Dark Assassin

One thing I love about this series is how well the author weaves actual London history into her stories. In this installment, Hester and Monk deal with a crime related to the construction of a massive sewage system, intended to clean the River Thames and helped along, at least in part, by the death of Prince Albert of cholera. It seems to me that we often think, about older times - "But, how could they not have known?"

It's interesting to wonder what we're doing now that, in 150 or so years, will cause the residents of Earth to wonder the same about us. (Sadly, though, we can probably predict at least a few of those things.)

As to the story itself, I like that the basic structure of the first several in the series has been tampered with show more quite a bit in the later books. And I love that Scuff seems to be a permanent addition to the cast, as well as Orme, Sutton the rat catcher, and Hester's friends from the clinic. I'm especially grateful that a few of the recent entries in the series have surpassed what was looking like a long, long 3-star stretch. show less

A superintendent in the Thames River Police, William Monk is on a patrol boat near Waterloo Bridge when he and his men notice a young couple standing at the bridge railing, apparently engaged in an intense discussion. The woman waves her arms and places her hands on the man’s shoulders. A caress or a push? He grasps hold of her. To save her or to kill her? Seconds later, the pair plunges to death in the icy waters. Monk can’t help but wonder, has he witnessed an accident, a suicide, or a murder? It seems impossible to determine the truth but, haunted by the woman’s somber beauty, he is impelled to try.

Mary Havilland is her name and until recently she and Toby Argyll, the fair-haired man who shared her fate, had planned to marry. show more Her father, an engineer employed by the Argyll Company, has also recently died - a suicide according to the police and Mary’s sister. But friends tell Monk that Mary suspected her father had been murdered because of his stubborn insistence that the Argyll Company’s current project - participation in the construction of a splendid new sewer system for the metropolis - is so badly flawed that the entire city may be in dire peril from flood and fire.

Already struggling to win the respect of his men, Monk is faced with two urgent mysteries. With his intrepid wife, Hester, he is soon treading a slippery path - from luxurious drawing rooms where powerful men hatch their unscrupulous plots to a world beneath the city where poor folk fight starvation. In nightmarish tunnels, Monk and Hester find true friends, among them Scuff, a young mudlark; Sutton, the ratcatcher, and Snoot, Sutton’s clever terrier. For once, even Monk’s old enemy, Superintendent Runcorn, is on his side. But as rainfall strains the fragile manmade underground, a murderer remains free - and poised to strike again. show less

I love the Monk series but I am hoping at some point she stops explaining continually his loss of memory...at this point it doesn't seem to matter. I enjoyed this one having no idea what it took to put in sewers etc in London after the plague and typhoid etc. We are so used to them being there that I don't think anyone realizes what a huge undertaking it could be, or how dangerous. A really good plot as always!

This entry in the William & Hester Monk series gives away something that happened in The Shifting Tide, so if you plan to read both books, better read the other one first.

Monk witnesses two deaths off the Waterloo Bridge, but were they suicide-murder, a victim taking her killer with her, an attempted murderer changing his mind too late? Monk can't tell and neither can the other witnesses. The answer matters because the young woman will be given a shameful burial in unhallowed ground if her death is ruled a suicide. That happened to her father. There's a surviving sister and her children who would have to live with the double disgrace.

It's early 1864 and the sewer system of London is being rebuilt after the Great Stink of 1858 and its show more resulting cholera epidemic. I remember how unpleasant it was to drive near the Potomac river in the summer in our family's unair-conditioned station wagon back in the 1960s. The online descriptions I've just read of the Great Stink are so much worse that I'm forcing myself not to gag.

Is this extremely important work being carried out safely or is one of the construction companies involved working too quickly with its improved steam engine? The man who lies in a suicide's grave certainly thought so and his daughter was tracing his actions. It's not just the lives of the workers at stake. There's a chance that the devastating Great Fire of London of 1666 could be repeated, thanks to methane gas and the gas lines for lighting the city. (If you're claustrophobic, you might want to skip the investigation/chase scenes in the sewer tunnels. They're quite nasty.)

I freely admit to not solving the case before Monk did. There are plotlines for characters started that I expect to see carried out in later entries and an old problem may be starting to be resolved. I like Scuff the street urchin. A ratcatcher's dog, Snoot, is also an engaging character.

Carl D. Galian is the designer and Danilo Ducak is the artist for the dust jacket with the reddish-haired woman standing in front of a bridge rail and looking down at the water, a row of lamps on the bridge lit, and a cab or cart driving away from the reader -- it has already passed the woman. show less

Solid entry in the William Monk series, with one of my favorite characters, scuff, playing a larger role. I especially enjoyed watching the developments in the evolving relationships between Monk and his various current and former co-workers, as well as with his wife and his friend, Rathbone. Oh, and the mystery is good, too.

Monk has decided that the time has come of returning to the police force and has joined the River Police. While patrolling the river, Monk is witness to two young people falling off a bridge and their drownings being unable to reach them before their deaths.

Unsure whether it was a suicide, accident or murder/suicide, Monk investigates finding more dangers than anticipated because of the "apparent" suicide of the victim's father several months previous. Monk must address that death as well bringing him back into connection with Horace Runcorn, his previous superior on the police force.

The interaction between these two characters, the changes in their responses to each other, expanded these characters but other secondary characters show more (Monk's new subordinates)were left without being fully fleshed out.

Hopefully, the next installment will remedy what was lacking here. show less

A sometimes aggravatingly overwritten police procedural set in London during the massive construction of the London sewer system. The characters are moderately interesting, and there are nice plot twists. I may look at some of the earlier books in the series.