From a New York Times-bestselling author, Charlotte and Thomas Pitt must solve the case of a young gentleman’s sordid murder–before an innocent man hangs. The naked body of an aristocratic youth turns up in the sewers beneath Bluegate Fields, one of London’s most notorious slums. But Arthur Waybourne had been drowned in his bath, not in the Thames. More shocking still was that the boy had been … that the boy had been sexually violated and infected with syphilis before he was murdered. Despite Inspector Thomas Pitt’s efforts to fully investigate the crime, the family closes ranks, stonewalling Pitt, leaving him to wonder what they are hiding. All evidence points to Arthur’s tutor, Jerome, as the murderer. The courts agree and Jerome is sentenced to hang. Pitt and his wife, Charlotte, don’t believe the answer is so simple. But if not Jerome, then who molested and infected the boy? To learn the truth, Charlotte uses her familiarity with the upper classes to draw aside the curtain of lies, while Pitt defies his superior and the boy’s family to follow a trail that leads him into the foulest streets of London through a web of deceit involving male prostitution and pedophilia. In a race against time, Thomas and Charlotte must find the real killer to save Jerome from the hangman’s noose.
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Another great Anne Perry mystery. Pitt and Charlotte are vivid, the time period well-drawn, and the plot – in a word, heartbreaking. I don’t read much in this genre, but Perry creates such a rich world that it is hard to stay away.
It was an interesting read. Lead a path if twists and turns. It shows that even in those days you had to deal with bruocity. Trying to work around the higher ups and yet do what is right.
This is a real who-done-it with the added benefit of a real (?) look at English society in the 19th century. The class structure and privilege of the upper classes is revealed here.
I love Anne Perry’s writing. She makes you live in the era and see what it must have been like. Grabs your heart and and makes it speed up until the killer is caught.
Another great book in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series. These books are well worth reading!
I love her books. She writes very well about the times in which her stories take place.
I really like this series
Not complicated. More emphasis on character development than on plot. Probably more targeted to the female audience
Anne Perry’s mysteries are amazing. You travel back in time. They are intriguing and engrossing. This is one of her best. Both mysterious and disturbing. You will not want to put it down.
Love Anne Perry.
Good mystery, but the reader must have patience because the author makes the same social criticism point over and over. Different plot than most, and the police detective is not as bright as his wife!
This graphic mystery was very intriguing. While the reader doesn’t always know how the plot will twist, the author keeps you reading and thinking. I also found it interesting that the Inspector had doubts about the perpetrator and he continued investigating even after the trial ends.
another great Anne Perry book.
Love this couple and their family
Anne Perry delivers another finely tuned tale set in Victorian times. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt are wonderful and interesting characters.
I like Anne Perry’s plots and characters but her writing talks more than it moves.
I love all her books, five stars to everyone I’ve ever read but this one.
A 16 year old boy’s body is found in the sewers, a child of a family from Society. The tutor is accused, convicted and sentenced to hang. but is he really the guilty person? That’s one third of the book. The following 2/3s involve Charlotte and sister Emily attempting to assist Pitt in finding our who really did it. That part is dreadfully drawn out. Pitt’s boss spends a lot of time threatening him for looking more closely at the case, a lot of bluff and bluster. In all, a lackluster book for Ms.Perry.
Another winner in my favorite series!
This book set in the Victorian England; it deals with the rich and the poor dynamics of the time. Charlotte and Thomas Pitt have to break through, bad cops, rich suspects who want to keep their image clean, and other unsavory elements. A young rich boy is found drowned after being used as a prosititue. His young tutor is blamed and on death row, but the Pitts don’t believe he is guilty. They each use a different angle to investigate. Charlotte works on the rich and Thomas works though the poor to find the true killer. This is a very good mystery and really seems to reflect the time period where it is set well
Good historical fiction account. Charlotte is a nurse with interesting details about health care / disease in the late1800s.