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Charlotte & Thomas Pitt #12
Belgrave Square
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.
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1992
617 people are currently reading
1223 people want to read
About the author
Anne Perry
363 books3,381 followersAnne Perry, born Juliet Hulme in England, lived in Scotland most of her life after serving five years in prison for murder (in New Zealand). A beloved mystery authoress, she is best known for her Thomas Pitt and William Monk series.
Her first novel, "The Cater Street Hangman", was published in 1979. Her works extend to several categories of genre fiction, including historical mysteries. Many of them feature recurring characters, most importantly Thomas Pitt and amnesiac private investigator William Monk, who first appeared in 1990, "The Face Of A Stranger".
Her story "Heroes," from the 1999 anthology Murder And Obsession, won the 2001 Edgar Award For Best Short Story. She was included as an entry in Ben Peek's Twenty-Six Lies / One Truth, a novel exploring the nature of truth in literature.
Series contributed to:
. Crime Through Time
. Perfectly Criminal
. Malice Domestic
. The World's Finest Mystery And Crime Stories
. Transgressions
. The Year's Finest Crime And Mystery Stories
Her first novel, "The Cater Street Hangman", was published in 1979. Her works extend to several categories of genre fiction, including historical mysteries. Many of them feature recurring characters, most importantly Thomas Pitt and amnesiac private investigator William Monk, who first appeared in 1990, "The Face Of A Stranger".
Her story "Heroes," from the 1999 anthology Murder And Obsession, won the 2001 Edgar Award For Best Short Story. She was included as an entry in Ben Peek's Twenty-Six Lies / One Truth, a novel exploring the nature of truth in literature.
Series contributed to:
. Crime Through Time
. Perfectly Criminal
. Malice Domestic
. The World's Finest Mystery And Crime Stories
. Transgressions
. The Year's Finest Crime And Mystery Stories
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 205 reviews
October 6, 2023
Wow! Those Victorians were anything but straight-laced.
April 10, 2021
Having débuted in 1979, I can’t “Belgrave Square” is volume 12, published in 1992. Each portrays that same year, of the 1800s. Anne Perry’s is the first historical fiction series I love. We compassionately observe the poor and affluent in England, whilst the inspector and his wife relate to today’s fans, by living in the working middle class. Charlotte met Thomas after her eldest Sister, Sarah, was killed. She stepped down a peg to marry him and their youngest Sister, Emily, earned a titled in marriage. Charlotte has two children and Emily is catching-up; pregnant in her second marriage, to Jack.
Through Emily’s first husband, we gained the loveable, shrewd Aunt Vespasia as a mystery solving cohort but ladies cannot enter parliament to pass bills. However, Jack has just enough status to apply; helping our family detectives in both ways. Together, they can stealthily investigate up & down the ladders of society; ladders that new characters are beginning to eschew. This was a 5-star novel: of Dads & Daughters, Sisters & Brothers, unspoken passion, and bravely breaking off mismatches.
With a world of issues our living generations are triumphing over and improving upon, each mystery case illuminates something new. Herein, a dirty moneylender was killed. A list of commonly struggling families, with a set of familiar names, coaxes Micah Drummond to ask his best inspector to privately interview his own upper class peers. Thomas works on trust, only posing questions when he must, in partnership with the likeable constable of that area.
Each story’s structure is as fresh as the subjects. Anne has no blueprints. Charlotte, Emily, Vespasia, and Jack might enter earlier or later. Collaborating with Thomas’s approval nowadays, they learn of secret societies. Are they worth a career boost, if your morality can be bought for their favour?
Through Emily’s first husband, we gained the loveable, shrewd Aunt Vespasia as a mystery solving cohort but ladies cannot enter parliament to pass bills. However, Jack has just enough status to apply; helping our family detectives in both ways. Together, they can stealthily investigate up & down the ladders of society; ladders that new characters are beginning to eschew. This was a 5-star novel: of Dads & Daughters, Sisters & Brothers, unspoken passion, and bravely breaking off mismatches.
With a world of issues our living generations are triumphing over and improving upon, each mystery case illuminates something new. Herein, a dirty moneylender was killed. A list of commonly struggling families, with a set of familiar names, coaxes Micah Drummond to ask his best inspector to privately interview his own upper class peers. Thomas works on trust, only posing questions when he must, in partnership with the likeable constable of that area.
Each story’s structure is as fresh as the subjects. Anne has no blueprints. Charlotte, Emily, Vespasia, and Jack might enter earlier or later. Collaborating with Thomas’s approval nowadays, they learn of secret societies. Are they worth a career boost, if your morality can be bought for their favour?
