The Whitechapel Conspiracy

Charlotte & Thomas Pitt #21

by Anne Perry

For readers everywhere, the arrival of a new novel featuring Superintendent Thomas Pitt and his wife, Charlotte, is cause for rejoicing - an occasion to bask once more in the matchless panorama of life in Victorian England, where gaslight gleams on cobblestones and silver spoons clink gently on fine china; where honour and shame keep close company; where the end is sometimes used to justify the most murderous means. 'The Whitechapel Conspiracy' is the series masterpiece, based on real events that shock us today as much as they chilled Londoners more than a century ago.

It is spring 1892, Queen Victoria persists in her life of self-absorbed seclusion. The Prince of Wales outrages decent people with his mistresses and profligate ways. The grisly killings of Whitechapel prostitutes by a man dubbed Jack the Ripper remain a frightening enigma. And in a packed Old Bailey courtroom, distinguished soldier John Adinett is sentenced to hang for the inexplicable murder of his friend, Martin Fetters.

Though Thomas Pitt should receive praise for providing key testimony in the Fetters investigation, Adinett's powerful friends of the secretive Inner Circle make sure he is vilified instead. Thus Pitt is suddenly relieved of his Bow Street command and reassigned to the clandestine Special Branch in the dangerous East End. There he must investigate alleged anarchist plots, working undercover and earning a living, far from his family, in Whitechapel, one of the area's worst slums. His allies are few - among them clever Charlotte and intrepid Gracie, the maid who knows the neighbourhood and can manoeuvre it without raising eyebrows. But neither of them anticipates the horrors soon to be revealed.

'The Whitechapel Conspiracy' resonates from the degraded depths of the East End to the seats of the mighty. Anne Perry weaves history into a rich and seamless tapestry of suspense.

"Bow Street Superintendent Thomas Pitt and his wife, Charlotte, return in an intricately plotted and highly atmospheric novel of murder and political conspiracy that moves from elegant drawing rooms to the most desperate slums in late Victorian London. An Anne Perry novel is a delight to read as much for its Victorian-era details as for the mystery it unfolds."
- Chicago Tribune

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical, Crime, Victorian

341 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Anne 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

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting historical political thriller (plus a dash of romance)!

In the course of investigating a death that most considered accidental, Thomas Pitt, Superintendent of the Bow Street Station, compiles a package of damning circumstantial evidence that sends John Adinett to the gallows for the murder of his friend, Martin Fetters - traveler, antiquarian, and a vocal anti-royalist with strong republican sentiments. While the evidence leaves no question in the minds of the jurors as to guilt, Pitt can see no reason why Adinett would have murdered his long-time friend and is unsatisfied with the results of his investigation. Adinett's cronies, members of a shadowy cabal known as the "Inner Circle" whose secret membership and pledge of loyalty to one another includes men from the highest level of English society exact a swift, brutal revenge on Pitt for Adinett's execution. He is removed from his command in Bow Street Station and exiled to an undercover operation with the Special Branch in Spitalfields, a grimy London slum, looking for elusive evidence of the operations of anarchists.

Pitt is forced to live away from his family. In order to clear his name, to prove him right and to allow Pitt to return to hearth and home, his canny, strong minded, and very feminine wife, Charlotte, their tough cockney maid, Gracie, her beau, Sergeant Tellman, and their aunt, Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould, seek out the mysterious missing motive for Fetters' murder. They uncover a frightening Inner Circle conspiracy to foment violent revolution in working class England, destroy the monarchy and replace the existing government with a republic, a senate and a president. While every reader will have no doubt the climax of the story will wrap up Charlotte's and Thomas' separate investigations neatly into a single conclusion, Perry has pulled a real rabbit out of her hat by tying the Inner Circle's nefarious revolutionary ideas into the gruesome Whitechapel Ripper killings with an exciting and novel re-interpretation of the long-standing theory that Jack was a member of the Royal family.

