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Charlotte & Thomas Pitt #23
Seven Dials
In the first gray of a mid-September morning, Thomas Pitt, mainstay of Her Majesty's Special Branch, is summoned to Connaught Square mansion where the body of a junior diplomat lies huddled in a wheelbarrow. Nearby stands the tenant of the house, the beautiful and notorious Egyptian woman Ayesha Zakhari, who falls under the shadow of suspicion. Pitt's orders, emanating from the Prime Minister Gladstone himself, are to protect - at all costs - the good name of the third person in the garden: senior cabinet minister Saville Ryerson. This distinguished public servant, whispered to be Ayesha's lover, insists that she is as innocent as he is himself. Could it be true?
In the dead man's less-than-stellar reputation, Pitt finds hope. But in ancient Alexandria, where the victim was once an army officer, hope grows dim. For there, Pitt receives intimations of deadly entanglements stretching from Egyptian cotton fields to Manchester cotton mills, from the noxious London slum known as Seven Dials to the madhouse called Bedlam.
Meanwhile, in a packed courtroom at the Old Bailey, time is ticking away for Ayesha and Saville. With Pitt and his clients racing against the hangman, the trial reaches its pulse-pumping climax.
In the dead man's less-than-stellar reputation, Pitt finds hope. But in ancient Alexandria, where the victim was once an army officer, hope grows dim. For there, Pitt receives intimations of deadly entanglements stretching from Egyptian cotton fields to Manchester cotton mills, from the noxious London slum known as Seven Dials to the madhouse called Bedlam.
Meanwhile, in a packed courtroom at the Old Bailey, time is ticking away for Ayesha and Saville. With Pitt and his clients racing against the hangman, the trial reaches its pulse-pumping climax.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 4, 2003
187 people are currently reading
1267 people want to read
About the author
Anne Perry
360 books3,375 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 176 reviews
December 22, 2022
A Victorian thriller taken from today's headlines!!
Victor Narraway, director of Her Majesty's Special Services Branch, under direction from the very top, briefs Pitt on a murder at luxurious Eden Lodge - the dead man, Edwin Lovat, is a junior diplomat, of no particular distinction, and, under normal circumstances of no particular importance to Special Services. The stink of potential political scandal blew all the way into Prime Minister Gladstone's office because Lovat was shot in the garden of Ayesha Zakhari, the sultry and exotic, beautiful Egyptian mistress of Saville Ryerson, a senior cabinet minister. Ryerson is currently conducting a sensitive negotiation on the price of Egyptian cotton that has enormous implications for fragile trade relationships between England and Egypt, not to mention a delicate labour situation in Manchester district that could explode into widespread strikes with disastrous economic fall-out. The difficulties are rather compounded by Ryerson's admission that he was helping Zakhari dispose of the body but neither of them is able or willing to provide any reasonable explanations beyond insisting they are innocent of the actual shooting.
When Narraway sends Pitt hustling off to Alexandria to investigate Lovat's and Zakhari's pasts in more detail, Charlotte and their servant, Gracie, with the elegant assistance of Aunt Vespasia Cumming-Gould, look into a family matter on their own - the rather puzzling abrupt disappearance of a friend's brother. Perry's masterful and surprising resolution of these two separate investigations into a single case culminates in an explosive courtroom drama - the outcome of which may well determine the economic fate of much of the British Commonwealth.
As usual, Perry's delicious plotlines and superb story-telling are accompanied by a voluptuous description of Victorian life that would have made Dickens or Conan Doyle look to their laurels to see who was catching up - clothing, weather, ambience, smells, sights, manners, class attitudes and distinctions, accents - it's all there in an extraordinary wealth of minute detail! The real pièce de résistance for me came when I realized that the story is ripped right out of today's headlines and world situation. That it could just as easily have taken place in a modern New York or London courtroom made this novel just that much more exciting!
If you're a mystery lover, this is one you won't want to miss out on.
