The Sins of the Wolf
(Libby/OverDrive eAudiobook)

Perry's superb historical crime stories have garnered rave reviews and critical acclaim. Her latest, featuring English detective William Monk and nurse Hester Latterly, will no doubt catapult Perry once again onto the best-seller lists. (Sales aren't likely to be hurt by recent revelations that Perry herself committed murder as a teenager and served five years in an Australian prison.) Set in Victorian London, the story has Hester facing murder charges when her patient, elderly Scotswoman Mary Farraline, dies of a digitalis overdose. Unless Monk and attorney Oliver Rathbone can discover the identity of the real killer, Hester will stand trial and likely hang. Convinced the murderer is a member of Mary's wealthy and socially prominent Edinburgh family, Monk and Rathbone travel to Scotland, where they search for skeletons in the Farraline closet. Perry's rich prose and splendidly authentic renderings of the dress, manners, dialogue, and customs of mid-nineteenth century London, combined with a mesmerizing courtroom drama, a plot that's filled with surprising twists and unexpected suspense, and the unlikely but appealing team of Monk and Latterly make this one her best yet. A main selection of the Mystery Guild and an alternate selection of the Literary Guild. ~--Emily Melton

Perry staple character Nurse Hester Latterly is accused of murdering and robbing a patient. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

The doyenne of Victorian historicals (The Hyde Park Headsman, LJ 3/1/94) offers another mystery masterwork in the William Monk series. After nurse Hester Latterly's elderly charge dies on the train from Edinburgh, the police charge her with murder via an overdose of heart medication. Hester is innocent, of course, so Monk hastens to Edinburgh for a background search of the family who originally hired Hester. Back in London, lawyer Oliver Rathbone prepares to defend Hester but must defer to the Scottish courts. As always, Perry's measured, literate prose and strict attention to every detail of custom, location, and culture result in pure reading pleasure. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Crimean War veteran nurse Hester Latterly thinks she's taking a routine job escorting ailing Edinburgh publishing matriarch Mary Farraline to London to visit her youngest daughter. Her only responsibility? To make sure Mary takes each dose of her heart medicine. But Mary dies on the trip, and Hester finds Mary's gray pearl brooch in her own bag just one step ahead of the police. It's a setup, of course, but which of Mary's children--prosecutor Alastair, self-possessed Oonagh, beautiful, useless Eilish, weak- willed Kenneth--or which of their spouses doctored her digitalis and let Hester take the blame? Hester's sometime employer, Inspector William Monk, blithely (and feloniously) insinuating himself into the Farraline household as a consultant to the prosecution, finds family secrets aplenty--both Eilish and Alastair's wife, Deirdra, sneak out of the family manse in the middle of the night, and drunken Uncle Hector babbles about hidden rooms. The tide is turned in Hester's favor when Florence Nightingale, in an amusingly amateurish courtroom sequence, testifies to her feminist worthiness. Still, the verdict of Not Proven, leaving a shadow over Hester's innocence, doesn't sit well with Hester or Monk, and they promptly set out--evidently with the Farralines' complete and unbelievable cooperation--on a new investigation to unmask the real killer. Not so overstuffed with period detail as prolific Perry's recent outings (The Hyde Park Headsman, 1993, etc.), but the Farraline revelations would pass belief--if it weren't for the anesthetic power of Perry's prose, whose phrases fall as predictably as silver-plated spoons into their plushly appointed compartments. (Mystery Guild main selection; Literary Guild alternate selection)

In the 15th installment in Perry's popular Victorian mystery series, Inspector Monk helps a friend accused of murder. Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information.

The doyenne of Victorian historicals (The Hyde Park Headsman, LJ 3/1/94) offers another mystery masterwork in the William Monk series. After nurse Hester Latterly's elderly charge dies on the train from Edinburgh, the police charge her with murder via an overdose of heart medication. Hester is innocent, of course, so Monk hastens to Edinburgh for a background search of the family who originally hired Hester. Back in London, lawyer Oliver Rathbone prepares to defend Hester but must defer to the Scottish courts. As always, Perry's measured, literate prose and strict attention to every detail of custom, location, and culture result in pure reading pleasure. Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information.

Nurse Hester Latterly, who served courageously in the Crimean War and has assisted former policeman William Monk in many of his investigations (the last, A Sudden, Fearful Death), is charged with murdering a patient for personal gain. Hester hires on to accompany aging but lively Mary Farraline by train from Edinburgh to London and to administer the proper dose of heart medication. But Mary dies en route-and her pearl brooch is discovered in Hester's bag. The dead woman's family, the police and most of Edinburgh are convinced that Hester killed her to obtain the pin. Coming to her aid are former policeman Monk, barrister Oliver Rathbone and Lady Callandra Daviot. Monk goes to Edinburgh to investigate the Farraline family, whose members have more than their share of secrets. But with no hard evidence in Hester's favor, it seems that not even the appearance of Florence Nightingale will rescue her from the gallows. The courtroom scenes from Hester's Edinburgh trial are as gripping as those of any contemporary legal thriller. Though the number of characters can be confusing, Perry keeps the plot taut, compelling and ringing with verisimilitude. Mystery Guild selection; Literary Guild alternate. (Oct.) Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information.

Perry staple character Nurse Hester Latterly is accused of murdering and robbing a patient. (Oct.) Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information.