Less focused on Victorian atmosphere and scenery than usual, Perry has used THE WHITECHAPEL CONSPIRACY to concentrate on development of her key characters. The relationship between Gracie and Tellman, in particular, is heartwarming and no reader will fail to cheer them on as they come to the realization that they care for one another deeply but remain uncertain as to how to act on their growing affection for one another. The plot, a realistic believable political thriller, is cleverly drawn on the real life Victorian working man's disgust with Prince Albert's profligate spending habits and dissolute lifestyle and the increasing distance and isolation between Queen Victoria and her subjects. The labyrinthine twists and turns that finally disclose the identity of the bad guys in the Inner Circle but leave the identity of the Ripper a continuing mystery are ingenious and surprising without being forced or contrived.

Perry has produced another winner that will thrill Thomas and Charlotte's legion of followers.


Paul Weiss

[Fonch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ladies and gentlemen, I do not know if I will have time to finish this criticism. It is true that I had other criticisms in mind, but given the public's interest in this book I thought about advancing my analysis of it. There will be time to write the reviews of"The Straw in the Eye of the God" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... "Queen's Gambit" by Walter Tevis https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... the interesting"Antigone" by Sophocles https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... or"The Princess of Cleves" by Madame de Lafayette https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... I still have many works from which to extract its juice , but with this book I must confess something to the user of Goodreads. As my mom says I've enjoyed this book as much as a pig in a puddle. I didn't think when I chose it to read at random that I was going to have as much fun as I've had reading this book.
The story isn't even from what it looks like is one of Inspector Pitt's first. It seems from what I've seen in Goodreads that this story is the twenty-first of the Victorian inspector and his lovely wife. There is little in this book that has let me down. He has achieved something rare that captures my attention from beginning to end. It's impeccably well written, and it has added merit this year I'm not putting many fives in Goodreads to fiction books. Not because I don't want to, but because the books I'm reading don't live up to what I demand. So although I had doubts, and it may be exaggerated the note that I have put to it seems to me just because of how well I have had a good time reading it.
I certainly don't know how the previous book in the Pitt and Charlotte series would end, but the beginning of this book couldn't be more fascinating there's a trial, and the cop who apprehended Addinet the criminal Thomas Pitt should be part of the witnesses. Both pitt's dialogues with prosecutor Ardal Juster and defense attorney Reginald Greave are impeccable. It shows how the judicial system works and the tricks of both the prosecutor and the lawyer not to do justice, but to win. Although in this case we see more animosity of the lawyer than is convenient. But let's go my father who has attended trials, as an expert has referred to me on occasions that is as Anne Perry tells in this novel. It seeks to show fissures in the witness, and if his testimony can be annulled by discrediting him, harassing him, or through other unethical subterfuges it will be carried out. We see how Greave at first subjects Pitt to a media lynching, and that you use the dirtiest tricks to compromise a hostile witness, and that on top of that he has been the one who has arrested his client. True, Greave's tactics are despicable, but we see that he has his motives for conducting such an aggressive defense. For the rest, although we know that the criminal has been found, Pitt's testimony has a weak point and that is that he has discovered the criminal, but it seems incredible that the murderer has killed the victim, being such friends, and with common interests. Pitt's testimony of guilt is very fragile, and I frankly if instead of being the reader of the novel had been part of the jury I would not have ruled the case as Proposed by Anne Perry, but surely without knowing the information that Anne Perry has given me I would have opted for acquittal. We know how John Addinett has killed Martin Fetters an eminent archaeologist, and of Jacobin, republican political leanings, but we do not know the motive, or the cause for what he did. So the first surprise I got in this book. Despite having read it on the flap is that the jury chooses the guilt of the defendant. After reading the novel I think I'm starting to get an idea of why the jury chose guilt. Despite pitt's testimony generating so many doubts, and despite Greave having presented him as a person who has a social resentment against nobility, and who is an individualist who goes above the norms and does not take into consideration his superiors.