Paul Weiss
Victor Narraway, director of Her Majesty's Special Services Branch, under direction from the very top, briefs Pitt on a murder at luxurious Eden Lodge - the dead man, Edwin Lovat, is a junior diplomat, of no particular distinction, and, under normal circumstances of no particular importance to Special Services. The stink of potential political scandal blew all the way into Prime Minister Gladstone's office because Lovat was shot in the garden of Ayesha Zakhari, the sultry and exotic, beautiful Egyptian mistress of Saville Ryerson, a senior cabinet minister. Ryerson is currently conducting a sensitive negotiation on the price of Egyptian cotton that has enormous implications for fragile trade relationships between England and Egypt, not to mention a delicate labour situation in Manchester district that could explode into widespread strikes with disastrous economic fall-out. The difficulties are rather compounded by Ryerson's admission that he was helping Zakhari dispose of the body but neither of them is able or willing to provide any reasonable explanations beyond insisting they are innocent of the actual shooting.
When Narraway sends Pitt hustling off to Alexandria to investigate Lovat's and Zakhari's pasts in more detail, Charlotte and their servant, Gracie, with the elegant assistance of Aunt Vespasia Cumming-Gould, look into a family matter on their own - the rather puzzling abrupt disappearance of a friend's brother. Perry's masterful and surprising resolution of these two separate investigations into a single case culminates in an explosive courtroom drama - the outcome of which may well determine the economic fate of much of the British Commonwealth.
As usual, Perry's delicious plotlines and superb story-telling are accompanied by a voluptuous description of Victorian life that would have made Dickens or Conan Doyle look to their laurels to see who was catching up - clothing, weather, ambience, smells, sights, manners, class attitudes and distinctions, accents - it's all there in an extraordinary wealth of minute detail! The real pièce de résistance for me came when I realized that the story is ripped right out of today's headlines and world situation. That it could just as easily have taken place in a modern New York or London courtroom made this novel just that much more exciting!
If you're a mystery lover, this is one you won't want to miss out on.
Paul Weiss
June 25, 2017
4.5 stars.
I never recommend this series before, but if you are a fan of Victorian's History time, you really need to read this series. Ms Perry write accurately all things were in that time.
No dancing ball, court the lady, gambling game, horse riding, simpering miss or alpha male!
Nothing of that's stuff that we usually found in HR books.
You will mostly see the ugliness of London in that era. Yeah, not a picture perfect of London but the realistic picture 90% of how the middle and lower class lived.
Our heroine came from upper middle class where our hero is the son of a cook and a game keeper. He got lucky, the lord of the manor was very kind and wanted him to be a friend of his son and give him the same education with his son. Ms. Perry won't let us forget how Charlotte married down all the time! Lol.
When Charlotte and Thomas together, her parents unhappy about it but they didn't complained too much because Charlotte's little sister Emily married a Duke, yeah! Lol.
So in this series we will see how Charlotte's and Thomas's character grows, it has been more than ten years since the first time they met. They are changing too, Thomas's career ups and downs and they not poor anymore.
Of course the mystery are awesome too. But honestly? I follow this series because of C&T:)
Btw, did you know there is a movie about Ms. Perry?
Apparently she went to jail when she was only 15 years old for 5 years! Yes she still a minor, because her best friend killed her mother and she helped her.
No, I'm not making up the story, you can google it!:)
On to the next story 😜.
I never recommend this series before, but if you are a fan of Victorian's History time, you really need to read this series. Ms Perry write accurately all things were in that time.
No dancing ball, court the lady, gambling game, horse riding, simpering miss or alpha male!
Nothing of that's stuff that we usually found in HR books.
You will mostly see the ugliness of London in that era. Yeah, not a picture perfect of London but the realistic picture 90% of how the middle and lower class lived.
Our heroine came from upper middle class where our hero is the son of a cook and a game keeper. He got lucky, the lord of the manor was very kind and wanted him to be a friend of his son and give him the same education with his son. Ms. Perry won't let us forget how Charlotte married down all the time! Lol.
When Charlotte and Thomas together, her parents unhappy about it but they didn't complained too much because Charlotte's little sister Emily married a Duke, yeah! Lol.
So in this series we will see how Charlotte's and Thomas's character grows, it has been more than ten years since the first time they met. They are changing too, Thomas's career ups and downs and they not poor anymore.
Of course the mystery are awesome too. But honestly? I follow this series because of C&T:)
Btw, did you know there is a movie about Ms. Perry?
Apparently she went to jail when she was only 15 years old for 5 years! Yes she still a minor, because her best friend killed her mother and she helped her.
