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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I'm a fan of Anne Perry's William Monk and Thomas & Charlotte Pitt series. She evokes time and place so well in these Victorian era series that I was hesitant to start this first book in a new series set during the World War I era. I was afraid it wouldn't measure up, so I let it sit on my bookshelf for several years before finally picking it up this week. I discovered that my instincts were right. This is not Anne Perry at her best. She exchanges the realm of detective novels for the world of espionage without substantially altering her writing style. Unfortunately the subtle introspection that works so well in her detective series becomes overwrought melodrama as the characters contemplate international instability, national security, and the possibility of war. While the murders are resolved by the end of the book, there is a larger plot thread that will obviously be continued in the next book of the series. I'm curious about how this thread will play out, but I'm not sure I want to devote any more time to a mediocre series when there are so many other books on my TBR list that seem more appealing. (  )2   cbl_tn | Oct 27, 2009 |  I've always enjoyed Anne Perry's Victorian mysteries -- she does deep research, and her novels show it in their immersive reality. Her first World War I novel does not disappoint, bringing 1914 into sharp focus: an England unwittingly on the edge of war, a world half-modern and half-traditional. Joseph Reavley, the main character, is likable, and an Anglican priest/college professor is in a surprisingly good position for amateur detecting. But "amateur detecting" does Joseph a disservice, because the plot makes the Reavleys' pursuit of the truth more a driving need than a hobby. It's a good story, and told with Perry's usual sense of moral shadings and human passions. I look forward to reading the next one in the series, and especially to seeing what little sister Judith Reavley gets up to in the tumult and change of wartime. Note on audio edition: The narrator does great accents, but is often overwrought when characters get emotional. Shouty men and shrieky women. (  ) eilonwy_anne | May 12, 2009 | 1st of 5 in series. I picked up this mystery series on the recommendation of a friend. I know so little about World War I, and I thought a good mystery novel(s) would make it all more palatable. This first book has lots of mystery whodunit stuff. In case you have not yet read the series, I will say that I have read 4 of the 5 books, and I still don't know. The first volume also deals with academic life at Cambridge, St. John's College, specifically. It is difficult to appreciate the incredible changes that were wrought in British society because of this war. Did they try to go back to the status quo? No doubt. But Perry does a pretty good job at lifting up some of the many issues of the early 20th century. Now, in the early 21st century in the United States, we are still dealing with unresolved feelings over women in politics, blacks in politics, and men in subordinate (to women) roles. kaulsu | Sep 23, 2008 | After reading Bernard Cornwell's historical fiction of the late 1700s and early 1800s, I desired some historical fiction that is well written as well as fun. Sharpe is a fun character--especially when I picture Sean Bean while reading--but the writing style is clumsy and the female characters are cardboard cutouts of the same flat, dim-witted broad. Then I moved on to Angela Perry and the book No Graves As Yet, which begins her series of World War I novels. The story follows two brothers--Joseph (an Anglican priest) and Matthew (a secret intelligence officer)--as they work to learn who murdered their parents and if a mysterious document, supposedly the cause of the murder, truly exists... and if so, where? The narrative is lovely despite the ugly scenes being written--such a welcome contrast to the choppy, poorly constructed sentences filling the Sharpe novels. (I am harsh on Cornwell's writing style, but I would not read his books if I did not enjoy them.) The reader looks into the fears, doubts, and hopes of the brothers--especially the gentle Joseph, who not only must deal with the recent deaths of his parents (and the only year-old deaths of his wife and newborn son) but also the apparent murder of one of his favorite students at Cambridge. And the fear that the deaths are connected shake him to the core. Symbols and foreshadowing help build tension and nervousness while the reader finds the characters wondering whether or not there will be a war. Each time characters begin pondering the possibility of war in-depth, it corresponds with a sunset. At this moment only the reader truly knows the losses the world will suffer as a result of this war; the characters are merely beginning to grasp its possibility. This is definitely going to be a series I'll be continuing. In fact, I'm nearly finished with the second novel, Shoulder the Sky. (  ) wispywillow | Apr 11, 2008 | susansw | Dec 1, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
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(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:51 -0400)
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