Of course as the shrewd users of Goodreads can see, it is a very attractive start, and suggestive that hooks the reader from the first moment. For the realism and perfection with which Anne Perry has told it (it was time that finally in a review I had to be Dr. Jekyll, and not Hyde, not a construct :-)). However the interesting thing comes from here Adinnett who has been sentenced to death by the jury. The judge in this case, despite the pressures, has not allowed himself to buy or extort, and has not been the puppet of the power group that supports Addinett, who like a certain pig of the Simpsons has very influential friends. Perhaps one of the most successful points of interest is for the author to explain how secret societies, factions and power groups work. The only criticism I'm going to make of Anne Perry is this. It is a pity that he chose to present to us through conversations the machinations of the inner circle. It would have been a little more policemanship, and it would have been more entertaining to the reader if the reader had not known the plans of the Inner Circle, and they did not reveal their presence until the end when they should have come out of the shadows in which they were hiding. Because already indirectly the author gives us the information and makes us discard interesting theories of the characters that the reader could have had. The machinations of the inner circle are revealed to us in part because an aristocratic friend of Pitt, and his wife Charlotte frequents these groups. We are talking about Vespasia Cumming Gould, who was a revolutionary in her day, and an ardent defender of liberalism. Above all, of the liberal revolutions of 1848, particularly that carried out by Mazzini, Garibaldi, and his lover (that of Vespasia) Corena. True, I do not like the fascination of lops characters for revolutions as anti-Catholic, as was the one carried out by Mazzini against the Pope, but we must realize that England is manifestly anti-Catholic, and if it supported the revolution of 1848, and then the Masonic Italian reunification carried out by Cavour and Victor Emmanuel II , which in the end served to crush the Catholic states of southern Italy, such as Naples. In fact, until a few decades ago there were loyalist parties of the Bourbons in Naples. In a sense, southern Italy has become a victim of northern aspirations. Anyway the prophecy of St. John Bosco was carried out holy creator of the Salesians (not to be confused with the Lasallians that we are something else :-)). St. John Bosco https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... prophesied that the Saboyana dynasty would not last more than 150 years, and because of the support that this dynasty gave to Mussolini at the end of the Second World War there was a referendum and a Christian Democratic republic promoted by his holiness Pius XII https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... that threw out the Masonic court monarchy of the Savoyards, and also prevented Stalin and his puppet Togliati from seizing Italy, and that was never forgiven by the world left. Hence, in the lifetime of Pius XII, the black legend against Pius XII was taken out, first through the communist newspaper Il Poglio, and supported by liberal Catholics such as Mauriac https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... John Cornwell https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., and Carroll (among others). That Pius XII had been Hitler's pope, and that he had remained silent in the face of the holocaust (as if the whole west had not done the same). This lie had its echo thanks to the lying play called the Vicar by the leftist Rolf Hochhuth https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... and adapted a few decades ago by the overrated and also leftist Greek director Costa-Gavras. All these lies have been brilliantly refuted by the Jewish Rabbi David G. Dalin https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... by the priest Pierre Blet https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Slander, which except communist party