No, I'm not making up the story, you can google it!:)
On to the next story 😜.
June 19, 2010
This one was quite a shocker compared to most of Anne's lightweight mysteries. England was occupying Egypt at the time, though not officially. In England an Egyptian woman is accused if killing a minor government official in the middle of the night in her own garden. When the police arrive due to an anonymous informant, her lover, and senior member of Parliament who represents the area in England where raw Egyptian cotton is processed into fabric, has arrived. She claims to have found him dead rather than killed the man. The Parliament member admits to planning to help her hide the body though he does not believe she murdered him. The whole time Pitt is investigating this his wife is trying to find information on a missing servant who is the brother of her own cook. Eventually the two cases tie together in a way you would never have expected and the reason for the killing and the involvement of the Parliment official is a total surprise. The final scene is really out of character for Anne Perry's writing and is an excellent ending.
June 4, 2009
Really, really liked this one! I think part of my enjoyment of this AP book in the Pitt Series stems from my interest in history. Basically, an Egyptian born woman is arrested for the murder of a minor diplomat in the British government. The murder takes place in her garden in the wee small hours of the morning and the woman is the mistress of an important minister in the British government hierarchy. He is on the scene when she is arrested. Thomas Pitt, who is now an agent in Special Branch, which appears to be something similar to our CIA, is called in to try and keep the minister out of any connection with the murder. That soon becomes impossible to do, however, because the minister is known to have been assisting the woman to remove the body from her premises. Before all is said and done in this story Pitt finds himself in Alexandria, Egypt trying to track down the whys and wherefores of the victim and his supposed killer. Pitt and his boss work hard to prove the innocence of the accused murderer and her politically important lover and at the same time, keep the economy of the British Empire intact.
September 11, 2007
London detective Thomas Pitt is investigating the murder of a junior diplomat by a notorious Egyptian woman and her lover, a senior Cabinet minister involved in negotiating the conflict between Egypt's cotton growers and England's textile industry. Lovat, the diplomat, once served in Egypt, and to unravel the mystery of his death, Pitt travels to Alexandria, where he finds that the beautiful Ayesha Zakhari is not who she appears to be--and that Lovat's murder may be tied to an old crime which, if exposed, could set the Middle East aflame. While Pitt is in Egypt, his wife, Charlotte, occupies herself with a more mundane matter--the disappearance of a valet whose sister is a friend of the Pitt's housemaid.
I liked that this book took Pitt out of England and the way the two cases tied together. Perry is a wonderful writer.
I liked that this book took Pitt out of England and the way the two cases tied together. Perry is a wonderful writer.
March 6, 2014
I'm not sure how one is able to publish 250 pages of unengaging protaganists, barely present accused, incidental victims and a subplot that incredulously absorbs people from four different classes in Victorian England. Then, suddenly, the suspense appears out of nowhere and we spend the next 100 pages leading up to one of the most ludicrous denouements ever. I was expecting far more.
July 22, 2014
Not sure why this was called Seven Dials, it could have easier been titled any number of other places in the book. Pitt goes to Egypt! I was surprised that he was sent there to investigate and that the trip seemed to take hardly any time at all really.
This one had a lot of twists and turns, a few chapters from the end and I wasn't sure how it was going to be resolved, but it all came together right at the end. Was it a little contrived? Yes, but still a satisfactory ending.
This one had a lot of twists and turns, a few chapters from the end and I wasn't sure how it was going to be resolved, but it all came together right at the end. Was it a little contrived? Yes, but still a satisfactory ending.
September 26, 2016
This story was about 150 pages too long. It was pretty tedious throughout the middle of the story - a man is missing and one is dead. Who did it and why? Pitt goes and talks to people. Charlotte goes and talks to people. Their servant goes and talks to people. Great-aunt Vespasia goes and talks to people. Then they all go and ask people again. The end finally has a bit of action which is why it gets two stars.
November 10, 2018
Interesting mystery with Thomas traveling to Egypt for a bit. Always an abrupt solution to the story, but I'm not entrenched in the relationships, so I'll keep on with the series. Missed interactions with Charlotte's mother and sister in this books, but learning more about Narraway was interesting.
