Product Description

Thomas Pitt is summoned to the offices of Victor Narraway, head of the Imperial Secret Service. An ex-army officer and promising young diplomat has been shot and the prime suspect is the Egyptian mistress of a senior cabinet minister. But some things don’t add up at the scene of the murder. When the Egyptian Ambassador puts in a call to Prime Minister Gladstone, it seems a major diplomatic row is brewing. Thomas is convinced Narraway knows more than he claims, and Pitt's wife Charlotte fears there could be involvement with the secret organisation that destroyed Pitt’s Metropolitan Police career and nearly cost him his life. Can Pitt tread the tense diplomatic tightrope between protecting justice, the security of his country, and the safety of his family?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #278093 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
‘Frequently compared to the great contemporary chronicler, Charles Dickens, Perry has a more simplistic perspective on the era, its social pleasures and their consequences...Offering an interesting slant on the grandeur of Britain’s Empire, this novel will please fans of the series, especially those who enjoy the teamwork of Mr and Mrs Pitt’ Scottish Sunday Herald 16/2/03 (Scottish Sunday Herald )

About the Author
Anne Perry's well-loved series featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt has been adapted for television. THE CATER STREET HANGMAN was watched by millions of viewers when it was broadcast by ITV. Also available from Headline are the critically acclaimed William Monk and Hester Latterly mysteries.

Customer Reviews

Not her best
This book is an interesting mixture of Anne Perry at her best and worst. Her best lies in her ability to give reality to her characters - one cares so much about the maid, Gracie, and her so solid beau, Tellman, who are becoming characters as familiar as the Pitts and Aunt Vespasia. The sensitivity to social nuance and self-consciousness remains as striking as ever, and there is an interesting diversion when Pitt visits Egypt in search of clues - a journey undertaken both ways with remarkable celerity for the steamboat age. The different aspects of London's rich and poor are sketched with the customary deftness. Unfortunately, the plot offers scope for one of Perry's deadly courtroom denouements. These are always let down (whether by author or editor) with an unEnglish understanding of British courts. Witnesses take the stand, and do not go into the witness box, and legal behaviour is far closer to the contemporary American courts than anything in a Victorian court (here called US-style, 'courtroom'). Pitt even visits a corpse in the 'morgue' (sic.). Research needs as ever to be done on English usage - English people talk to people, not with them. These errors across so many books are a blemish in a writer of high talent. Nevertheless, there is much to enjoy.