January 20, 2018
When Thomas Pitt is called in to solve the murder of Williams Weems he knows that Weems was an unsavory character but he doesn't know how unsavory until he finds a list that includes names of many well-to-do men and politicians who are apparently being blackmailed. While Charlotte tries to find what she can through the circles of society Thomas learns that his own boss may be a suspect.
A good Thomas Pitt story with an unexpected twist at the end. It will definitely catch you offguard.
A good Thomas Pitt story with an unexpected twist at the end. It will definitely catch you offguard.
May 31, 2017
OH HOLY SHIT GUYS. (Also, yeah we all know that Plot A and Plot B will merge, shut up)
Plot A: Pitt is called in to investigate the murder of a sketchy-ass usurer named Weems, who was shot in his own house (the ME figures out that someone loaded a big ol' gun with GOLD COINS and BLASTED HIM IN THE FACE WITH IT, after he recovers a gold coin from dude's BRAIN). Weems doesn't even live in Pitt's jurisdiction. Pitt's boss, Micah Drummond, is particularly hoping to clear a friend, Lord Byam, of the murder. He's secretive about it, which makes Pitt nervous. Pitt locates two lists: one is of poor people who borrowed money from Weems and were paying it back, but would never finish because Weems is a fucking asshole. The other list contains names from the aristocracy, but NOT Byam, along with amounts of money, presumably how much they borrowed. But Pitt figures out that they didn't, since they would never have gone to Weems; instead, Weems is likely blackmailing them. On his list are:
Lattimer, a Scotland Yard cop who bets on bare-knuckle fighting (which is illegal) and makes good money for it
Urban, a cop near Pitt's own jurisdiction, who has a taste for fine art and finances it by being a bouncer at some music halls (which he'd be fired for, if his bosses found out)
Carforth, a judge who appears to be dating Fanny Hillard, a girl about his eldest daughter's age, though he's married; it turns out that she's actually his secret daughter (which I guessed) from his first and only legitimate marriage (which I did NOT guess); Carforth's current marriage is bigamous, so his "public" children are illegitimate
and like maybe one more person but I don't remember. Byam's actually being blackmailed with half a letter that was written to him by Lord Anstiss's late wife Laura, who was beautiful and fragile and apparently very impulsive. According to Byam, he flirted with Laura but never actually went any further, and when he told her that he couldn't be with her, she killed herself. Byam's wife knows about it, and since it was a long time ago, she's basically forgiven him for it.
(And let me just say that the blackmail scenario just didn't sound right to me. I suspected everything about it, because it was a letter found among Laura's things, which would mean it hadn't been sent, and I thought that maybe it was forged, maybe it was written to someone else, maybe it didn't exist... anyway.)
Plot B: Emily's new husband Jack is standing (running for) Parliament, but Emily's pregnant, so Charlotte's kind of filling in for her as hostess and running dinner parties, etc. Jack's trying to earn the patronage of Lord Anstiss, who is friends with Lord Byam (despite the aforementioned "Anstiss's wife killed herself over her infatuation with Byam" problem). Lord Anstiss is currently backing "Fitz" Fitzherbert, who is like quasi-engaged to Odelia Morton, who is really pretty and very proper and very well dressed. Charlotte likes Fitz even though she doesn't want to, because of course Fitz is against Jack. Then Fitz sees Fanny Hillard at a party and they really hit it off.
So:
-Charlotte becomes friends with Fanny, finds out about her situation, talks to Carforth and gets his side of it, and advises Carforth to come clean with Fitz just so he can marry Fanny without the specter of "she was totes a slut" in the air
-Micah Drummond called Pitt in because of the shady secret society he's a member of, the Inner Circle. The Inner Circle helps this jackass who was feeling up a sexually provocative woman in a public park - the cops catch them "partially dressed" and fooling around, and bring them in to charge them with public indecency, but the case goes before Carforth, and Carforth dismisses it for lack of evidence. It's clearly ridiculous because there's plenty of evidence, but someone thinks it's appropriate to use influence to have the case dismissed, even though it's minor. So said lecherous jackass is a member of the Inner Circle, as are the other people on the blackmail list. It's okay, though, cause he does it again and is caught dead to rights this time.
-Eventually Pitt figures out that the second list, the high-class blackmail list, actually corresponds to "people the Inner Circle wants to punish by dragging their names into a murder case."