"In the first gray of a mid-September morning, Thomas Pitt, mainstay of Her Majesty's Special Branch, is summoned to Connaught Square mansion where the body of a junior diplomat lies huddled in a wheelbarrow. Nearby stands the tenant of the house, the beautiful and notorious Egyptian woman Ayesha Zakhari, who falls under the shadow of suspicion. Pitt's orders, emanating from the Prime Minister Gladstone himself, are to protect - at all costs - the good name of the third person in the garden: senior cabinet minister Saville Ryerson. This distinguished public servant, whispered to be Ayesha's lover, insists that she is as innocent as he is himself. Could it be true? In the dead man's less-than-stellar reputation, Pitt finds hope. But in ancient Alexandria, where the victim was once an army officer, hope grows dim. For there, Pitt receives intimations of deadly entanglements stretching from Egyptian cotton fields to Manchester cotton mills, from the noxious London slum known as Seven Dials to the madhouse called Bedlam. Meanwhile, in a packed courtroom at the Old Bailey, time is ticking away for Ayesha and Saville. With Pitt and his clients racing against the hangman, the trial reaches its pulse-pumping climax."
"In the first gray of a mid-September morning, Thomas Pitt, mainstay of Her Majesty's Special Branch, is summoned to Connaught Square mansion where the body of a junior diplomat lies huddled in a wheelbarrow. Nearby stands the tenant of the house, the beautiful and notorious Egyptian woman Ayesha Zakhari, who falls under the shadow of suspicion. Pitt's orders, emanating from the Prime Minister Gladstone himself, are to protect - at all costs - the good name of the third person in the garden: senior cabinet minister Saville Ryerson. This distinguished public servant, whispered to be Ayesha's lover, insists that she is as innocent as he is himself. Could it be true? In the dead man's less-than-stellar reputation, Pitt finds hope. But in ancient Alexandria, where the victim was once an army officer, hope grows dim. For there, Pitt receives intimations of deadly entanglements stretching from Egyptian cotton fields to Manchester cotton mills, from the noxious London slum known as Seven Dials to the madhouse called Bedlam. Meanwhile, in a packed courtroom at the Old Bailey, time is ticking away for Ayesha and Saville. With Pitt and his clients racing against the hangman, the trial reaches its pulse-pumping climax."
December 13, 2018
I have always liked the Anne Perry mysteries featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and this is one of the best, combining scenes in London and Egypt and focusing on a mystery involving the clash of two cultures. There are also two seemingly unrelated mysteries, one involving a missing valet and his master and the other a murder with no apparent motive. If you love mysteries which take place in cultural milieus different from our own, you cannot go wrong with this book.
January 14, 2019
Good escape fiction. Well written with apparently accurate historical ( and certainly fashion) references. I enjoy the police angle better than the Special Branch angle but I suppose after this many books in the series it was a way to continue growing.
March 15, 2021
Another great addition to the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. The story will take you from England to India with wonderful descriptions of people, places and events. Most of the familiar characters in this series appear and readers will enjoy living vicariously in their world.
December 9, 2018
My favorite of the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series. Great action and engaging characters. I figured out the answer (well, one answer) before Pitt solved it, but the twist at the End was one I didn’t see coming.
April 22, 2012
I was delighted to find several books by Anne Perry in a bag of books given to me by a friend a few months ago. This is a 2003 mystery in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, a favorite series of mine. They are set in 19th century London, and as a bonus, this one also has Thomas Pitt being sent to Alexandria, Egypt so the reader gets a good idea of what Egypt was like at that time as well. Perry portrays these settings so well, I'm amazed at her ability to set the scene without sounding like a travelogue.
Her characters are rightfully beloved ones among Anne Perry fans. Charlotte and Thomas especially with their loving marriage and comfortable, if not plush, home. Their maid Gracie is very funny, but a strong woman who surprises herself with her strength. Great-Aunt Vespasia is a character I love. She reminds me of a good-natured version of the dowager countess in Downton Abbey.
The mystery is difficult to figure out, for me anyway. An Egyptian woman living in London is found in her garden at 3 a.m. trying to dispose of the body of a man and the gun that killed him, which happens to be her gun. Her current lover is also at the scene; he is a cabinet minister, Member of Parliament for Manchester. It's all a huge scandal and Pitt's job is to solve the mystery but keep the cabinet minister out of it if he possibly can. An impossible task but he is now with Special Branch and must do as he is ordered.