leaders were hardly successful while Pius XII lived, and despite the echo of the Western press this crude campaign has been dismantled by the information of the Vatican historical archives and the testimony of the few survivors who remain unless they are Jews of leftist ideology like Goldhagen. However, we have been distracted from the subject, but then people will be able to know what the carbonary, Masonic, liberal and anti-Catholic dream was left with. Precisely the great merit of this novel, amen, to be a magnificent detective and investigative novel. It is to make the world aware of the damage that revolutions can do. That they would not solve the ills they set out to remedy, but would cause a great deal of innocent victims. It should be remembered above all that the French Revolution what killed the most were not nobles, and priests (it would have been wrong if it had done so, which it also did). But the greatest number of victims of the French revolution were mostly peasants, and Bueguese, and that part of being an expansive war of conquest. It was also a brutal civil war, but ask Chuanes, and Vendeanos. A Revolution that the West celebrates, but has little to celebrate. Human Rights were only for a minority, and for a caste no more numerous. A revolution that proscribes the worker, despite the Brissotines encouraged slavery, and the slave trade, reestablished by Napoleon again, and is antifeminist look at the case of Olympia Gouges https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , and Anne Theorigne. Even in the opinion of the British historian Christopher Henry Dawson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... the mountain rule of the Jacobins was the origin of most of the totalitarianisms of the twentieth and twenty-first century. Not to mention that in the end it ended up in the form of a personal empire and with power in the hands of a single person just like when it was started. One wonders, therefore, what is to be celebrated? Hence, one shows his sympathies for the protagonists of this novel. In fact we see how the secret circle retaliates against Thomas Pitt, and as punishment moves him from the Bow Street police station to Spitafalls, near White Chapekl. One of the most dodgy neighborhoods of London, to discover anarchist plots, and not only that stop all the conatuses that can cause the fall of the government and the Victorian monarchy. This will cause a good thing (because to me to see Pitt in one of the scenarios where the conspiracy was going to take place was a glaring mistake). But on the other hand this makes him indirectly and involuntarily have to delegate to his friends. Here I find a coincidence in the novel of Anne Perry with those of my friend Professor Manuel Alfonseca https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/series/1836... in his saga of the Trasition sleuths we see how Vicky the future wife of the protagonist ends up stealing the snack from the protagonists, and ends up being at least as good a detective as Gonzalo (maybe even better than him) (by the way if you have not read the saga of the hounds of the Transition this server recommends it very strongly and is available in English and Spanish). This also happens in Anne Perry's novel, where it is Charlotte and her maid Gracie who investigate a part of the mystery that surrounds the novel. Gracie would be helped by Thomas Pitt's crushing partner Samuel Tellman. That he will have to do it in a covert, so that Pitt Wettron's replacement a man very much to the liking of the Secret Circle does not fire him. In one book there are three investigations at once. Each of the agents, or amateur detectives discovers a leg of the conspiracy. Thomas Pitt who is in White Chapel and Spitafills hunting anarchists, and preventing a social conflict from erupting. In White Chapel there are the excluded, or the losers of Victorian society, Catholics, Jews (who hosted Pitt the Karankys) and people of bad living (the part of the industrialist reminds me of part of the "Secret Agent" of Joseph Conrad . https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... , praised by Russell Kirk along with the story of the anarchist told by G.K. Chesterton in "The Poet and the Lunatics" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... and also the most valued work by critics "The Man Who Was Thursday" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... however you can also appreciate the echo of other gems such as "The Idiot" and "The Demons" both by Dostoevsky https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... especially in relation to the entrepreneur)