-Micah totally falls for Byam's wife, and she for him, so I knew that Byam would likely die by the end of the book. Even after Weems is dead, Byam's still upset, and Byam's wife tells Micah that he's still being influenced by someone who is causing him to make strange/unaccounted-for decisions in Parliament, since he's in the Treasury department. The assumption is that someone went through Weems's things, found the Byam letter, and took it and any other reference Weems had to Byam, and is now using that to blackmail Byam.
They keep going back to: why would Weems have sat still and let someone plug him in the face with a gun full of gold coins? And I thought, "To cover up another cause of death. That's why he sat still; he was already dead."
Lord Anstiss, after he cuts Fitz off for wanting to marry Fanny, offers Jack membership in a "really totally awesome secret society," and Charlotte's like "TELL HIM TO FUCK OFF" because Pitt's shared his own anger over the Inner Circle he's been discovering. Also Charlotte and Pitt meet Peter Valerius, who seems like an awesome guy (also socialist-ish).
Eventually Pitt and Drummond figure out that Anstiss is behind the current influencing of Byam, which means he likely killed Weems; they think it's for his threatening to reveal the "pre-suicide note" from Anstiss's wife/Byam's flirtation with the wife, which was 20 years ago. They bust into his house, find the murder weapon (a bloodstained walking stick), and go upstairs and break down his bedroom door:
AND FIND BYAM AND ANSTISS NAKED ON THE BED, BOTH DEAD. BYAM CUT ANSTISS'S THROAT AND THEN SLASHED HIS OWN WRISTS. HOLY SHIT.
Because that (unsigned) love note wasn't from Laura, IT WAS FROM ANSTISS, and YEAH GUESS WHAT BITCHES BYAM WASN'T HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH THE WIFE, IT WAS WITH THE HUSBAND. Byam leaves a suicide note for Pitt saying that Anstiss's wife, uh, found out (hence the note that was in HER things) and they had to kill her and fake a suicide (HOLY SHIT, tbh I doubted that she HAD committed suicide but DAMN). Weems tried to blackmail Anstiss with the half of the love note, and apparently figured out its actual significance, so Anstiss killed him and then tried to cover it up. Byam went out in that display of gay pride knowing that it would be notorious and people would comment on it, to get back at Anstiss for being such a total dick and blackmailing him like he did, because that broke his heart. Anstiss was making a lot of money by influencing Byam's financial decisions as he did.
Again I say, DAMN. And I hope Micah ends up with Lady Byam 'cause girl did NOT deserve that level of crazy to end her marriage, and it makes me wonder if Byam was bi or gay, if she'd figured out that he just wasn't into the ladies or what.
Plot A: Pitt is called in to investigate the murder of a sketchy-ass usurer named Weems, who was shot in his own house (the ME figures out that someone loaded a big ol' gun with GOLD COINS and BLASTED HIM IN THE FACE WITH IT, after he recovers a gold coin from dude's BRAIN). Weems doesn't even live in Pitt's jurisdiction. Pitt's boss, Micah Drummond, is particularly hoping to clear a friend, Lord Byam, of the murder. He's secretive about it, which makes Pitt nervous. Pitt locates two lists: one is of poor people who borrowed money from Weems and were paying it back, but would never finish because Weems is a fucking asshole. The other list contains names from the aristocracy, but NOT Byam, along with amounts of money, presumably how much they borrowed. But Pitt figures out that they didn't, since they would never have gone to Weems; instead, Weems is likely blackmailing them. On his list are:
Lattimer, a Scotland Yard cop who bets on bare-knuckle fighting (which is illegal) and makes good money for it
Urban, a cop near Pitt's own jurisdiction, who has a taste for fine art and finances it by being a bouncer at some music halls (which he'd be fired for, if his bosses found out)
Carforth, a judge who appears to be dating Fanny Hillard, a girl about his eldest daughter's age, though he's married; it turns out that she's actually his secret daughter (which I guessed) from his first and only legitimate marriage (which I did NOT guess); Carforth's current marriage is bigamous, so his "public" children are illegitimate
and like maybe one more person but I don't remember. Byam's actually being blackmailed with half a letter that was written to him by Lord Anstiss's late wife Laura, who was beautiful and fragile and apparently very impulsive. According to Byam, he flirted with Laura but never actually went any further, and when he told her that he couldn't be with her, she killed herself. Byam's wife knows about it, and since it was a long time ago, she's basically forgiven him for it.
(And let me just say that the blackmail scenario just didn't sound right to me. I suspected everything about it, because it was a letter found among Laura's things, which would mean it hadn't been sent, and I thought that maybe it was forged, maybe it was written to someone else, maybe it didn't exist... anyway.)
