A Breach of Promise

I am very happy to report that, were I somehow transported back in time to Victorian England, I would likely be a real superstar of a detective. In this case I actually did not have everything figured out ahead of time. But only because the hapless/genius Monk (and Rathbone too) did not ask the right questions of the right people.

It still would seem the author feels like she may not have convinced us to hate Monk yet, or at least not to hate him enough. Here is an example of one of the things he says to Hester for which I am not sure how she restrained herself from stabbing him:

"It has become a habit with you to tell people what to do for their welfare. It is extremely unattractive. You remind me of one of the more miserable types of show more governess. Nobody likes to be ordered around, even if the person doing it is correct."

All the same I think this was my favorite in the series so far. I may never be able to explain why I like it so much. show less

I love how Anne Perry delves into the hypocrisy of the Victorian area. The way women was treated as possessions and as if they were minors - their total disempowerment. How she pushes us into the dark underbelly of London. But also how she shows us the beauty of the art, architecture and fashion.

And of course she keep me up past midnight again and again with her stories and mystery. The sneaky lady had me thinking I knew what the plot was and when let that part unfold 70 % into the book and takes us on another mystery for the last 30 % of the book. Sneaky and very effective. I am very tired today because I stayed up way past my bedtime to read the end of this book.

I did not expect to like this book as well as I did. I chose it for a bit of
fast read fun. It has also been a while since I took on anything Victorian.
The books begins with a young man who was a gifted archetect, Killian Melville,
seeks out Barrister Sir Oliver Rathbone, to defend him in court against the charge of Breach of Promise.
The defense is that Killian has never actually asked for the hand of Zillah, a beautiful
young lady, in marriage. That he knew that marriage plans were being made but that
he never thought it was his own wedding being discussed.

Rathbone was at first disinclined to take the case. He simply thought Melville was a fool and a cad!
Something though, convinced him. Something about the honesty of the way Melville show more presented himself
convinced the Barrister to defend him. Thinking that the odds of winning this case were slim to none,
Rathbone asks his long time friend and investigator William Monk to aide in the endeavor.

But this is not the only story. Gabriel Lambert was wounded badly and in fact disfigured in the war in India.
Hester Latterly, a friend of both the Barrister and the Investigator is a woman who served valiantly in the Crimea n
War, has been asked to be a live in nurse and caregiver for Lambert. His young wife Perdita is distraught and frightened and has no skill in caring for someone with injuries, and needs such as her husband has
brought home with him.

This is a ripping good story, a mystery whose solution will have you leaping out of your comfy chair
and shouting you cannot mean it! And the back story is of how women were thought to be nothing
more than ornamental, and unable to learn or accomplish anything more than keeping a home and their men happy. I really liked this one. I will certainly read more in this series. show less

The 9th entry in the William Monk series, this one definitely picked up the pace from the last few entries. The case had a few melodramatic aspects, but Monk's exploration of the stark reality of a woman's place in mid-Victorian England, and the price paid for defying that convention, dovetails very neatly with significant steps in his romance with independent-minded ex-nurse Hester Latterly, and new awareness of the man he's become in the last few years. One of the best character books in this series.

A Victorian Mystery that is so compelling that it was impossible to put down. I read it in one afternoon. Some non Victorian attitudes about women and leaps of faith in some of the subplots, but it worked.

Oliver Rathbone takes on a breach of promise case. The young man, Killian Melville, involved insists he didn't ask the woman to marry him, but her family is suing anyway. Monk must investigate since no one understands why Melville won't marry the beautiful and eligible heiress. Meanwhile, Hester is nursing a soldier, a survivor of the Indian mutiny badly wounded in a street brawl afterward.
I've been reading the Monk books in order and I think this is the best one yet. The storylines are strong and meld together at the end in a very satisfactory manner. More than the mysteries I enjoy the way Ms. Perry writes about Victorian society and this book covers both attitudes toward women of that era and the way in which the deformed are show more treated.
Having finally resolved his relationship with Runcorn in the last book, Monk is now free to deal with his own feelings. He's mellowed some over time and is finally ready to confront his true feelings toward Hester.
Another great book in this series. show less

This is a quite interesting story based on beauty and appearance. There are several stories within this book: the disfigurement and loss of an arm of an English soldier during the uprisings in India, two deaf and facially disfigured orphaned sisters, and the superb beauty of a young lady. The breach of promise begins a trial that has Sir Oliver Rathbone at a loss as to how to defend his client. The story takes many twists and turns that would ruin the fun for the next reader. The story points to the problems of women during this time in England's history. Hester Latterly defies tradition and shines as a woman dependant on no man. But this defiance carries a dear price. I am anxious to read the next novel of this series. Usually an show more author seems to become mundane as a series progresses, but Perry seems to improve with each story. show less