I recommend this novel, and for that matter the entire series.
Her characters are rightfully beloved ones among Anne Perry fans. Charlotte and Thomas especially with their loving marriage and comfortable, if not plush, home. Their maid Gracie is very funny, but a strong woman who surprises herself with her strength. Great-Aunt Vespasia is a character I love. She reminds me of a good-natured version of the dowager countess in Downton Abbey.
The mystery is difficult to figure out, for me anyway. An Egyptian woman living in London is found in her garden at 3 a.m. trying to dispose of the body of a man and the gun that killed him, which happens to be her gun. Her current lover is also at the scene; he is a cabinet minister, Member of Parliament for Manchester. It's all a huge scandal and Pitt's job is to solve the mystery but keep the cabinet minister out of it if he possibly can. An impossible task but he is now with Special Branch and must do as he is ordered.
I recommend this novel, and for that matter the entire series.
September 22, 2011
Not my favorite Thomas Pitt book. I've skipped around a lot, and unfortunately, missed a lot in the middle. In this book, I find Pitt is no longer with the police because of great, dramatic machinations in previous books, and now has a new boss and a new unit, a new nemesis (the Inner Circle-honestly?). I think I could get to like Narraway, Pitt's new boss, but I miss the days when Pitt was just an ordinary detective, not a man working for the greater good of the government. And I confess, I've never found any of the "family and friends" characters around Pitt more than tedious, and now there are more and with greater roles. I could only be thankful that Charlotte's ninny of a sister Emily hardly made an appearance, but it seems that Great Aunt Vespasia, our oh so perfect, beautiful, aristocratic matron of the Pitt world, will never be absent two chapters in a row again. I still don't understand the meaning of top secret in these books. How a person can threaten the life of a man if he tells a secret, then turn around and tell Great Aunt Vespasia as if it's no real matter is beyond me. I guess it's just because she's supposed to be that awesome. Give me back my old Thomas Pitt, please. (I wish it weren't too late for that.)
June 6, 2017
Of Perry's two Victorian detective couples, I prefer Charlotte and Thomas over Monk and Hester Thomas seems very flesh and blood with interesting contradictions, plus he seems to be more clever than Monk. Charlotte's fall from being a rich girls to a policeman's wife gives he an appealing humanity.
The hopeless case of the enigmatic Zakhari is interesting because of her exoticism. I liked the descriptions of late-19th century Alexandria and Pitt's reaction to seeing an entirely different culture.
As always class is a major player in this Perry mystery. Officials bend over backward to protect rich bastards as people like Gracie and Tilda are ignored. The crime of the four Brit soldiers smacks of the My Lai massacre of Nam. The repercussions of it take more lives and sanity; talk about PTSD!
The hopeless case of the enigmatic Zakhari is interesting because of her exoticism. I liked the descriptions of late-19th century Alexandria and Pitt's reaction to seeing an entirely different culture.
As always class is a major player in this Perry mystery. Officials bend over backward to protect rich bastards as people like Gracie and Tilda are ignored. The crime of the four Brit soldiers smacks of the My Lai massacre of Nam. The repercussions of it take more lives and sanity; talk about PTSD!
January 21, 2014
Seven Dials is another of the many Anne Perry books I've read when I feel the need to escape with a good mystery that doesn't leave me brain dead. This is one from the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt series she sets near the end of the 19th century. Perry knows her Victorian British history & culture, and she puts together a plot that interests on the level of the characters' lives and on the level of historical and cultural history of the time.
She's not so much for humor; on the other hand, she's not the sappy "too cozy" mystery writer that I see as thinly disquised murder/romance.
Read if you like well-written, intelligent, but escapist mysteries that keep your brain working while giving you time off from, say, "Moby Dick" or "Shadow Land" or Henry James, etc.
She's not so much for humor; on the other hand, she's not the sappy "too cozy" mystery writer that I see as thinly disquised murder/romance.
Read if you like well-written, intelligent, but escapist mysteries that keep your brain working while giving you time off from, say, "Moby Dick" or "Shadow Land" or Henry James, etc.
