Death of a Stranger

This one had more pluses and minuses than usual, and that is saying something.

On the plus side, I loved Hester's story and loved the characters around her. I loved that we finally get a big piece of Monk's history. And I loved the not-so-standard courtroom scene/train chase ending.

Did not love Monk's endless quest to beat the wrong clues to death, nor did I love his endless self-absorbed soul-searching. We can only hope that finally having some answers will shut him up.

I’m always interested in the title of the book and this one certainly fits the story line.
William Monk is asked to determine if a young man is involved in railway fraud. The young woman asking (Katrina Harcus) for help is engaged to him….Michael Dalgarno who works for Baltimore & Sons.

Meanwhile, Hester is volunteering at a women’s clinic for prostitutes and doing her best to help the women. In an interesting way, she helps solve the murder of Nolan Baltimore and resolves the clinic rental situation.

Oliver Rathbone is at his best and keeps everyone in the courtroom (& the reader) on the edge of their seat.

Is there a new love interest on the horizon?

Great story with twists and turns and soul searching by Monk.

i really like Anne Perry's William and Hester Monk Victorian mysteries (much better, i think, than her more popular Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series). both William and Hester are complicated people, heroic in a way Victorian society refused to acknowledge. this one's not the best or the most mysterious of the series, but it gets into the question of the person William used to be before he lost his memory. and the mystery itself takes as its subject matter how Victorian prostitutes were exploited by their wealthy clients. as usual, nothing is quite as it first seems, and Hester reveals a sharp head for business as she enters the fray, outflanking the brothel keeper on all fronts, and the difference between William and Hester's separate show more ways of solving the case at hand are instructive. show less

William Monk has spent the last seven years running his inquiry agent business. In this new case he has two cases that may have ties to each other and to his past — a time he doesn’t remember due to a serious accident that gave him a case of amnesia.

Meanwhile William’s wife, Hester Monk, and the staff at the women’s clinic Hester established on Leather Lane, notice the prostitutes are coming in for treatment with more serious injuries than usual, more severe bruises, stabbings, and broken bones, not the usual in their line of business.

The finding of the dead body of a well-known railways magnate in a brothel brings a strong presence of police to the area of Leather Lane. An action that pretty well shuts down all business.

Monk show more finds his investigations may reveal that he had close ties to the accident that caused his amnesia and multiple deaths; ties that implicate him in a negative and life changing way.

Hester is focused on finding the reason for the increase of violence on the women, who may have been driven into this rough and sometimes violent life due to the double standard of the Victorian era.

It is interesting to read of the double standard set for women in this era. To be of honourable image and action in the public eye, but degraded in private. Do as I say, not as I do… show less

I think Anne Perry is writing too many books and not spending enough time on the hard work of editing and proof-reading. I found at least 3 places where what was said on an earlier page was contradicted by something a few pages later. While that didn't completely spoil the book for me I think I will not be reading anymore of Perry's books unless they come highly recommended from someone whose judgment I trust.

In this book Hester Monk is providing free medical help to prostitutes while William Monk is a private investigator. Hester is used to seeing women roughed up but three women come in together, all needing help, which she willingly gives without asking questions. The next morning when the beat policeman tells her that a "toff" has show more been found dead in a brothel she has to tell him what she knows about these women. At home William is approached by a well-dressed lady who wants him to investigate if her fiance, a partner in a railway company, is a participant in a fraud. William, who had an accident seven years before and cannot remember many details of his life before that time, is startled to find his signature on one of the pieces of paper she has brought him. This investigation forces him to delve back into his own past as well as try to answer the lady's question. Meanwhile Hester has more work because the police crackdown in the area is driving customers away and the prostitutes are unable to pay their debts so they are being badly hurt. She discovers that some of these "ladies of the night" were once respectable governesses and servants who have had to go into prostitution to repay the usorious debts they have acquired. She believes that the "toff", who has been identified as Nolan Baltimore, had something to do with this usury. Nolan Baltimore was also the senior partner in the railway firm William is investigating. The threads of their separate investigations start to come together and meanwhile William is questioning if he is really the man he seems to be now or if he was involved in a similar fraudulent scheme 16 years before.

There's lots of detail about life in London and areas outside of London in Victorian times which is very interesting. But I can't help but feel that some of the details are a little far-fetched. Would rabbits really not be able to build warrens in hills that had a granite base? It seems to me that there would be sufficient soil cover for them to dig holes. So, as I said previously, I'm going to give Anne Perry's books a miss from now on. show less

9/10
Convoluted but satisfying, this installment in the William Monk mysteries gives us an interconnected story of William's case investigating possible fraud and Hester's involvement in a clinic for prostitutes. Best of all, we see an emerging romance for Sir Oliver Rathbone and an opportunity for William Monk to finally learn some of the truth of his forgotten past.

I like this series but this one really grabbed me = I just knew there was something about the woman seeking Monk’s help which was ‘off’ but wasn’t apparent until close to the end. Really enjoyed this one…..onto the next!!!