Plot B: Emily's new husband Jack is standing (running for) Parliament, but Emily's pregnant, so Charlotte's kind of filling in for her as hostess and running dinner parties, etc. Jack's trying to earn the patronage of Lord Anstiss, who is friends with Lord Byam (despite the aforementioned "Anstiss's wife killed herself over her infatuation with Byam" problem). Lord Anstiss is currently backing "Fitz" Fitzherbert, who is like quasi-engaged to Odelia Morton, who is really pretty and very proper and very well dressed. Charlotte likes Fitz even though she doesn't want to, because of course Fitz is against Jack. Then Fitz sees Fanny Hillard at a party and they really hit it off.
So:
-Charlotte becomes friends with Fanny, finds out about her situation, talks to Carforth and gets his side of it, and advises Carforth to come clean with Fitz just so he can marry Fanny without the specter of "she was totes a slut" in the air
-Micah Drummond called Pitt in because of the shady secret society he's a member of, the Inner Circle. The Inner Circle helps this jackass who was feeling up a sexually provocative woman in a public park - the cops catch them "partially dressed" and fooling around, and bring them in to charge them with public indecency, but the case goes before Carforth, and Carforth dismisses it for lack of evidence. It's clearly ridiculous because there's plenty of evidence, but someone thinks it's appropriate to use influence to have the case dismissed, even though it's minor. So said lecherous jackass is a member of the Inner Circle, as are the other people on the blackmail list. It's okay, though, cause he does it again and is caught dead to rights this time.
-Eventually Pitt figures out that the second list, the high-class blackmail list, actually corresponds to "people the Inner Circle wants to punish by dragging their names into a murder case."
-Micah totally falls for Byam's wife, and she for him, so I knew that Byam would likely die by the end of the book. Even after Weems is dead, Byam's still upset, and Byam's wife tells Micah that he's still being influenced by someone who is causing him to make strange/unaccounted-for decisions in Parliament, since he's in the Treasury department. The assumption is that someone went through Weems's things, found the Byam letter, and took it and any other reference Weems had to Byam, and is now using that to blackmail Byam.
They keep going back to: why would Weems have sat still and let someone plug him in the face with a gun full of gold coins? And I thought, "To cover up another cause of death. That's why he sat still; he was already dead."
Lord Anstiss, after he cuts Fitz off for wanting to marry Fanny, offers Jack membership in a "really totally awesome secret society," and Charlotte's like "TELL HIM TO FUCK OFF" because Pitt's shared his own anger over the Inner Circle he's been discovering. Also Charlotte and Pitt meet Peter Valerius, who seems like an awesome guy (also socialist-ish).
Eventually Pitt and Drummond figure out that Anstiss is behind the current influencing of Byam, which means he likely killed Weems; they think it's for his threatening to reveal the "pre-suicide note" from Anstiss's wife/Byam's flirtation with the wife, which was 20 years ago. They bust into his house, find the murder weapon (a bloodstained walking stick), and go upstairs and break down his bedroom door:
AND FIND BYAM AND ANSTISS NAKED ON THE BED, BOTH DEAD. BYAM CUT ANSTISS'S THROAT AND THEN SLASHED HIS OWN WRISTS. HOLY SHIT.
Because that (unsigned) love note wasn't from Laura, IT WAS FROM ANSTISS, and YEAH GUESS WHAT BITCHES BYAM WASN'T HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH THE WIFE, IT WAS WITH THE HUSBAND. Byam leaves a suicide note for Pitt saying that Anstiss's wife, uh, found out (hence the note that was in HER things) and they had to kill her and fake a suicide (HOLY SHIT, tbh I doubted that she HAD committed suicide but DAMN). Weems tried to blackmail Anstiss with the half of the love note, and apparently figured out its actual significance, so Anstiss killed him and then tried to cover it up. Byam went out in that display of gay pride knowing that it would be notorious and people would comment on it, to get back at Anstiss for being such a total dick and blackmailing him like he did, because that broke his heart. Anstiss was making a lot of money by influencing Byam's financial decisions as he did.
Again I say, DAMN. And I hope Micah ends up with Lady Byam 'cause girl did NOT deserve that level of crazy to end her marriage, and it makes me wonder if Byam was bi or gay, if she'd figured out that he just wasn't into the ladies or what.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2022
Was this one more enjoyable than others in the series I've read recently? I think so. But it is all becoming kind of a blur.
