speaks. And she is still learning to cook. And clean. And surrender to her husband’s better judgment but only when necessary.
This historical mystery took a dark subject- the death of two babies- and twisted it behind the doors of the upper elite of Callander Square. Guilt chooses no friends. We are reminded more than once of Upstairs meets Downstairs. And loyalty, the games of marriage and unhappiness with your lifelong partner.
Emily is now Lady Ashworth and conveniently involves herself in solving the mystery. Charlotte develops an odd friendship of sorts. Lord Ashworth was mentioned but I still knew little of his character. And Thomas was still Thomas, doing his very best to solve the mystery.
*I just wish there was a better groove between them. More conversations. Interactions. Looks. I think this is a minor weak spot that needs work on.*
The suspense was very good. I thought more than once of Victoria Thompson’s earlier Gaslight mysteries while reading the book. I was happy it didn’t dwell on the little ones; Ms. Perry put more weight on the rich, their expectations and their dirty little secrets. Well done!
The young couple were now into their second year of marriage, Charlotte was in the early stages of her first pregnancy and Thomas still couldn’t believe she gave up everything to marry a poorly-paid police officer. Mrs. Pitt has mellowed slightly and matured. She does her best to think before she speaks. And she is still learning to cook. And clean. And surrender to her husband’s better judgment but only when necessary.
This historical mystery took a dark subject- the death of two babies- and twisted it behind the doors of the upper elite of Callander Square. Guilt chooses no friends. We are reminded more than once of Upstairs meets Downstairs. And loyalty, the games of marriage and unhappiness with your lifelong partner.
Emily is now Lady Ashworth and conveniently involves herself in solving the mystery. Charlotte develops an odd friendship of sorts. Lord Ashworth was mentioned but I still knew little of his character. And Thomas was still Thomas, doing his very best to solve the mystery.
*I just wish there was a better groove between them. More conversations. Interactions. Looks. I think this is a minor weak spot that needs work on.*
The suspense was very good. I thought more than once of Victoria Thompson’s earlier Gaslight mysteries while reading the book. I was happy it didn’t dwell on the little ones; Ms. Perry put more weight on the rich, their expectations and their dirty little secrets. Well done!
ellenw's review against another edition
4.0
Exceeded my expectations! I will read more of this series, and probably soon. Probably right now, in fact.
I think I'd recommend this (with luck, these) to Sayers fans: the characters aren't as good, but they're good, and the mystery is better. (Which I guess is unspurprising in a book by a convicted murderer?)
I think I'd recommend this (with luck, these) to Sayers fans: the characters aren't as good, but they're good, and the mystery is better. (Which I guess is unspurprising in a book by a convicted murderer?)
emeriereads's review against another edition
3.0
This reminded me a bit of an agatha christie novel, but more complex. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.
saemiligr's review against another edition
4.0
Not one of her better works, although still Very good. I'm chalking it up to it being one of the earlier novels. Still can't wait to read more about Charlotte and Inspector Pitt
smcleish's review against another edition
3.0
Originally published on my blog here in January 1999.
Like [b:The Cater Street Hangman|853180|The Cater Street Hangman|Anne Perry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320428496s/853180.jpg|1809461], the first of Anne Perry's Inspector Pitt novels, Callander Square is a tale of the worst of Victorian society's vice and hypocrisy. Other than Charlotte, Pitt's wife, there is scarcely a member of the upper classes without a disreputable secret; Perry's is surely an exaggerated version of Victorian London. (By their very nature, it is impossible to accurately know how many people have disreputable secrets.) Some fairly typical Victorian vices, such as child prostitution, are either still considered too unpleasant to talk about by Perry, or they just haven't yet proved relevant to one of her plots.
The plot concerns the police investigation into the bodies of two babies, discovered in the wealthy neighbourhood of Callander Square when some work is being done in the gardens. They are thought to be the results of a servant girl's indiscretions, so everyone in the square expects the investigation purely to be a formality. Inspector Pitt is in charge of the case, and when Charlotte discovers what he is investigating, her sympathy both for the babies and their mother leads her to take a hand. She encourages her fashionable sister Emily to start visiting in the Square to find out from gossip what's going on, and even manages to get herself a job as secretary to General Ballantyne, who lives in the Square and is writing a history of his family's involvement in the army since the days of Marlborough. Before long, the disreputable secrets of those who dwell in the Square begin to come out, and it becomes clear that there's more to the mystery than first appeared.
It's clear that Anne Perry has found a successful formula in The Cater Street Hangman, and that she has stuck to it in Callander Square. The portrayal of upper-class Victorian society as totally hypocritical may be exaggerated, but it provides many opportunities for a detective writer, through the existence of lots of disreputable secrets which the reader has to work out whether they are connected to the matter under investigation or not.
Like [b:The Cater Street Hangman|853180|The Cater Street Hangman|Anne Perry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320428496s/853180.jpg|1809461], the first of Anne Perry's Inspector Pitt novels, Callander Square is a tale of the worst of Victorian society's vice and hypocrisy. Other than Charlotte, Pitt's wife, there is scarcely a member of the upper classes without a disreputable secret; Perry's is surely an exaggerated version of Victorian London. (By their very nature, it is impossible to accurately know how many people have disreputable secrets.) Some fairly typical Victorian vices, such as child prostitution, are either still considered too unpleasant to talk about by Perry, or they just haven't yet proved relevant to one of her plots.
The plot concerns the police investigation into the bodies of two babies, discovered in the wealthy neighbourhood of Callander Square when some work is being done in the gardens. They are thought to be the results of a servant girl's indiscretions, so everyone in the square expects the investigation purely to be a formality. Inspector Pitt is in charge of the case, and when Charlotte discovers what he is investigating, her sympathy both for the babies and their mother leads her to take a hand. She encourages her fashionable sister Emily to start visiting in the Square to find out from gossip what's going on, and even manages to get herself a job as secretary to General Ballantyne, who lives in the Square and is writing a history of his family's involvement in the army since the days of Marlborough. Before long, the disreputable secrets of those who dwell in the Square begin to come out, and it becomes clear that there's more to the mystery than first appeared.
It's clear that Anne Perry has found a successful formula in The Cater Street Hangman, and that she has stuck to it in Callander Square. The portrayal of upper-class Victorian society as totally hypocritical may be exaggerated, but it provides many opportunities for a detective writer, through the existence of lots of disreputable secrets which the reader has to work out whether they are connected to the matter under investigation or not.
mbp's review against another edition
4.0
http://therapaciousreader.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-callander-square-by-anne-perry.html
raehink's review against another edition
4.0
William and Charlotte attempt to solve the murder of two newborns in this Victorian-era mystery. Perry is the bomb!