Southampton Row: Summary and book reviews of Southampton Row by Anne Perry, plus links to an excerpt from Southampton Row and a biography of Anne Perry.
Southampton Row
by Anne Perry
Hardcover: Feb 2002,
336 pages.
Paperback: Feb 2003,
336 pages.
For many years Anne Perry's magnificent novels have transported millions of readers into the very heart of one of the richest, most vibrant societies the world has ever known: England in the golden ages of Queen Victoria. Gaslight, cobblestones, halls of power, haunts of vice–all the splendor and sordidness of a world that believed the opulence would last forever.
But now, toward the end of her long reign, Victoria's gold is tarnishing. With a general election fast approaching, a deep rift separates aristocratic Tories from the Liberal opposition. The powerful Inner Circle – a secret society of men sworn to support each other above all other loyalties – is committed to seizing one critical seat in Parliament, a first step towards the achievement of sinister secret ambitions. Passions are so enflamed that Thomas Pitt, shrewd mainstay of the London police, has been ordered to forego his long awaited vacation, not to solve a crime, but to prevent a national disaster.
The Tory candidate is Pitt's archenemy, Charles Voisey, a ruthless leader in the Inner Circle. The Liberal candidate is Aubrey Serracold, whose wife's passionate committment to the Socialist agenda may hurt his chances. Equally damaging is her dalliance with spiritualism. Indeed, she is one of the three participants in a late-night séance that becomes the swan song of stylish clairvoyant Maude Lamont. For the next morning, the maid finds Lamont's brutally murdered body in the séance room of the house on Southampton Row.
To Pitt's heavy burdens is now added the investigation of this most baffling crime. Meanwhile, his wife, Charlotte, and their children are enjoying the country vacation that Pitt has been denied–unaware that they, too, are deeply endangered by the same fanatical forces hovering over the steadfast Pitt.
In this riveting new Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novel, Anne Perry again proves herself a sorceress who transcends time and change, a master without parallel of the dazzling milieu she has so memorably made her own.
Library Journal
Another perilous case for Thomas Pitt. His enemy Charles Voissey is running for Parliament as a Tory, and the wife of his liberal opponent was present at a seance run by a not-so-foresightful clairvoyant she was subsequently murdered. Can Pitt solve the case and salvage the campaign?
Publishers Weekly
As ever, excellent craftsmanship sets this series in the front rank of historical mysteries.
Booklist - Connie Fletcher
Fast moving and utterly engrossing.
The nineth Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery, set in Post-World War I England. Rutledge is called on to prove the innocence of a man he dislikes and distrusts. But the deadly triangle also stirs up memories of the woman he himself loved and lost when he went to France to fight.
It's 1922 and Martin Finch is on the case of a lifetime—to determine whether a beautiful Philadelphia socialite is able to contact the spirit realm. He is prepared to debunk a fraud but instead the man of science falls in love with the medium in this debut historical thriller.
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