The silent cry

Perry's latest once again stars the enigmatic and intriguing detective William Monk and feisty Hester Latterly, nurse-turned-sleuth and precursor of today's tough female P.I. Two separate and tragic cases engage the pair. Hester is nursing young Rhys Duff, who's been beaten and left for dead next to the body of his father in a London alley. The accident has left Rhys near death and unable to speak. Meanwhile, Monk is investigating a series of vicious rapes and beatings in the seedy St. Giles area. Monk and Hester soon realize that the two cases may be related. The police believe Rhys killed his father and that the two were part of a group of men involved in the brutal rapes and beatings. Although the evidence looks overwhelming, Hester is convinced of Rhys' innocence and insists that Monk help prove it. With his usual tenacity, he does just that, revealing the stunning truth in a dramatic courtroom scene. Perry piques the reader's interest with a suspenseful plot filled with quirky twists and uses strong, larger-than-life characters and authentically detailed descriptions of Victorian London to give her story impact and intensity. An outstanding entry in a fine series. (Reviewed July 1997)0449908488Emily Melton

Although lacking the panache of last year's Weighted in the Balance, William Monk's eighth outing adds to Perry's convincing yet disturbing picture of early Victorian London. Hired to find men whose evening entertainment runs to raping and beating prostitutes in the slum of St. Giles, Monk soon brushes up against murder: Leighton Duff, a respectable solicitor, was found beaten to death in St. Giles, with his son, Rhys Duff, nearby, barely alive. Despite his receiving excellent care from Hester Latterly, the nurse with whom Monk shares a volatile relationship, physical and emotional injuries have reduced Rhys to virtual silence: he can't speak and his hands are broken. Inquiries conducted by Monk and by the police suggest that Rhys was in the right place to beat the women (which interests police not at all) and murder Leighton (which interests them greatly). But, as in other Perry mysteries, it takes more than one perspective to reveal the truth, and Latterly maintains that Rhys, despite his displays of inarticulate rage, is innocent. When Latterly recruits barrister Sir Oliver Rathbone to Rhys's cause, and Sir Oliver naturally hires Monk to gather evidence, the investigator must question what he thinks he knows. Although the young man's silence and the suspicions surrounding him are ultimately resolved and tied neatly into the plot, readers may feel they are bearing the weight of this contrivance like so much overpacked luggage. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Prolific murder-mystery writer Perry has evaded the scientific precision of modern forensic fact-finding by weaving current-day issues and characters into a richly detailed Victorian-era milieu. One man is found murdered and another on the edge of death in the notorious London slum called St. Giles. Although it looks as if they may have engaged in a mortal fight, they are in fact father and son from a well-to-do family. Later, links develop between these men and a series of violent rapes of prostitutes. Hester Latterly, nurse and protector of the surviving son, Rhys, counterbalances detective William Monk in their mutual pursuit of the truth. By the novel's end, revelations of corruption and depravity break through the severe conventions of upper-class Victorian prudery in a dramatic courtroom scene. Perry followers and others will enjoy this new addition. Highly recommended.‘Michelle Foyt, Fairfield P.L., Ct. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

It's a long way from sheltered Ebury Street to the disreputable neighborhood of St. Giles, but solicitor Leighton Duff and his son Rhys must have had their reasons for making the journey--though those reasons may never be known, since Duff has been beaten to death in Water Lane, and Rhys, beaten nearly to death himself, can't gesture or speak. What brought the two men to St. Giles? Who beat them so savagely? And what do they have to do with a series of equally brutal rapes of neighborhood factory women moonlighting as prostitutes? Having posed these tantalizing questions and having set Crimean veteran Hester Latterly to nursing Rhys and inquiry agent William Monk on the trail of the rapists, Perry switches gears to mellifluous outrage, railing inertly against the hypocrisies of Victorian gentlemen who insist on proper wives while taking their pleasures wherever they find them, and fuming about the impossibility of winning a prosecution for rape. When the rapes and murder converge with Monk's mounting evidence--evidence indicating that Rhys was one of the rapists and that he killed the father who was trying to stop him--the stage is set for one of Perry's uniquely unconvincing trial scenes. But Hester manages to spring a climactic surprise as stunning as it is unlikely. As overblown as any of Perry's recent historical forays (Weighed in the Balance, 1996, etc.), but fueled by the painful intensity of Rhys Duff's silent cry.

Perry's latest once again stars the enigmatic and intriguing detective William Monk and feisty Hester Latterly, nurse-turned-sleuth and precursor of today's tough female P.I. Two separate and tragic cases engage the pair. Hester is nursing young Rhys Duff, who's been beaten and left for dead next to the body of his father in a London alley. The accident has left Rhys near death and unable to speak. Meanwhile, Monk is investigating a series of vicious rapes and beatings in the seedy St. Giles area. Monk and Hester soon realize that the two cases may be related. The police believe Rhys killed his father and that the two were part of a group of men involved in the brutal rapes and beatings. Although the evidence looks overwhelming, Hester is convinced of Rhys' innocence and insists that Monk help prove it. With his usual tenacity, he does just that, revealing the stunning truth in a dramatic courtroom scene. Perry piques the reader's interest with a suspenseful plot filled with quirky twists and uses strong, larger-than-life characters and authentically detailed descriptions of Victorian London to give her story impact and intensity. An outstanding entry in a fine series. ((Reviewed July 1997)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews

Prolific murder-mystery writer Perry has evaded the scientific precision of modern forensic fact-finding by weaving current-day issues and characters into a richly detailed Victorian-era milieu. One man is found murdered and another on the edge of death in the notorious London slum called St. Giles. Although it looks as if they may have engaged in a mortal fight, they are in fact father and son from a well-to-do family. Later, links develop between these men and a series of violent rapes of prostitutes. Hester Latterly, nurse and protector of the surviving son, Rhys, counterbalances detective William Monk in their mutual pursuit of the truth. By the novel's end, revelations of corruption and depravity break through the severe conventions of upper-class Victorian prudery in a dramatic courtroom scene. Perry followers and others will enjoy this new addition. Highly recommended. Michelle Foyt, Fairfield P.L., Ct. Copyright 1998 Library Journal Reviews

Although lacking the panache of last year's Weighted in the Balance, William Monk's eighth outing adds to Perry's convincing yet disturbing picture of early Victorian London. Hired to find men whose evening entertainment runs to raping and beating prostitutes in the slum of St. Giles, Monk soon brushes up against murder: Leighton Duff, a respectable solicitor, was found beaten to death in St. Giles, with his son, Rhys Duff, nearby, barely alive. Despite his receiving excellent care from Hester Latterly, the nurse with whom Monk shares a volatile relationship, physical and emotional injuries have reduced Rhys to virtual silence: he can't speak and his hands are broken. Inquiries conducted by Monk and by the police suggest that Rhys was in the right place to beat the women (which interests police not at all) and murder Leighton (which interests them greatly). But, as in other Perry mysteries, it takes more than one perspective to reveal the truth, and Latterly maintains that Rhys, despite his displays of inarticulate rage, is innocent. When Latterly recruits barrister Sir Oliver Rathbone to Rhys's cause, and Sir Oliver naturally hires Monk to gather evidence, the investigator must question what he thinks he knows. Although the young man's silence and the suspicions surrounding him are ultimately resolved and tied neatly into the plot, readers may feel they are bearing the weight of this contrivance like so much overpacked luggage. (Oct.) Copyright 1998 Publishers Weekly Reviews