The Silent Cry

Sent to me to release at one of our Charleston official BookCrossing Zone shelves,but realized I'd never read it. Slipped back pretty easily into Anne Perry's depiction of Victorian England, this one taking place after Monk went into private detection and Hester into private nursing, but before they figured out that all their squabbling and intense emotions meant they loved each other. I had Rhys's injuries pegged to one of 3 things, so wasn't surprised to learn via the twist at the end what really happened. I found I didn't have the patience I normally have for this sort of novel, and skim-read from about midway til the end, so I don't really want to rate it, but did. Gave it a 2, because I usually like this series (or used to -- show more haven't read in eons) but got bored with this one. show less

Another William Monk/Hester Latterly installment in which Monk wonders, at length, about an awful lot of things. Generally to do with himself. I'm paraphrasing here but - Had he really been this type of person? Had he been that vindictive? Could he really have gone so far to ruin another person, for little or no reason? And so on.

Many more faces described via a statement regarding the eyes, nose and mouth, none of which gave so much as a basis for imagining the person's appearance. Plenty of too-long noses, unusual mouths, women who (again paraphrasing) "aren't beautiful but have a kind of vigor and intelligence that is far more interesting than mere beauty."

Also, I again identified one of the bad guys well before any paid investigator. show more

And yet I remain drawn to this series and will certainly continue. Surely one of these days Monk will quit being such a bastard and Hester will have a nice day. show less

Book #8. The author, Anne Perry, writes an involved mystery set in Victorian England and also gives insight into the social evils of the era and the vast differences between the upper class and the very poor.

This story starts with Sergeant John Evan being called to the scene of the violent murder of two men, in St. Giles, a slum on the outskirts of London. The father is dead, but the son is barely alive and is sent to the hospital. Later, Evan arranges for Hester Latterly to be his nurse. Meanwhile, William Monk, agent of inquiry, is asked to find the men responsible for terrible beatings and raping of working women in another slum - Seven Dials. While investigating, more of his memory returns and he must face the man he was in the show more past.

Hester, Monk, and Sir Oliver Rathbone again work together to solve the mystery and obtain justice. We also see more of Hester and Oliver’s relationship and Hester and Monk’s relationship. show less

Hester Latterly is nursing a young man found badly beaten next to his father's body while Monk is investigating the rapes and beatings of some poor women of St Giles. The two cases intersect in another fascinating Victorian mystery.
I enjoyed the first few books in this series, but I've found them more and more compelling as it moves along. The characters of Monk and Hester are so well defined. Both are learning more about themselves, especially Monk in this book. I always like reading the bits about Oliver Rathbone and John Evans who both appear again here.
Ms. Perry knows her subject well and effortlessly conveys the brutality and hopeless poverty of Victorian London. The ending here was a bit of a surprise though all the clues were show more there when I look back. Another very enjoyable read in this series. show less

I couldn't justifiably give this book 2 stars but I don't really feel that it is a three star book either. I have never read a Monk Mystery nor have I read anything by Anne Perry. This is the 8th book in the series and I have not read any of the other books. If I had, I may have appreciated the back story and the reminders about previous cases but in this instance, I didn't know who this Monk guy was and I didn't care why he lost his memory. I just wanted the author to get on with the mystery at hand. However, I felt the author just got too caught up in the back story. The characters would be in the middle of asking questions relevant to the murder at hand and then they would fall inside their heads for a couple pages reminising on show more something from a previous story.

As for the murder itself and how it played out in this story, It was decently written. I am tired of reading books where the only terrible crime that can happen to a woman is rape. It might be the easiest one, but it certainly isn't the only one. I didn't find anything new or revolutionary but I also didn't see the last twist until just before it was revealed so that took some skill from the author. But I also knew from the start that the sequence of events the characters were trying to prove were also way off base. So it became tedious reading through all the wrong turns. It was like watching a horror movie where we you want to yell, "For pity sake, don't go upstairs you twit"

All the above being said, I am still going to try another Monk mystery as well as another one of Anne Perry's novels. show less

What I like about the Monk series is that Monk does not play a dominant role. In this novel it is Hester Latterly, nurse, who is the lead character. The same was true for the only other book I've read in this series, Sins of the Wolf.
Similarly, the puzzle, though crucial to the story, does not overwhelm other themes. There is good development of the triangle relationship between Monk, Latterly, and Sir Oliver Rathbone the solicitor. Again it is Hester who sits at the centre of the tension, maintaining her independence, yet drawn to both of the men.
As for puzzle: the story begins with the discovery of two men beaten and lying in an alley in a rough section of London, one dead, the other barely alive. They are father and son, Leighton and show more Rhys Duff. How they came to this state leads the reader, and the respectable, middle-class characters, into the seediest, poorest parts of Victorian London. Monk discovers that the murder is linked to the rape and violent beating of a number of "amateur" prostitutes in Seven Dials, another slum of the city. The truth of the murder is revealed only in the final few paragraphs.
Along the way Perry provides an excellent examination of the historical setting, the desperate plight of the poor women driven to prostitution for survival. She also opens the curtain on a major part of Monk's past, gradually revealing the life hidden by his amnesia.
The Silent Cry is above average as both a detective story and an historical novel. show less

This is an interesting story about a father and a son that visit the shady side of London. The father is beaten to death and the son is beaten and left with emotional and physical wounds. During the period that the two men were beaten, 3 men have been beating part-time prostitutes. I had never heard about these part-time prostitutes. These are married women who have a regular day job, but due to the low wages, attempt to earn extra money to feed children. These married women would transact a little business on the side. Monk, Hester, and Sir Oliver are involved in discovering the culprits beating women and killing Leighton Duff. Perry does a wonderful job with the language, setting, and characters. The ending is very dramatic and now show more what the reader expected. show less