June 10, 2016
As usual Anne Perry wrote with suspense and surprise. This was a book I could put down until the next reading space on my calendar. BUT.....I was eager to pick it up and follow her rather intricate mystery. Perry's ability to describe 2, 3, even 4 stories with the same characters simultaneously and finish with the stories intricately connected. I think this is what keeps me going back to read more of Perry's novels. I always feel drawn to crime fiction that takes place in London in the 1800's. The description of dress, the courtroom, homes, food, different class of people. Perry continues to have a way to make me feel as though the characters are friends/enemies of me.
November 21, 2024
Thomas's Special Branch case involving the shooting of a minor government official, apparently by the exotic Egyptian mistress of a government minister takes him all the way to Alexandria, Egypt.
Meanwhile Gracie's friend asks her to help find her missing brother, and Gracie ropes Charlotte and Samuel Tellman into the investigation. It's a bit of a stretch that the two cases are related, and the ending is a little too neat, but Thomas's adventure in a foreign land is fascinating, and raises my rating of this volume. Meanwhile we learn a bit more about Victor Narroway, and Vespasia's age isn't mentioned once, both of which are factors in books to come!
Meanwhile Gracie's friend asks her to help find her missing brother, and Gracie ropes Charlotte and Samuel Tellman into the investigation. It's a bit of a stretch that the two cases are related, and the ending is a little too neat, but Thomas's adventure in a foreign land is fascinating, and raises my rating of this volume. Meanwhile we learn a bit more about Victor Narroway, and Vespasia's age isn't mentioned once, both of which are factors in books to come!
December 15, 2015
I could have given this one 5 stars for all it's unexpected twists!
Just had a few slow spots...still very good read:)
Just had a few slow spots...still very good read:)
September 3, 2016
Starts off slow but by the end you cannot wait to see what happens.
April 9, 2022
This was a Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery. A lot was going on in this story but none of it was tied together very well. I will give her points for trying but I think she needs an editor.
Thomas and Charlotte Pitt are a married couple with two children and a housekeeper known as Gracie. It takes place in 1890 England.
In this story we find Thomas is no longer a police detective. Apparently, he was fired because he revealed serious corruption in the police. It seems no good deed goes unpunished.
Thomas now works for Special branch of the government.
Thomas' boss, the taciturn Narraway wants him to discretely investigate the death of a minor diplomat. Who appears to have been killed by an Egyptian woman. She is the mistress of a very important member of parliament. This VIP becomes implicated in the murder and Pitt must prove they were not involved.
Meanwhile Gracie and Charlotte are investigating the strange disappearance of a valet. His sister has come to Gracie in a distraught state. Also involved is police officer Telmun who is in love with Gracie.
These two threads come together but it is very convoluted. There are at least 4 characters if not more who appear in the story to advance the story, but we never see them again. This is where an editor might have helped. Some of the characters were sent off to find information but did not seem to share it with anyone so what use was the info?
The ending was also very convenient and messy.
I have read other Anne Perry novels and this one was very poorly written. Even the title really had nothing to do with the story.
Thomas and Charlotte Pitt are a married couple with two children and a housekeeper known as Gracie. It takes place in 1890 England.
In this story we find Thomas is no longer a police detective. Apparently, he was fired because he revealed serious corruption in the police. It seems no good deed goes unpunished.
Thomas now works for Special branch of the government.
Thomas' boss, the taciturn Narraway wants him to discretely investigate the death of a minor diplomat. Who appears to have been killed by an Egyptian woman. She is the mistress of a very important member of parliament. This VIP becomes implicated in the murder and Pitt must prove they were not involved.
Meanwhile Gracie and Charlotte are investigating the strange disappearance of a valet. His sister has come to Gracie in a distraught state. Also involved is police officer Telmun who is in love with Gracie.
These two threads come together but it is very convoluted. There are at least 4 characters if not more who appear in the story to advance the story, but we never see them again. This is where an editor might have helped. Some of the characters were sent off to find information but did not seem to share it with anyone so what use was the info?
The ending was also very convenient and messy.
I have read other Anne Perry novels and this one was very poorly written. Even the title really had nothing to do with the story.
June 10, 2017
Good story -- disappointing ending. Wrapped it up a little too quickly (last 2 pages....).
