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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent commuter read!, 13 Nov 2001
By A Customer
I bought this... to amuse myself on a return flight, and wasn't disappointed. It's an easy, enjoyable read - your brain won't be too taxed by any of it, but you'll keep turning those pages anyway, eager to find out just how the author intends to knit all her strands together.It deals with a policeman who, called into examine a suspicious death, becomes the key witness in the the murderer's trial. It's somewhat unusual in that from the beginning, we know *who* committed the murder, but not why. And when we start getting into why, the novel takes on a real life, with characters I cared about and a twist-and-turn plot. The policeman is sent into exile -- well, the East End -- and his colleagues and family set about figuring out why catching a murderer should have caused this purdah. The result takes in republicans, royalists, the Prince of Wales, the Ripper, not to mention half of London's top movers and shakers of the time. There's courtroom drama, exciting chase scenes, villanous big bosses and nosey journalists. . .no new ground being trodden here, but tried and tested formalae applied with an expert hand. It's set at the end of the Victorian era, with detail enough to get the imagery alive but not too over the top - this is a thriller first and foremost, not a historical treatise. Perry isn't trying to get across how clever she is and how much she knows. As I said, it's not a real brain teaser, but the combination of intriguing plotting and period touches make it a great read. Perfect for whiling away those commuter hours on the bus or train. Anne Perry has written a whole series featuring this policeman, so I'm off to find the rest!
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