(continues...)

[Gerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Anne Perry weaves history with fiction in 'The Whitechapel Conspiracy', the tale wanders, sometimes wearily, around and does not maintain very much element of suspense as Thomas Pitt and his wife Charlotte try to uncover a plot to overthrow the government and to discover the killer of prostitutes in Victorian London's East End.

Pitt leads quite a chequered life throughout the novel as he is initially a primary witness at the trial of John Adinett who is charged with murdering his good friend Martin Fetters. Pitt's testimony is key in the investigation and he is praised for his part in providing it but Adinett's powerful friends of the so-called Inner Circle - a sort of secret society akin to others of that nature - seek revenge on him. As a consequence he is relieved of his Bow Street command and posted to the Special Branch in London's East End, where danger lurks at every corner.

He is to investigate anarchist plots in Whitechapel as an undercover man and he even has to get a job of work to convince those he is trying to arrest that he is one of them. He has a couple of allies in his wife Charlotte, who tries to keep in clandestine touch with him throughout, and a maid by name of Gracie, who proves invaluable in that she not only knows the neighbourhood extremely well but can also get around it without anyone querying what she is doing.

His investigations take him from the degraded depths of the East End to far more luxurious surroundings as he attempts to uncover those involved in the plotting. Needless to say, after the suspense reaches epic proportions - although a little drawn out at times - and Pitt has a number of narrow escapes, everything turns out fine and Pitt returns to his role as Superintendent at Bow Street.

[Karen Ireland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never listen to or read any of Anne Perry books but I must say I have been missing out in a great serious of book and sorry listen to book 21 before knowing there was more.

The Jack the Ripper story has always been one that has interested me for many a year and this take is brilliant and one I have hear before but love the way the story was twisted and added to the serious.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very interesting historical whodunit, well documented, beautifully written – anne perry has based her book on the theories of Stephen Knight, why not, even if it’s far fetched –
We shall never know who The Ripper was, and if it was a mason conspiracy that murdered the five prostitutes in Whitechapel, but it makes a good canvas for a book –

It was quite a while since I hadn’t read a Charlotte & Thomas Pitt story – I had read almost all of them in a row, and eventually I got bored –
I’m glad after my London escapade and the Whitechapel historical visit to have had a good reason to take this story out of my TBR books – there are others, and I’ll give them a go as wall –
but this one is definitely 4 stars

[Geri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always have liked Anne Perry and this book
did not disappoint.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, if slightly improbable plot. Excellent character development and historical research. If felt like I had spent the day in Victorian London. I especially liked that there was nothing suggestive, grusome or embarrasing. It was interesting to have main characters who were just good, moral people trying to make sense of a corrupt and evil society. A good summer reading escape!

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pitt's career takes an unexpected term as fallout from his testimony convicting a man for murder leaves him in danger from the Inner Circle, and he is exiled to the East End of London to do undercover work for Special Branch. This is the first appearance of Victor Narroway, who will become a key character for the rest of the series. Meanwhile back on Keppel Street Charlotte and Gracie enlist the help of Samuel Tellman (whose relationship with Gracie continues to deepen) in proving Pitt was on the right path with his testimony.

Conspiracies are everywhere, and I don't think it's a spoiler to say they include the possible reason for the Jack the Ripper murders, as they are also known as "The Whitechapel Murders." And this ends with a far more satisfying twist or two than many of the Perry books. One of her best.

[Tammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one. I really liked the way she tied Jack the Ripper into the plot

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best of the Thomas Pitt series. Plenty of intrigue and not too much soap boxing.

[Simona Moschini · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uno dei più dimenticabili della serie.

La parte investigativa, quasi del tutto impossibilitato Pitt a indagare a causa di un trasferimento punitivo, poggia sulle fragili e noiose spalle del sergente Tellman e della servetta Gracie, causando un continuo snervante andirivieni con elenchi di strade e resoconti (io seguo X poi la sera vado a riferire a Y e dopo anche a Z, l’indomani Y vuole ripercorrere le mie tracce, litighiamo, andiamo separatamente e per caso ci incontriamo davanti a casa del sospettato…).
D’altro canto, come quasi sempre nei romanzi di Pitt, anche la moglie Charlotte e la nobile zia acquisita Lady Vespasia (che nome meraviglioso) si danno da fare ciascuna nella propria sfera sociale, e qui ci sarebbe anche materiale interessante: compaiono in scena il dissipato erede della regina Victoria, Randolph Churchill e altri esponenti di fine epoca.

Peccato che la Perry, spericolata o forse solo annoiata, decida di intrecciare marasmi politici di fine anni ’90 con gli omicidi irrisolti dello Squartatore (1888), optando per una via di mezzo fra la tradizionale teoria del complotto anticattolico e una tutta sua dove si sovrappongono istanze anarchiche, xenofobe, antisemite, massoniche, più una confraternita nobiliare composta di giudici, baronetti, militari etc. già avversa a Pitt da svariati romanzi (e te credo: finisce sempre per svelare gli altarini di qualche lord!).
Strano, anzi, che neqanche nelle scene delle fabbriche dell'East End compaiano personaggi socialisti o comunisti: e sì che ce n'erano a Londra allora!