In the first gray of a mid-September morning, Thomas Pitt, mainstay of Her Majesty's Special Branch, is summoned to Connaught Square mansion where the body of a junior diplomat lies huddled in a wheelbarrow. Nearby stands the tenant of the house, the beautiful and notorious Egyptian woman Ayesha Zakhari, who falls under the shadow of suspicion. Pitt's orders, emanating from the Prime Minister Gladstone himself, are to protect - at all costs - the good name of the third person in the garden: senior cabinet minister Saville Ryerson. This distinguished public servant, whispered to be Ayesha's lover, insists that she is as innocent as he is himself. Could it be true?
In the dead man's less-than-stellar reputation, Pitt finds hope. But in ancient Alexandria, where the victim was once an army officer, hope grows dim. For there, Pitt receives intimations of deadly entanglements stretching from Egyptian cotton fields to Manchester cotton mills, from the noxious London slum known as Seven Dials to the madhouse called Bedlam.
Meanwhile, in a packed courtroom at the Old Bailey, time is ticking away for Ayesha and Saville. With Pitt and his clients racing against the hangman, the trial reaches its pulse-pumping climax.
In the first gray of a mid-September morning, Thomas Pitt, mainstay of Her Majesty's Special Branch, is summoned to Connaught Square mansion where the body of a junior diplomat lies huddled in a wheelbarrow. Nearby stands the tenant of the house, the beautiful and notorious Egyptian woman Ayesha Zakhari, who falls under the shadow of suspicion. Pitt's orders, emanating from the Prime Minister Gladstone himself, are to protect - at all costs - the good name of the third person in the garden: senior cabinet minister Saville Ryerson. This distinguished public servant, whispered to be Ayesha's lover, insists that she is as innocent as he is himself. Could it be true?
In the dead man's less-than-stellar reputation, Pitt finds hope. But in ancient Alexandria, where the victim was once an army officer, hope grows dim. For there, Pitt receives intimations of deadly entanglements stretching from Egyptian cotton fields to Manchester cotton mills, from the noxious London slum known as Seven Dials to the madhouse called Bedlam.
Meanwhile, in a packed courtroom at the Old Bailey, time is ticking away for Ayesha and Saville. With Pitt and his clients racing against the hangman, the trial reaches its pulse-pumping climax.
November 14, 2021
The title references a neighborhood of Soho that is now quite trendy, with shops that pleasingly alluring and flats that are outrageously costly. But not so long ago it was a dangerous area where plots were hatched, scores were settled, and intrigue abounded. So it is not surprising that if there is a connection between the murdered victim, the notorious Egyptian woman, and the cabinet minister, all found in a garden miles away, it might be found in the seedy Soho slum. England for all intents and purposes took over Egypt when it took on the country’s bad debts on condition that England’s own best bankers would manage the country’s finances. And finances inevitably have to do with commerce and profit-making. So the Pitts find themselves embroiled in matters of international import, all to discover just why a minor government official met his demise in that garden, a demise that may have been engineered with the help of a denizen of Seven Dials. There is not much action here, but the journey and sojourn in Alexandria; the revelations in the Old Bailey trial; and the cozy draw of the ever-unlikely Aunt Vespasia are the engines that keep wheels of this plot churning.
January 7, 2018
I had no idea when I started this book that it was number 23 in a series, so I missed out on 22 other opportunities to get to know Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. And, it felt like I jumped in late - it was hard to develop an interest or connection with the story. However, I will say that the activities of Charlotte and her domestic helper, Gracie, were more interesting to me than the murder case that Thomas Pitt was investigating. All of the history between England and Egypt just didn’t hold my interest, no matter how fascinating Mr. Pitt found Egypt to be.
If I could give 1/2 of a star, I would rate this 2.5, mostly because you can’t start this far into any series and immediately form an affinity to the characters, but I am the first to admit that the plot is interesting and the story is well written. I doubt if I spend any time reading any other Pitt novels because I don’t want to start another long series.
If I could give 1/2 of a star, I would rate this 2.5, mostly because you can’t start this far into any series and immediately form an affinity to the characters, but I am the first to admit that the plot is interesting and the story is well written. I doubt if I spend any time reading any other Pitt novels because I don’t want to start another long series.
July 14, 2019
Back to a four star, probably because Charlotte plays a big part! This is quite a historical view I did not know, Britain's role in Egypt, taking the cotton to be manufactured in Britain because of the American civil war. A very complicated plot, some of which I actually figured out (something I can't usually figure out) .
