Years ago I read every Thomas and Charlotte Pitt book when it came out. Having just read the Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mysteries, I decided to revisit the Pitts in the later Victorian period. They are as charming as ever although Thomas has now become the Superintendent of the police department. He worries that he isn't ready for such a massive responsibility and the men under him worry if he's ready for the job. Charlotte is renovating a new house while her sister Emily helps her husband run for Parliament. Both of them are worried about their mother and her new beau (a younger man who is an actor!)Thomas Pitt, however, is much more concerned about who is beheading men and leaving them in Hyde Park. There is no connection among the men, but Pitt doggedly keeps searching for one. He must put up with the men under him who worked with him when he was a policeman and have a hard time accepting him as their superior. Pitt's own superiors are uncertain that he was the right choice because he is not a born aristocrat.I remember loving the relationship between the Pitts and was a little concerned when Thomas seems to be too interested in the widow of one of the victims. I was hoping this wouldn't be a rift and as usual, their true love saves the day. The identity of the headsman was a surprise as was the reveal that one of these murders is not like the others. There are also such great characters such as Grace, the Pitts' maid and Great-Aunt Vespasia. A few great stories of her during the Regency would be fun.Anne Perry is a great author writing detailed mysteries and deep character studies that keep you interested to the very end and ready to read another one.
In this 14th installment in the series, recently promoted Thomas and loving wife Charlotte move into a larger home in need of Charlotte's redecorating and restoration skills. Meanwhile, a series of serial murders are occuring in or around Hyde Park, with decapitation being a tell tale sign of the madman at work. I particularly enjoyed the cameo appearance of Gilbert and Sullivan at one of the funerals our Victorian sleuths regularly turn up at to better evaluate possible suspects as they interact with other characters. Crotchetty old Grandmama must move in with elegant Emily and her politician husband Jack: I foresee some caustic verbal exchanges in that household's future. The ending is fairly predictable this time around, but the author has become comfortable enough with Thomas to let us start seeing some possible flaws in his detecting sensibilities--which, all in all, makes him a more interesting character.
This book has a lot of pacing and focus problems. The main culprits are too many storylines and too many "Good god, man, do your job!" conversations between Pitt and his superintendent. In addition to the main mystery storyline, there were significant plotlines about Jack's bid for office, Caroline's relationship with a Jewish actor, the Pitt family's move to a larger house, and the continued Inner Circle saga -- none of which I found particularly compelling. It think it's a common pitfall of a long-running episodic mystery series: the author starts working too hard to continue developing the personal lives of the core characters (and also tries to follow secondary and tertiary characters from book to book to book) and the result is that the book does not stand well on its own.
—Lucy
This is another in the series about Charlotte Pitt and her inspector husband, who has been promoted to take the place of Micah Drummond, his old superior. Resented by the other men on the force who aren’t of the upper classes, and stymied by a case involving beheadings in Hyde Park, many are calling for Pitt to step down. Charlotte and her sister Emily don’t have as much place in the plot as usual until the last few chapters, when they break into a suspect’s garden to find the final clue to the crimes. The ending seemed contrived to me, although the body of the book seemed better than some of her others.
—Linda
Una nueva aventura de Pitt y Charlotte, muy entretenida y, sobre todo, con un sorprendente final...Una vez más, Anne Perry borda el caso policíaco y acompaña la trama con una diminuta subtrama que a mí, en particular, me resulta muy interesante: el cambio de casa del matrimonio a un nuevo y mejor barrio merced al ascenso de Pitt. Los arreglos de la nueva casa y la mudanza nos dan esa pizca de vida familiar que me gusta tanto disfrutar en una novela policíaca, pues acompaña al caso sin interrumpirlo, pero añade un toque de realidad a los personajes que me encanta.Por otra parte, las presiones que sufre el nuevo superintendente, Pitt, por parte de su superior y las disensiones en su propia comisaría de aquellos policías que no están de acuerdo con su ascenso, añaden interés y tensión a la novela.Muy entretenida para los lectores aficionados a esta pareja tan singular.
—Ana Bolox