Qui, in particolare, la temibile e malvagia confraternita si dedica con impegno a scalzare dal trono la dinastia per instaurare una poco credibile repubblica oligarchica, dico poco credibile sapendo l’eccezionale attaccamento di tutte le classi sociali inglesi ai Windsor: li criticano ferocemente, ritengono di avere il diritto di sapere quante volte al giorno vanno in bagno, ma guai a toglierglieli.
Fantascienza pura, insomma. Peccato.

[Tory Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readers of the Charlotte Pitt series will enjoy the continued development of the ongoing characters including Charlotte, her husband, Aunt Vespasia, and her young maid, Gracie. There is also a tie in to the notorious London strangler as well as a growing scandal around the Prince. It all makes for a delightful read!

[Iris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long but with twisty twists which kept me really interested! Loved the strong and very capable female characters.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best in the series.

For audiobook lovers -- this one is the only book in the series not available in the US via audiobook. I spent hours looking for it on different websites, googling, etc..., but ended up reading the print copy instead. I'm so glad I did!

[Michael Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

After twenty volumes in this series, Perry seems finally to have gone off the rails. A few books ago, she introduced the Inner Circle, a cabal of men in high positions of power throughout government and the professions who enforce loyalty to each other over law and justice. But now they seem to have become an international anti-royalist political conspiracy determined to destroy the British crown and establish a republic. They plan to do this by publicizing the true identity of Jack the Ripper, a story that will blow the lid off the British social order and lead to rioting in the streets. Opposing them, and also apparently willing to do anything to reach their pro-royalist goals, is -- wait for it -- the freemasons! Pitt, meanwhile, has been yanked from his position as superintendent of Bow Street Station and sent off into the wilds of Spitalfields to work for the recently-created Special Branch in ferreting out anarchists and other troublemakers, all in retaliation for his testimony in a murder trial in which one supposed friend killed another. (The details of which, when the author reveals them, are not very convincing.) Sergeant Tellman risks his career to set things right, and Gracie, the Pitts’ maid (and whom Tellman is reluctantly courting), also has a large part to play. Charlotte is doing her bit in the drawing rooms, though not very effectively, and sister Emily hardly appears at all this time. It all descends into a sort of James Bond fantasy world -- but worse than that is the portrait of Aunt Vespasia as a rifle-toting revolutionary on the barricades of Rome back in 1848. No way am I gonna buy that. Come on, Perry -- get a grip!

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

WHITECHAPEL CONSPIRANCY-G+
Perry, Anne - 21st in series

Four years after the Ripper terrorized London, Thomas's testimony in a murder case is enough to convince a jury to convict distinguished soldier John Adinett of the murder of his friend, Martin Fetters, despite Adinett's having no clear motive for the killing. Upon conclusion of the case, Thomas finds himself removed from command of the Bow Street Station and sent to work undercover for the Special Branch in the East End. Somehow, unknowingly, he has offended the powerful members of the sinister Inner Circle, and his banishment to the slums puts him in the middle of alleged anarchist plots and dangerous conspiracies. His only allies are his wife, Charlotte, their servant girl, Gracie, and his subordinate officer, Tellman. As a team, they dig into the puzzle behind the Adinett-Fetters murder, believing that, if they can understand why the murder occurred, they can restore Pitt to his job. What none of them realize, however, is that the murder is only a small part of a terrifying conspiracy, one that threatens the very fabric of English society.

A reliably good author

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a mystery fan and/or a Victorian England-era fan, and you don't already know Anne Perry's books, you need to check them out immediately! She has two series' each with its own Victorian era-sleuth.

This book is a new twist on the Ripper case, involving one of Perry's two separate protagonists, police detective Thomas Pitt. Pitt is a great character, as is his wife Charlotte - who married down when she married Pitt for love. Charlotte often uses her wealthy connections to help Thomas solve his cases, including her Aunt Vespasia who is an absolutely fabulous character!