Thomas Pitt as usual takes certain things at face value, even though your average 8-year-old with a spy/detective kit would know to question those things. Basically a given character we will call So-and-so tells Pitt some version of a story. If Pitt were to question that version then the book would end somewhere around page 21. Therefore Pitt must spend the next 350 or so pages operating as if So-and-so's word must absolutely be fact.
He also walks away from conversations wondering things that he could easily have asked right there in the conversation from which he is walking away.
It is all very frustrating at times. Nevertheless, I persist.
Thomas Pitt as usual takes certain things at face value, even though your average 8-year-old with a spy/detective kit would know to question those things. Basically a given character we will call So-and-so tells Pitt some version of a story. If Pitt were to question that version then the book would end somewhere around page 21. Therefore Pitt must spend the next 350 or so pages operating as if So-and-so's word must absolutely be fact.
He also walks away from conversations wondering things that he could easily have asked right there in the conversation from which he is walking away.
It is all very frustrating at times. Nevertheless, I persist.
February 3, 2014
I don't think anyone is surprised at the end by who killed the unsavory usurer, although the way it is wrapped up in the end was a surprise. This book focuses less on the vagaries of Victorian society and more on politics in the era so I liked it and gave it 4 stars. The Inner Circle is introduced and they are a highly secretive group of influential men who want to control politics and business. Maybe everything. It's a secret. There was more of Thomas than Charlotte in this one and I like his character and case-solving tactics. He is a solid character with a creative mind, and although Charlotte can read people, he does it better. Good mystery.
August 14, 2018
Anne Perry never disappoints.
August 1, 2017
Leggo la Perry per distrarmi un po', devo dire che questo mi e' sembrato meno affrettato nella conclusione rispetto agli altri. Bella storia e personaggi ben delineati, una lettura piacevole.
June 12, 2018
I just realized that GR thinks I read this in French. Non.
I really wish this one had given more time to the aftermath. Talk about drama!!
I really wish this one had given more time to the aftermath. Talk about drama!!
June 3, 2017
3.25 stars.
I'm not too excited with this one, except for the shocking truth on the last chapter 😳.
But I wanted to read because I want to know how Jack (Charlotte's new BIL) started his campaign to become an MP, and that's not started well.
The dirty political part is rather heavy in this one, especially when you just a 'mere' common.
Lucky for Thomas, Charlotte was there to help as much as she can even thought made him frustrated and doubt himself sometimes, if Charlotte didn't regret married down to him! 😞
Silly Thomas, but I do like to smack Charlotte now and again and serve her right when Thomas lost his temper! Well, that's the first 😂
Good thing everything back to normal after that. 😊
And Charlotte got pretty flowers from Thomas too, even thought with words, 'this is not an apology' hm... alright 😂
Next one looks exciting too. 😉
I'm not too excited with this one, except for the shocking truth on the last chapter 😳.
But I wanted to read because I want to know how Jack (Charlotte's new BIL) started his campaign to become an MP, and that's not started well.
The dirty political part is rather heavy in this one, especially when you just a 'mere' common.
Lucky for Thomas, Charlotte was there to help as much as she can even thought made him frustrated and doubt himself sometimes, if Charlotte didn't regret married down to him! 😞
Silly Thomas, but I do like to smack Charlotte now and again and serve her right when Thomas lost his temper! Well, that's the first 😂
Good thing everything back to normal after that. 😊
And Charlotte got pretty flowers from Thomas too, even thought with words, 'this is not an apology' hm... alright 😂
Next one looks exciting too. 😉
November 23, 2017
Un'ottima analisi dell'alta società nell'epoca vittoriana: virtù, ma soprattutto vizi, con un occhio di riguardo puntato sulla condizione femminile, sia sulle donne altolocate che su quelle di bassa estrazione.
Il caso che Pitt si trova ad affrontare stavolta è alquanto delicato, proprio perché coinvolge personaggi quasi intoccabili all'epoca. Ma lui sa cavarsela egregiamente senza scendere a compromessi e mantenendo la sua integrità morale. Il colpo di scena finale, alle ultimissime pagine, è da maestri: non l'avevo proprio immaginato!
Il caso che Pitt si trova ad affrontare stavolta è alquanto delicato, proprio perché coinvolge personaggi quasi intoccabili all'epoca. Ma lui sa cavarsela egregiamente senza scendere a compromessi e mantenendo la sua integrità morale. Il colpo di scena finale, alle ultimissime pagine, è da maestri: non l'avevo proprio immaginato!