Thomas gets sent to Alexandria , so we see something of what Egypt looked like to a visiting Englishman in 1893.
The murder that sets up this whole diplomatic intrigue happens, and the suspected murderer is the Egyptian mistress of a high government official.
Charlotte and Gracie get involved when a friend of Gracie's ask her help in finding her brother. Eventually the stories all come together, which helped me figure out another part of the puzzle.
Plus Tellman and Gracie are moving closer to a relationship. Been waiting for that through how many books?! On to the next!!
Thomas gets sent to Alexandria , so we see something of what Egypt looked like to a visiting Englishman in 1893.
The murder that sets up this whole diplomatic intrigue happens, and the suspected murderer is the Egyptian mistress of a high government official.
Charlotte and Gracie get involved when a friend of Gracie's ask her help in finding her brother. Eventually the stories all come together, which helped me figure out another part of the puzzle.
Plus Tellman and Gracie are moving closer to a relationship. Been waiting for that through how many books?! On to the next!!
December 19, 2019
I enjoy following Pitt and Charlotte in the period novels by Anne Perry. This one begins in London where a man is shot in the garden of a little known Egyptian woman. Another man is present, and it appears that it is crucial that he be absolved of any involvement in this death. Pitt is charged with finding a way to clear him. This includes traveling to Alexandria, Egypt, for information. Because this is during the Victorian period in London, travel to far places had to be a challenge, and Pitt doesn't know where he is going to stay or how he should proceed. He is still trying to solve the challenge as the trial begins. Things all seem to be interwoven, so the author has to work a way out of the problem. Charlotte becomes involved as things proceed, and even Gracie, her housemaid, has a part to play.
April 11, 2021
Mmm...no sé muy bien qué decir sobre el libro...y es que, aunque la trama me ha gustado, me ha costado la vida leerlo.
Los capítulos son muy extensos, de unas 30-40 páginas. Aunque hay diálogos que agilizan la lectura, las acciones se desarrollan con mucha calma. Desde el principio hasta casi el final, no hay un gran giro que cambie la historia.
Y aunque el final me ha sorprendido bastante, no es un libro que me volvería a leer ni siquiera sé si volveré a leer otro de la autora.
Además el libro pertenece a una saga, y aunque no es necesario haber leído los otros, si que hace referencia a otras historias sin revelar nada pero mencionándolo todo el tiempo.
En definitiva, tenía bastantes esperanzas de disfrutarlo y ha sido un chasco.
Los capítulos son muy extensos, de unas 30-40 páginas. Aunque hay diálogos que agilizan la lectura, las acciones se desarrollan con mucha calma. Desde el principio hasta casi el final, no hay un gran giro que cambie la historia.
Y aunque el final me ha sorprendido bastante, no es un libro que me volvería a leer ni siquiera sé si volveré a leer otro de la autora.
Además el libro pertenece a una saga, y aunque no es necesario haber leído los otros, si que hace referencia a otras historias sin revelar nada pero mencionándolo todo el tiempo.
En definitiva, tenía bastantes esperanzas de disfrutarlo y ha sido un chasco.
January 20, 2023
This involves two cases: Pitt working in his job at Special Branch, plus Charlotte & Gracie helping a friend of Gracie's track down her missing brother. The chapters go back & forth between the two cases as we see things develop. Then Pitt is sent to Alexandria to follow up some leads & the ladies are on their own to investigate with his disapproval of Charlotte wandering about the unsavory Seven Dials area. As the cases develop, the tension increases & the clues lead us more & more to wonder if they aren't somehow related? This is a great story with political ramifications that culminate in a tense trial. Another great story with fun characters. Oh, and there's some movement on the Gracie & Tellman front, which is fun.
April 4, 2020
This is a good read in which Ms. Perry once again manages to tie all her plot strands together in the end. At times I wondered why she was bothering the reader with some of the seemingly unimportant characters and their problems, and then she started tying all the plot details together. We learned the reason for Pitt's trip to Egypt, the importance of what he learns there, and we see the extent of the hatred of men of the Inner Circle for Pitt. This was a very good novel, and I stayed up way into the early morning hours finishing it.
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