This particular story is especially good if you enjoy reading various treatments of the Jack the Ripper case, as I do.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had not read any Anne Perry mysteries for a few years...forgot how much I enjoy them! I was not up on a lot of the historical details of the time, so I actually spent an hour (or two?) online researching the British Royal Family of the 1890's and into the 20th century. It was a time when the horror of Jack the Ripper was still fresh, and Queen Victoria's influence was becoming less as she continued to mourn the death of her husband in self-imposed exile (while many Brits became more and more disgusted with the Royal Family and the Prince of Wales in particular). But characters like Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, their maid, Gracie, and Lady Vespasia can always be counted on to remain true to their convictions and find the answers to the puzzle.

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting change from previous books. I've read where some people didn't like the change in Pitt's job, but I think they are just as good, a little more danger and it's good when a book series doesn't do the same thing over and over. *cough*StephaniePlum*cough*

[Giulia ^_^ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was searching for another book to read to help me complete Stina's 2019 challenge and realized that this book would work. It also gets me a little farther in this excellent series and is a book given to me by someone else, so it advances multiple goals at once. Plus -- bonus -- it was not a school book! Hurrah for winter break and the chance to read something frivolous.

This book ended better than I expected -- I was a little worried about the Whitechapel connection because of all of the different answers that people have put forward to the mystery of Jack the Ripper. This book discusses multiple theories, but ends in a way that I can respect and doesn't just use the terrible murders to advance the narrative of a fictional character. I was left wanting to know more about the revolutions and uprisings of 1848 in Italy and elsewhere and was surprised to find some connections between this distinct slice of Victorian England and the current political quagmire of the US. But then, as this book reminded me, there is always somewhere a struggle on behalf of those who have so little and the selfish interests of those who have too much money and the unrelenting desire for even more power regardless of the cost to others.

[Sachi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha gustado bastante, una trama bastante agitada teniendo en cuenta a lo que nos tiene acostumbrados la autora.
Entrelazar la historia de Jack el Destripador en medio de todo el lío me ha parecido genial, me encanta cómo evolucionan los personajes a lo largo de cada libro, cómo cada uno toma su camino y sus decisiones y hacia dónde los llevan sus pasos.
Por fin conocemos a Mario Corena, el gran amor de Vespasia, Gracie y Tellman son el uno para el otro, Pitt injustamente separado de su casa y de su familia y el sufrimiento de Charlotte... Me ha resultado muy entretenido además todos toman parte en la trama de alguna manera, investigan, aportan.
El final como siempre apresurado, pero es marca de Perry no extenderse y terminar la historia sin explicaciones de más. En los primeros libros me sorprendía, a estas alturas no espero menos de ella. Por cierto, Voisey armado caballero y obligado a servir a la monarquía que tanto desprecia... Golpe maestro de Vespasia, no se podría esperar menos de ella.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another different style of solving the "mystery". Give me back the older style. Too much weird stuff and not enough of the meat of a mystery book....

n 1892, the grisly murders of Whitechapel prostitutes four years earlier by a killer dubbed Jack the Ripper remain a terrifying enigma. And in a packed Old Bailey courtroom, Superintendent Thomas Pitt’s testimony causes distinguished soldier John Adinett to be sentenced to hang for the inexplicable murder of a friend. Instead of being praised for his key testimony, Pitt is removed from his station command and transferred to Whitechapel, one of the East End’s most dangerous slums. There he must work undercover investigating alleged anarchist plots. Among his few allies are his clever wife, Charlotte, and intrepid Gracie, the maid who can travel unremarked in Whitechapel. But none of them anticipate the horrors to be revealed.

[Melissa Riggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I could not stop reading this one-such an interesting twist to England's history. Hoping the next book is just as exciting.