March 25, 2018
Excellent up until the last 25% or so. So disappointed with the ending of this story that it knocked it down a star for me. I love Charlotte, Thomas, Gracie, Emily and Jack and it was satisfying to see Pitt’s relationship with Micah Drummond enter a different complexity. The plot was compelling and the set up for and detection of the crimes very well done but I felt the ending was forced and embellished for shock value only. A disappointing finish for me as a result.
January 2, 2021
2021 New Year's resolution: step away from this series. To be honest, I skipped four chapters in the middle. It didn't matter, because as in the other books in this series, the solution to the mystery is a curve ball that comes out of nowhere in the last chapter.
I still like the main characters in the series, but that's about it.
I still like the main characters in the series, but that's about it.
August 3, 2022
just odd. unexpected. feels like she just pulled a solution out of the hat. no hints or indications
March 10, 2024
8/10
Vivid characters, and while I guessed part of the twist, I didn’t get all of it!
Vivid characters, and while I guessed part of the twist, I didn’t get all of it!
February 13, 2024
I just love these Victorian mysteries.
January 19, 2020
Should be two and a half stars instead of two, but Goodreads does not allow halves. There is nothing wrong with the story itself, which is another good Charlotte and Thomas Pitt outing; but one more than one occasion Ms. Perry's turn of phrase leaves something to be desired. From chapter 8: "Now it seemed from Pitt..."? And from chapter 11: "'Idiot,' Pitt said between his teeth at the driver"? [both italics mine] Also the Ballantine ebook edition needs a better editor: "He was a Mend [italics mine again; should be "friend"] one could not do without, he was also an enemy one could not afford." (chapter 10) Sigh. Perry is too good an author for errors like these, so here's hoping she and her editor both are more on their games for the rest of series.
September 16, 2016
I wish there was a category for finished but not finished. If you like books that hammer on the class differences in Victorian British society relentlessly, go into every tedious and uninteresting detail of parties, teas and dinners, discuss all the details of life including how to make soap, and occasionally go into the actual mystery being solved. This is your book.
About halfway through I gave up, found the spoilers, and got the answer. Mind you, it wasn't a great surprise.
I will not be reading more of this series, but maybe something else by the author. She writes well and has researched the era well. It just took too long to get there.
About halfway through I gave up, found the spoilers, and got the answer. Mind you, it wasn't a great surprise.
I will not be reading more of this series, but maybe something else by the author. She writes well and has researched the era well. It just took too long to get there.
October 18, 2024
And now the books move from crimes among the wealthy in Victorian London and become political. The Inner Circle arrives on the scene, and will be a major factor for volumes to come.
Historical note of interest: the story Lord Antiss tells really is true, pretty much:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebec...
Aunt Vespasia's Age Watch: she is said to be 80, but also tells Pitt that she is not "a little old lady to be helped across the street." She also has a marvelous encounter with Lillie Langtry, where the "Jersey Lily" is, of course,routed by our Very Grand Dame!
Historical note of interest: the story Lord Antiss tells really is true, pretty much:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebec...
Aunt Vespasia's Age Watch: she is said to be 80, but also tells Pitt that she is not "a little old lady to be helped across the street." She also has a marvelous encounter with Lillie Langtry, where the "Jersey Lily" is, of course,routed by our Very Grand Dame!
April 5, 2016
There was a lot of moralising of Victorian values in this from different POVs. Otherwise, I must admit the ending was a bit of a surprise!
November 20, 2018
I actually really liked this installment of the Pitt stories! The mystery was good, and I didn't see the ending coming.
Pitt is summoned by his boss, Micah Drummond, to solve the murder of a usurer. Normally this wouldn't be anything he'd involve himself in, but Drummond has been requested by Sholto Byam, a "friend," to help prove it wasn't him; Byam was being blackmailed by Weems and he's worried he'll stand trial for the death. (Byam says he's being blackmailed for his friend Lord Anstiss's wife's suicide 20 years ago; she jumped to her death because he didn't love her back.)
Part of what's interesting about the murder - really the only thing since Weems was scum - is that he's killed by a gun, a rarity in those days, and a blunderbuss at that. Who could have entered the den of the usurer and killed him where he sat?
At the same time as Pitt is going around seeking alibis for all those who Weems took loans from, Charlotte is helping Emily (who is pregnant) host galas and parties so Jack can win a nod to Parliament. Jack's competition is an amiable guy named Fitz.
