I've been reading Anne Perry's work for more than a decade now. Some of her works I like, others I could gladly skip, and I'm not as enthusiastic as I used to be over her works. When they first came out, her Victorian mysteries/thrillers were interesting because they were a new twist on the genre, but now they're starting to sound a bit too hollow.

This is one of the few exceptions. Yes, I had problems with the plot here and there, and with the various devices, but on the whole, the novel did manage to satisfy my need for a good, interesting read.

In this one, we first meet up with Sir Oliver Rathbone, a noted barrister to the rich and famous. Approached by a young architect, Killian Melville, Rathbone takes up the case. Melville is being sued by the Lambert family, for jilting their young and lovely daughter, Zillah, for breaking off the marriage. As we soon discover, Melville has little on the brain except for architecture and the arts, and is more than a little vague about why he broke off the marriage.

As for the Lamberts, I found them to be reasonably likeable, and wondered myself through the rather excessive trial just why the young man was turning away from such an avatageous marriage offer to a lovely girl and money besides. When the fireworks of the trial (think of the worst possible soap opera trial shenanigans, and you get a good idea of what you get to read in here) are finally over, Rathbone finds himself in even more conflict -- Melville turns up dead.

But is it suicide or murder?

Enter private investigator William Monk and his lady friend, Hester Latterly. Hester herself has a much more supportive role in this one, as she is shown nursing a casuality of the Indian Revolt. Having lost his arm -- and his confidence, Gabriel returns home having lost his arm and disfigured, to face his young wife, Philippa, and a society that can not comprehend the horrors that he faces. Part nurse, part psychologist, Hester is a vital player in this novel. The connection comes later on in the novel, as we also see Hester's relationship with Monk develope to the make-or-break point, and all is resolved neatly by the end page.

There's plenty of descriptive language, a great deal of the society and mores of the monied classes in Victorian England, and a nice style to the book. Perry occansionally goes overboard with the minuitae of the period, but not so much as to make the book unreadable. That's my only complaint with her novels; of late the action slows down so much that we're struggling through the bog of who looks like what, and what they're wearing and the relationship that they have with Lord This and Lady What, that very quickly my attention started to wander in spots.

This is best for an afternoon read without a great many interruptions. The style is readable, the characters still distinct despite being muddled together in spots. I feel that it is the best so far of the William and Hester Monk series, which is much darker and more personable than the Inspector Thomas Pitt series.


The William Monk Series:
The Face of a Stranger
A Dangerous Mourning
Defend and Betray
A Sudden, Fearful Death
The Sins of the Wolf
Cain His Brother
Weighed in the Balance
The Silent Cry
A Breach of Promise -- you are here
The Twisted Root
Slaves of Obsession
Funeral in Blue
Death of a Stranger
The Shifting Tide
Dark Assassin
Execution Dock
Acceptable Loss

A Breach of Promise
Anne Perry
1999; Ballantine Books, Random House Publishing Group
ISBN 978-0804-1-1855-2

Recommended: Yes