Death of a Stranger Anne Perry is a mystery book that brings together mystery, investigation, and suspense. The book is suited to readers who enjoy uncovering clues, following investigations, and piecing together unanswered questions.
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The tragic death of a railway magnate in a sleazy brothel has shocked high society. Meanwhile, private investigator William Monk acquires a mysterious new client who asks him to ascertain beyond the shadow of a doubt whether or not her fiancé, a railway-firm executive, has become enmeshed in fraudulent practices. And so Monk embarks upon a journey that will revive memories stripped from his consciousness by amnesia—as a past almost impossible to bear returns, eerily paralleling a fresh tragedy that has already begun its inexorable unfolding.
Amazon.com Review
Private enquiry agent William Monk is hired to investigate a potential case of fraud in the construction of a new railway line. His client is the fiancée of a man she fears is embroiled in the scheme, and Monk's investigation causes a strange sense of déjà vu--a former policeman afflicted with a case of amnesia concerning his prior life, Monk finds both the case and its milieu unsettlingly familiar. His case is somehow connected to the death of a railway magnate in a sleazy area of London where Monk's wife Hester, a nurse, operates a shelter for abused prostitutes. The women have been doubly victimized by an extortion scheme in which the dead man, who turns out to have been Monk's employer during his "lost" years, may have been involved. More than an ingenious way to fill in Monk's backstory, Anne Perry's newest mystery featuring the enigmatic investigator deepens the reader's understanding of an unusual and compelling protagonist and brings Victorian-era England vividly to life. --Jane Adams
From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Perry's latest novel (after 2001's Funeral in Blue) to feature mid-Victorians William Monk and his wife, Hester, offers an ingenious and baffling plot, compelling characters, both major and minor, plus plenty of courtroom drama, but is something of a diamond in the rough. In London's East End, Hester, a former nurse with Florence Nightingale, has established a shelter for prostitutes where the ill and injured can be treated. One night, a well-known railway magnate is found dead in a nearby brothel, and the police presence in the area grinds the illicit business of the pimps and prostitutes to a halt. William, meanwhile, has undertaken a private investigation into possible fraud. His client, the fiancee of a young executive for the same railway as the murder victim, fears her betrothed may be implicated in the fraud scheme. As William recognizes parallels with the past, memories that he lost in an accident seven years earlier start to haunt him. Unfortunately, the book suffers from hasty execution, as reflected in repetitious phrasing, pronouns with unclear antecedents and confusing narrative transitions between Hester and William and between William in the present and William before his amnesia. The result is a challenging read, though established fans will likely forgive the author her lapses because she tells such a wonderful story. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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About Anne Perry
Anne Perry was a British historical crime novelist best known for her Victorian detective series featuring Thomas Pitt and William Monk. Her books combine intricate mysteries with vivid period settings, social observation, and investigations into the private lives of people living within rigid social hierarchies. Rather than treating historical surroundings as mere decoration, Perry used Victorian society to explore class divisions, gender expectations, family secrets, political influence, and the tension between public respectability and private wrongdoing. Her detectives approach crime from different perspectives: Thomas Pitt investigates cases that expose corruption among the wealthy and powerful, while William Monk often struggles with the uncertainty of his own past as he solves difficult cases. Readers searching for Anne Perry books will discover historical mysteries that blend suspense, carefully researched settings, and moral questions about justice, memory, and responsibility.
Early Life and Writing Career
Anne Perry was born Juliet Marion Hulme on October 28, 1938, in Blackheath, London, England. She spent parts of her childhood in several countries because of her father's work and later became known professionally under the name Anne Perry. Her literary career developed through historical crime fiction, with The Cater Street Hangman, published in 1979, introducing Thomas Pitt and establishing the Victorian setting that would become central to many of her novels. Perry subsequently created the William Monk series, which offered a different detective perspective and explored memory, identity, and the limitations of certainty. Over several decades, she wrote numerous historical mysteries and developed an international readership attracted to her detailed period atmosphere and complex criminal investigations. She died on April 10, 2023, in Los Angeles, California.
Popular Books and Detective Series
Anne Perry's best-known books include the Thomas Pitt series, the William Monk series, and her First World War mysteries. The Thomas Pitt novels begin with The Cater Street Hangman, in which a murder investigation reveals tensions hidden behind the respectable appearance of Victorian London. Pitt's work often brings him into contact with powerful families and institutions whose influence complicates the search for justice. The William Monk series begins with The Face of a Stranger, introducing a detective who has lost his memory and must reconstruct his identity while investigating crimes. This premise adds a psychological dimension to the mysteries, since Monk's uncertainty about himself mirrors the uncertainty surrounding the cases he investigates. Perry's First World War novels, beginning with No Graves as Yet, examine espionage, social upheaval, and the...Read More