A Funeral in Blue

This 12th book in the William Monk series was satisfying in the way it explored not only the special relationship between William and Hester, his wife, but also relationships among family, friends and colleagues--William & Hester with Lady Callandra, Callandra with Dr. Kristian Beck, Kristian with his wife and their friends from the revolution in Austria, Hester with her brother Charles and his wife Imogen, and Monk with his former police superior, Runyon.

The mystery itself--the murders of Dr. Beck's wife and another woman--provides the lens through which the reader views these relationships. There were the usual tantalizing side stories with various possible motives and suspects. The final reveal was a little too far-fetched for me, show more but the social justice issues and the questions each character ponders about who he/she really is are the heart of the story anyway, and not the mystery. show less

I found Anne Perry's Funeral in Blue to be a very enjoyable Victorian mystery set in 1861 London and Vienna. It is very atmospheric and the times are very much brought to life. It is only a few months past the Battle of Bull Run at the beginning of the American Civil War and William and Hester Monk have returned to London from a visit to America.

There is a double murder to be solved, a close friend of Hester Monk quickly becomes the prime suspect, and William Monk is asked to work with Superintendent Runcorn of the police to investigate and solve the crime. William Monk has an unassailable drive to find the truth, no matter what the truth may reveal. Mr Monk and Superintendent Runcorn have a history of a rather contentious relationship show more and do not like each other. This is complicated by Mr. Monk having no memory of matters six years prior to the events in the novel, when an accident robbed him of most of his early memories of life. One part of the book I was pleased with though is that over the course of the novel they begin to see each other in a better light, and their long standing cold relationship thaws considerably. By the end one thinks better of both the characters. The relationship between Mr Monk and his wife Hester, however, is barely touched.

The ending was rather unexpected which is good - I didn't figure it out - but it was also not really the sort where you would go "oh of course" after the fact. Truthfully the end is rather implausible and as such detracts from the enjoyment of the book. I can recommend this novel for those interested in historical fiction. show less

A good read, found out more about Monk and Hester and his relationship with his old partner. You also learn about the prejudices that existed during this timeframe and the struggles of those that lived it. There are also those who bravely fought for freedom that we sometimes take for granted. There are many layers to this book besides the fight for freedom: murder, mystery, courtroom drama and love affairs. You cannot ask for much more.

In the twelfth book in Anne Perry's Monk series, we find Monk and Hester investigating the murder of Dr. Kristian Beck's wife along with another woman. The two women are found in an artist studio with their necks broken. Monk works with his old nemesis Runcorn to find the murderer, building on the tentative accord they reached in the previous book.
Each book seems to be getting better and better. They all start a bit slow as Ms. Perry builds each case detail by detail. I had no idea until the last few pages who the real murderer was though it made perfect sense. I missed Oliver Rathborn (who's in Italy), but the rest of the cast of characters make appearances. Now I'm eager to see how Lady Callandra and Kristian go forward. And there's a show more good cliffhanger about the central mystery to the series: show less

If not for William Monk and his wife Hester, Funeral in Blue would have been a total disappointment. I like these characters so much I will suffer through much, it seems. In Funeral in Blue, every single characters spends way too much time asking themselves questions, navel gazing and occasionally contradicting themselves. Perry pads the story with repetitions of the victim’s heroism and beauty. In fact, any time someone talks of the victim, her heroism and beauty is mentioned. It is exhausting and completely unnecessary. The entire book is repetitive – the victim’s beauty and heroism, the accused murderer’s sensual mouth and skill as a doctor, one woman’s unrequited love for the doctor, and Monk’s amnesia are all mentioned show more so often I started to wonder if Perry feared her readers suffered from Short Term Memory Loss.



Full Review: http://swampofboredom.com show less

Kristian Beck, a doctor, loses his wife to murder. Everyone knows that Kristian is married, but no one has met his wife. Perry goes into the history of Kristian and Elissa Beck during the revolution in Austria in 1848. Perry also slips into the story the hatred and prejudice towards Jews. I thoroughly enjoy the glimpses of history, and the underlying currents of each period. Elissa Beck has fallen into the gambling pit, and has turned to an ex-lover to cover her losses. Krisian is arrested for the murder of his wife, but Sir Oliver Rathbone is away in Scotland and cannot defend Kristian. Kristian's father-in-law, Fuller Pendreigh, must defend him. The killer is a surprise, not who I expected. The cast of characters is impressive with show more the reappearance of Hester's brother and sister-in-law. show less

I've gotten somewhat used to the abundance of introspection in this series, and the repetitiveness of some of those introspective thoughts. This installment went a bit overboard in both.

Also, the ending was stupidly improbable and had almost nothing to do with the rest of the plot.

Here's to #13 being less annoying.