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A review by eawsmom
An Echo of Murder by Anne Perry
4.0
William Monk is called to the scene of a gruesome murder of a Hungarian immigrant in the office of a warehouse on the river. Despite the best efforts of his men, no suspects are identified, and within a short time a second, equally gruesome, murder occurs, then a third, and a fourth. All are identical and yet there seems to be no connection between the four men and everyone who is suspected appears to be in the clear.
In the meantime, Scuff is pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor by studying with Crow. One of their patients is a Hungarian who speaks no English, and Scuff sets out to find Herbert Fitzherbert, an English doctor living in the area who is rumored to speak Hungarian. The doctor turns out to be an old friend of Hester Monk's with whom she served in the Crimean War. He also turns out to be suffering from nightmares during which he appears to be back in the war; when he wakes up, he has no idea where he is and it takes him several minutes to regain his faculties. When the doctor is found covered in blood twice, the Hungarians in the neighborhood rise up and threaten to become a lynch mob. The doctor is saved only through being arrested by Monk--and then he is put on trial for the murders. Working with Oliver Rathbone, the Monks finally discover the truth behind the murders and Dr. Fitzherbert is set free.
This was an interesting entry, as usual, and brought further insight into Hester's life in the war as well as what happened within her family during and just after. One positive aspect of the story is that Hester is reunited with her brother Charles, and I hope this will be given more attention in future books. Scuff is also shown in a more mature light, which is good. However, I was a bit disappointed with the ending, which seemed very abrupt and did not deal with an issue raised by the solution to the first murder, and leaves the question of whether or not a murderer went free.
Overall this was a good book and I would recommend it to those who like historical mysteries.
I received this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program in exchange for a fair and honest review of the book.
In the meantime, Scuff is pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor by studying with Crow. One of their patients is a Hungarian who speaks no English, and Scuff sets out to find Herbert Fitzherbert, an English doctor living in the area who is rumored to speak Hungarian. The doctor turns out to be an old friend of Hester Monk's with whom she served in the Crimean War. He also turns out to be suffering from nightmares during which he appears to be back in the war; when he wakes up, he has no idea where he is and it takes him several minutes to regain his faculties. When the doctor is found covered in blood twice, the Hungarians in the neighborhood rise up and threaten to become a lynch mob. The doctor is saved only through being arrested by Monk--and then he is put on trial for the murders. Working with Oliver Rathbone, the Monks finally discover the truth behind the murders and Dr. Fitzherbert is set free.
This was an interesting entry, as usual, and brought further insight into Hester's life in the war as well as what happened within her family during and just after. One positive aspect of the story is that Hester is reunited with her brother Charles, and I hope this will be given more attention in future books. Scuff is also shown in a more mature light, which is good. However, I was a bit disappointed with the ending, which seemed very abrupt and did not deal with an issue raised by the solution to the first murder, and leaves the question of whether or not a murderer went free.
Overall this was a good book and I would recommend it to those who like historical mysteries.
I received this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program in exchange for a fair and honest review of the book.