Pitt is summoned by his boss, Micah Drummond, to solve the murder of a usurer. Normally this wouldn't be anything he'd involve himself in, but Drummond has been requested by Sholto Byam, a "friend," to help prove it wasn't him; Byam was being blackmailed by Weems and he's worried he'll stand trial for the death. (Byam says he's being blackmailed for his friend Lord Anstiss's wife's suicide 20 years ago; she jumped to her death because he didn't love her back.)
Part of what's interesting about the murder - really the only thing since Weems was scum - is that he's killed by a gun, a rarity in those days, and a blunderbuss at that. Who could have entered the den of the usurer and killed him where he sat?
At the same time as Pitt is going around seeking alibis for all those who Weems took loans from, Charlotte is helping Emily (who is pregnant) host galas and parties so Jack can win a nod to Parliament. Jack's competition is an amiable guy named Fitz.
January 3, 2024
Disfruté mucho con este libro dado que lo sentí diferente a los libros policiales que venía leyendo. Quizás fue por la controversia política que poblaba la trama, porque no conocía a la autora o quizás fue por una mezcla de varias cosas. Vale decir también que comencé por el libro 12, si no me equivoco, de una saga; no conocía a los personajes, no conocía sus historias ni su pasado, fue todo nuevo y lo fui aprendiendo sobre la marcha. En ese sentido, el libro me aportó todo lo que necesitaba para poder apreciarlo, y eso es algo que como lector casual valoro muchísimo. Mi única queja es que el desenlace del libro me pareció más acelerado que todo el resto de la trama.
Un fragmento sobre lectura entre líneas
Lo que sigue es una cita que me pareció muy divertida de leer, porque contrasta lo que se dice con lo que se transmiten los personajes entre líneas.
Los nombres de los personajes están ofuscados como CP y OM.
Mi personaje favorito
No encontré un personaje que me gustara más que otro en este libro, aunque creo que Vespasia se lleva unos puntos a favor.
Conclusión
¡Recomendaría este libro!
Un fragmento sobre lectura entre líneas
Lo que sigue es una cita que me pareció muy divertida de leer, porque contrasta lo que se dice con lo que se transmiten los personajes entre líneas.
Los nombres de los personajes están ofuscados como CP y OM.
—¡Lleva un vestido admirable, CP! Qué tono tan... tan vigoroso. Va usted a la última moda. No lo olvidaré.
CP tradujo en su mente lo que OM pretendía insinuarle realmente: «Le advierto CP que el color de su vestido es demasiado subido, hasta el punto de rayar la vulgaridad, y tan moderno que el mes que viene ya estará pasado de moda, y yo me acordaré de él si vuelvo a verlo y lo haré saber en el momento más inoportuno.»
—Gracias, OM —dijo con una sonrisa aún más amplia—. Su vestido es muy apto para la ocasión y para usted.
Traducción: «Su vestido es insípido y fácil de olvidar. Aunque lo llevara a todos los actos sociales de la temporada, nadie lo notaría.»
—Gracias —murmuró OM entre dientes.
—De nada.
Mi personaje favorito
No encontré un personaje que me gustara más que otro en este libro, aunque creo que Vespasia se lleva unos puntos a favor.
Conclusión
¡Recomendaría este libro!
May 8, 2018
This was book 12-you'd think by now I'd expect the abrupt ending...I kept telling myself to be ready for the abrupt ending...and I was still surprised by it! I'm not sure anyone could have figured this one out.
"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."
"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."
July 30, 2022
Super redundant and slow moving - feels like every character repeats the same theories over and over. Pitt's boss Drummond asks him to take a murder case in a different borough as a favor to a member in a secret society he belongs to ( but doesn't tell Pitt about the secret society). Meanwhile Charlotte is pulled into Jack and Emily's social events because Emily is having a rough pregnancy and Jack wants to stand for parliament. The case overlaps the social circle, with Jack deciding he will not join the secret society. The society member who contacted Drummond had been blackmailed over an affair he had with his close friend (a leader of the society) and when the blackmailer learned that the lover was male, the society leader killed him. The leader then started blackmailing his former lover into political decisions against his conscience, so he killed his former lover then himself. Drummond had been falling in love with the man's wife, so perhaps their relationship will work into a future story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2020
Thomas Pitt is summoned to Micah Drummond’s office. Once there his superior informs him that he will be taking over the investigation of a murder in Clerkenwell. The area is outside Bow Street’s jurisdiction and the move is highly unusual. The case becomes even more unusual when Thomas learns that it is the murder of a notorious usurer, and that a member of the upper class requested Drummond to step in for friendship.
When Pitt and Drummond interview the gentleman, they discover that he was being blackmailed by the murdered man! That is why he fears that he may be a suspect and desires investigation from outside the area!
