Synopsis
When an obscure moneylender named William Weems is murdered in the humble Clerkenwell district, there are no mourners—and there is more than a little discreet rejoicing among those whose meager earnings he so mercilessly devoured. Yet when Inspector Pitt finds in the murdered man’s office a list containing the names of some of London’s most distinguished gentlemen, he begins to realize the magnitude of his duty. William Weems, it transpires, was no common usurer but a vicious blackmailer. Fortunately, Pitt’s clever, well-born wife, Charlotte, has entrée to London’s best society. Her insights prove to be invaluable to Pitt’s investigation as she observes, at glittering balls and over gossipy tea tables, a world of passion, power, and greed that the police are seldom permitted to see.
About Anne Perry
Photo © Diane Hinds
Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including Dark Assassin and The Shifting Tide, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including Buckingham Palace Gardens and Long Spoon Lane. She is also the author of the World War I novels No Graves As Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade,and We Shall Not Sleep, as well as six holiday novels, most recently A Christmas Grace. Anne Perry lives in Scotland.
Praise
“Pulsates with the sights and sounds of Victorian London.”—The Pittsburgh Press
“[Anne] Perry’s characters are vivid and well-drawn. . . . If you want to be privy to the romance, politics, and scandal of Victorian London, this descriptive, leisurely paced mystery may well be your cup of Earl Grey tea.”—Houston Chronicle
“A well-plotted puzzle . . . Perry’s compassionate characterizations demonstrate the extremes of Victorian society, from the chilling conditions of the poor cowering on doorsteps to the poise of the warm and well-dressed inside.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Perry [is the] reigning monarch of the Victorian mystery.”—People
“The author has the eyes of a hawk for character.”—The New York Times Book Review