"In 1892, the grisly murders of Whitechapel prostitutes four years earlier by a killer dubbed Jack the Ripper remain a terrifying enigma. And in a packed Old Bailey courtroom, Superintendent Thomas Pitt’s testimony causes distinguished soldier John Adinett to be sentenced to hang for the inexplicable murder of a friend. Instead of being praised for his key testimony, Pitt is removed from his station command and transferred to Whitechapel, one of the East End’s most dangerous slums. There he must work undercover investigating alleged anarchist plots. Among his few allies are his clever wife, Charlotte, and intrepid Gracie, the maid who can travel unremarked in Whitechapel. But none of them anticipate the horrors to be revealed."

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has an involved story that just keeps getting more twisty & good. Pitt incurs the hatred of the Inner Circle again, but this time he is really punished & sent off to live in Spitalfields with no contact with his family or friends as a member of the Special Branch. He has to accept in order to keep money coming in for his family as he is no longer in charge of the Bow Street Station. It's a terrible position to be in & he feels like there is no way out as he tries to make good on his new assignment. Meanwhile, Charlotte & the maid, Gracie, try find the evidence that will help Pitt come back from his exile. Aided by Tellman at the station, they uncover a wide-ranging conspiracy they have no idea how to fight or stop. It was so good & the characters faced all sorts of moral dilemmas. I really enjoyed this entry in the series.

[Angela DeMott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m sad to say that this novel (and probably all of Anne Perry’s books) were much more enjoyable to me when I was in eighth grade. Her mysteries aren’t bad, but there are always at least a few plot holes and her characters constantly overspeak and overthink their concerns.

There are a few plot lines running through The White Chapel Conspiracy, but the most interesting one by far is that of the Jack the Ripper murders, even if they were badly researched by the author. The side characters Gracie and Tellman follow this mystery and their growing friendship and co-sleuthing is the strongest part of the story.

My favorite part of any Anne Perry novel is always the characterization of Victorian London and in that regard, this book does its job.

[Scilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize that some of the things that happened in the book were real history. It takes place in 1892, and there is an inner circle which is not happy with Queen Victoria and her son after Prince Albert died. They were also upset by Jack the Ripper and when John Adinett is hung for killing Martin Fetters. Pitt was the one who found that Fetters hadn't fallen to his death, and had been killed by his supposed friend who was a member of the inner circle. Pitt is removed from being head of Bow Street and sent to live in a very poor part of London. Charlotte is helping Fetter's wife look for anything that might explain his murder, and Gracie and Tellman both are trying to help Pitt by following the newsman who is also investigating.

[Judy Sutherland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solidly enjoyable read from Anne Perry. Charlotte and Thomas Pitt are so immensely likeable that I can't help but enjoy the books just for the depiction of Victorian life. I have read this one before, but didn't realise that until the last few pages. Which says that the plot did not exactly grip me. Still it was pleasant. The conspiracies are rather grandiose and it is very easy to lose track of which side people are on. It made more sense on this second reading. The subtleties of the plot mean you have to read it over a relatively short space of time in order not to lose your grip on it, I think.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Pitt is relieved of his duties and banished to the East End of London to secretly investigate anarchists. His banishment is the result of solving a murder, one that saw a purported member of the Inner Circle hang for his crime. With Thomas out of the game, his wife, Charlotte and maid, Gracie, take on their own investigation. What was the motive for the murder? Answering that question will give peace of mind to the victim's widow and prove the murderer received a just sentence.

I have read a few Anne Perry books, all out of order and enjoy them for their historical setting. This was a perfect lazy Saturday read.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has taken me four years to get through the first 21 books of this series. I read one or two that I like and then hit one or two that are incredibly boring, filled with "soap opera elements" (dawn out discussions of social situations, the characters feelings, etc.) and very little in the way of a murder mystery. After those books, I put the series aside for several months before moving on to the next book. This book was a pleasant change. It had much less soap opera and more of the "who dunnit" factor and I will be proceeding right on to the next book which I hope will be similar, but based on past experience I'm skeptical.