As the investigation progresses it appears that Weems, the murdered man, blackmailed others who also become suspect. What caused the murderer to kill now and with such violence? Is he an ordinary working man pushed to the limit by hunger and hopeless debt? Or is he something more? Follow the clues with Charlotte and Thomas Pitt in Belgrave Square!
When Pitt and Drummond interview the gentleman, they discover that he was being blackmailed by the murdered man! That is why he fears that he may be a suspect and desires investigation from outside the area!
As the investigation progresses it appears that Weems, the murdered man, blackmailed others who also become suspect. What caused the murderer to kill now and with such violence? Is he an ordinary working man pushed to the limit by hunger and hopeless debt? Or is he something more? Follow the clues with Charlotte and Thomas Pitt in Belgrave Square!
December 6, 2022
Wow, what an ending! As usual, Anne Perry delves into the issues of the Victorian period with believable, 3-dimensional characters, twisting plot, plenty of suspense, and a nice amount of humor. This time, I thought I had the mystery solved, but as the facts unfolded, I felt I must be wrong. In the end, my guesses were partly right, but I would never have guessed the shocking end! As usual, I love the two protagonists, Charlotte and Thomas Pitt, but I also enjoy the recurring side characters, especially Charlotte's sister Emily, the great-aunt, and the housemaid, Gracie. Another excellent part of this series is that, even while children are added to Charlotte and Thomas' family, they never join in too much with the story. We the readers are never supposed to be in awe of their brilliance or in love with their cuteness. The series remains, after 12 books, a series of a husband and wife solving crimes together.
December 20, 2019
Secrets... the kind that tempts and breeds Blackmail... add yet another ingredient in this particular mix ~ a Secret Society... a group of powerful individuals in key places in Parliament, the justice system, the Cabinet and the Police. They started with lofty ideals and goals since they were young idealists then... and for some, they graduated to personal agenda and the warping of their original aspirations as Reality caught up with them... and Micah Drummond, Pitt's superior was a member of that Circle. So Pitt, promoted laterally to handling only sensitive political crimes, was pulled out of his task force and asked by Drummond to discreetly look into the case of the death of a Usurer and he gradually uncovered a whole can of worms. Meanwhile, Jack Radley's political affairs were starting to shape up until he was asked to join the Inner Circle. Brilliant ending.
October 27, 2024
This is the first Pitt I've read all the way through and, because it was my "fill-in" book, it took me 6 months to finish it. In a way, I think reading it in tiny chunks is the only reason I got through it at all because I didn't have enough of it at one time to bore me to tears. Nonetheless, I must say that if you are a fan of things Victorian, this was a terrific book -- it covered in great detail both male and female dress by social class, proper conduct by both sexes by social class, household management in upper and middle classes AND the growing pains of the new police service. In the last 50 pages or so, Perry also resolved the mysterious death with which she began the book and with quite a bang, all things considered. So this was my first and last Pitt but a certain type of reader might really enjoy it.
August 24, 2018
Picked this up in a VRBO I was staying in on vacation. It was a good mystery. Not too dark or gruesome with a few possible outcomes. The murderer ended up being one of my later guesses, but not my first. The motive was completely not one I had supposed. Anyway, I had no idea it was the 12th book, though it was obvious it was a book in a series and not the first. Although there were references to previous "cases," the book was completely readable without having read the first 11.
Favorite lines:
"The only difference is that he knows what it is he fears and I am only plagued by guesses." and
"If you drive a man to choose between death of his body or corruption of his soul, how much are you also to blame if his choice is the wrong one?"
Favorite lines:
"The only difference is that he knows what it is he fears and I am only plagued by guesses." and
"If you drive a man to choose between death of his body or corruption of his soul, how much are you also to blame if his choice is the wrong one?"
May 12, 2024
Inspector Pitt is assigned to the case of the murder of money lender William Weems. Weems was not only making it difficult for poor folks, he was blackmailing folks in the aristocracy. One arristocrat is worried about being named the killer, and tells the police he had been blackmailed. Fortunately for Pitt, Charlotte has been going to parties at Emily's home while her new husband, Jack, is looking to join Parlement. She thus hears gossip and learns a lot about many of those who might have a part in the killing.
Pitt has a lot of detecting to do before he can solve the case and he discovers a few bad police as well as a secret society which is making some politicians do things they don't want to.
Pitt has a lot of detecting to do before he can solve the case and he discovers a few bad police as well as a secret society which is making some politicians do things they don't want to.
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