The year is 1861. The American Civil War has just begun, and London arms dealer Daniel Alberton is becoming a very wealthy man. His quiet dinner party seems remote indeed from the passions rending America. Yet investigator William Monk and his bride, Hester, sense growing tensions and barely concealed violence. For two of the guests are Americans, each vying to buy Alberton’s armaments. Soon Monk and Hester’s forebodings are fulfilled as one member of the party is brutally murdered and two others disappear— along with Alberton’s entire inventory of weapons. As Monk and Hester track the man they believe to be the murderer all the way to Washington, D.C., and the bloody battlefield at Manassas, Slaves of Obsession twists and turns like a powder-keg fuse and holds the reader breathless and spellbound.
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'Perry's characters are richly drawn and the plot satisfyingly serpentine. However, the best element in this novel is Perry's depiction of the excitement preceding and the butchery during the Battle of Bull, reminiscent of Thackeray's unflinching portrait of Waterloo in VANITY FAIR. As Hester uses her Crimean War nursing experience to aid the strocken soldiers, her feelings of revulsion and inadequacy are especially compelling. A remarkable addition to the Perry canon' Booklist
'Perry has here provided a meticulously plotted crime story with alibis and deception leading enerringly to the solution' The Scotsman
'Anne Perry's creation of William Monk, the nineteenth-century private investigator, has proved a welcome and original addition to the crime fiction genre...stylish and highly-individual murder mystery' Yorkshire Evening Post --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
'Perry has here provided a meticulously plotted crime story with alibis and deception leading enerringly to the solution' The Scotsman
'Anne Perry's creation of William Monk, the nineteenth-century private investigator, has proved a welcome and original addition to the crime fiction genre...stylish and highly-individual murder mystery' Yorkshire Evening Post --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Anne Perry lives in Portmahomack, Scotland, and her well-loved series featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt has recently been adapted for television. THE CATER STREET HANGMAN was watched by millions of viewers when it was broadcast by ITV.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A really enjoyable and gripping book, written with a tolerant view of both sides of the Civil War The war part is a terrific piece of writing and the story does not tail off after what could have been a central climax, but I found the ending very complicated and a couple of minor issues left , to me, unexplained.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
I am a great fan of Anne Perry's novels but this one was so poor that I just could not be bothered to finish it.It felt as if the author had asked herself which politically correct cause she could lecture her readership on this time,decided on slavery,and written a novel to fit around it.A good story flows from good characters and plot not a desire to please the literary establishment by promoting fashionable causes.Anne Perry should go back to doing what she is good at,writing cracking detective novels.Her readers are intelligent enough to make up their own minds on political questions.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Anne Perry's William Monk novels had their dramatic climax when Monk and his love-hate interest Hester Laterly announced their engagement. Now that they have a perfectly pleasant marriage, the mysteries are still interesting, but the special zing Monk novels had is all but vanished. The case Monk faces this time involves both gun running, the civil war, and fratricide, and Monk does his patented asking-around-until-the-last-possible-minute schitck with his usual aplomb. It's very predictable, what provides most of the dramatic tension in this book is the way Hester gets to face up to her trauma from the Crimean War when she finds herself nursing soldiers at first Manassas (aka. Bull Run). There are also some touching bits with Hester and Rathbone, but I think I've spoiled this book enough. If your a fan, enjoy, if you're not, read an earlier Monk - preferably one published before "The Twisted Root". "Defend and Betray" was excellent.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Slaves and Obsession Anne Perry
Anne Perry has written a well thought out series of adventures featuring William Monk. The work use of language is excellent and takes us back to the period, with wonderful... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Terry
5.0 out of 5 stars
An historical novel which all the history is correct
Ms. Perry has successfully achieved the most difficult task to the writer of historical fiction. She got all the known history correct. This book is a great read.
Published on 6 July 2001 by edwabr@aol.com
3.0 out of 5 stars
Can do better
This book is a reasonably good read - the pace of the plot encouraged me to keep going and the section set overseas was more engaging than the rest of the story. Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2000
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