Customer Reviews

Brunswick Gardens: A Pitt Mystery

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Brunswick Garden is a story that is set in the home of a highly placed religious scholar. A death there brings Pitt to investiage. However, before Pitt even gets more than a brief glimpse of what has happened, pressure is brought to bear from the government and Church of England to reach a quick conclusion with as little public fanfare a possible. This sets Pitt onto a path that is even more determined to be thorough and as painstaking as possible; he shows he will not be dictated to as he carries out his investigation.

As he enters deeper into the household, he discovers that he has crossed paths with his brother-in-law Dominic Cord - a man Charlotte, Pitt's wife, was infatuated with as a teenager and young woman. His return to their life rekindles Charlotte's thoughts of him and also restokes Pitt's resentment towards him. The fact that he is a suspect makes it harder for Pitt to remain purely objective because of the inner resentment he feels against Dominic. This situation makes Pitt more human and believeable. If I met a man in the course of my work, who was once the object of my wife's adoration, I'd have a hard time staying neutral and not resenting the hell out of him too. Perry catches this emotional load that Pitt has to bear exactly right.

Throughout the book, emotions are barely under the surface. From Charlotte's renewed attention to Dominic, Pitt's resentment of Dominic and Charlotte, religious beliefs etc., there is an current that is almost palpable and real. Where these emotions lead is surprising as well as sad. In one case, these is the start of an affection that can only be returned obliquely and indirectly, not as it should be. While Tellman and Gracie continue thier somewhat eccentric courtship - neither has recognized thier true feelings for the other or if they have, they are reluctant to admit them, to themselves and to each other.

This is a book that I found on par with Perry's other writings. This gives us a new developement of Pitt's charecter - we see his emotions and his own insecurities quite vividly. I think it goes a long way to giving background and depth to the relationship of Charlotte and Thomas, making them more believeable as people. I highly recommend this book to all Perry fans.

I've read the other reviews and I'm surprised that no one else mentioned the contradictions in this book to previous books regarding the character, Dominic Corde! When Charlotte mentions to Dominic that Emily is in Italy with Jack, Dominic is confused as to who Jack is and Charlotte explains to him that Emily is remarried. However in Bethlehem Road, Dominic is the one who walks Emily down the aisle at her wedding to Jack. Also, all through this book, it appears that Charlotte and her family had lost track of Dominic since he left the home on Cater Street. Again, this doesn't make sense because in Resurrection Row, Dominic is involved in another of Pitt's cases and it is noted that Dominic has been a widower of five years. I enjoyed reading this one as I do all of the Pitt mysteries, but I got hung up on these details.

Frankly, I've been finding some of Perry's recent books a tad too predicatable. I found this a refreshing change from the "Emily and Charlotte meddle in Thomas' case routine". They were becoming a little too much like a Victorian Lucy and Ethel for my taste. I had always wondered what had ever become of Dominic. He is the only main character from the first book who we've not heard from in quite some while(of course not counting those that are deceased). Perry's initial characterization of him was so interesting, I've always wondered what became of him. This book clearly centers more on Dominic and Thomas than Charlotte. With the question "Can a leopard reaaly change his spots?", truly being explored. Also, there is a nice inner struggle with Thomas trying to maintain his objectivity, while fighting the "green-eyed monster". All-in-all it's not the best of Perry's books, but it is worth the read.

As a fan of Anne Perry, I look forward to read one of the adventures of Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. However, this latest novel is so disappointing that I am not sure I will ever read another one. As several other readers have pointed out, the culprit is obvious early on. But my biggest criticism is that the explanation of "how it was done" is not credible and really does not make sense. I feel cheated !

Although the details of Victorian society were interesting, I found that the characters kept repeating themselves; rambling speeches that went on way too long without adding anything to the progression of the plot or introducing any new information. Also, I think many readers will be able to figure out who the culprit is - it becomes fairly obvious at the end.

Thomas Pitt is ordered to discover who is responsible for the death of Unity Bellwood, scholar of ancient languages and a "new woman". While investigating, Pitt is reunited with a relative he hasn't seen since "The Cater Street Hangman", who is now taking up orders for the Anglican Church. We are given a whirlwind tour through the Bohemian lifestyle, and are privy to several characters' struggle to bolster and preserve their relgious convictions in the wake of Charles Darwin's landmark theory on the evolution of the human race.

While I didn't think that this was one of her best works, I did feel that Perry was trying to do something different with regards to involving one of the prime suspects in the actual sleuthing process (in this case, Charlotte's widower brother-in-law, Dominic Corde). As I read the book, I felt that Corde, in some ways, made more progress than Pitt. It does make a sort of sense though, since Corde lived in the same house as Bellwood.

I was disappointed that Perry's more interesting supporting characters, Great-Aunt Vespasia and Charlotte's mother, Caroline, barely get a mention. Charlotte's Grandmama only got one good scene, and she is great for comedic relief. I wish Perry could have somehow involved these ladies more in her exploration of how feminism affected them personally. That could have been really interesting.

Still, kudos to Perry for trying something different. Wish it could have been better.

Perry's been one of my favorites in the past, but lately I'm finding her preachy and the puzzle not especially puzzling. I figured out who and why midway through the book, and was bored enough to look at the end and confirm that I was correct. I quit reading it then.

The last book of hers I read, I also figured out, though I read the whole thing anyway. This one just wasn't worth the effort. Pity.

I am enjoying this in audiobook format. The only disappointment I have is that Charlotte is barely mentioned (I've listened to half of the cd's). Other than that, it is a very good story.

The writers of flap copy obviously don't read the books they're trying to promote -- otherwise this 18th installment in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt Victorian mystery series would focus on the controversy over evolution (the original 19th century one, not the present-day religious thuggery), instead of merely mentioning it three or four times in the entire volume. Instead the sociological-philosophical theme (Perry always includes one) is the effect of high-speed scientific and social change on entrenched religion in general and also establishment hypocrisy in protection of the status quo. Unity Bellwood, a brilliant young female linguist who had been assisting an academic Anglican minister with a new book on theology, is found dead at the bottom of the latter's staircase. Was it an accident or was she pushed? Present are the theologian himself, his wife, a son who has converted to Roman Catholicism (and is a real pain in the neck), two daughters (one conservative and the other a would-be "new woman" who greatly admired the deceased) -- and a middle-aged curate who turns out to be Dominic Corde, Charlotte's brother-in-law and a major character in _The Cater Street Hangman,_ the very first book in the series. The clues are very confusing to both Superintendent Pitt and his wife -- the conflicts seem to prove that no one committed the murder -- but there's a reason for that, which most readers will deduce by the time they're two-thirds of the way through the book. Unity's character, as revealed in the investigation, is generally admirable and it's easy to take her side in the struggle to keep women in their place. And Tryphena, the younger (but already widowed) daughter, gets all the good lines in attacking the hypocrisy of organized religion. A pretty good book.

One question though: Back several books ago when Pitt was first promoted to Superintendent of the Bow Street Station, he was being assisted by Inspector Tellman -- who in fact was presented as having been Pitt's competition for the job and still somewhat resented the fact. But in the later books, Tellman is suddenly back to being a sergeant. Is this a deliberate offense against internal continuity, just so Tellman could court the Pitts' maid, Gracie?

This is an enjoyable book overall, much more dramatic than I expected to read from Perry, but is flawed by insidious historical errors.

This is a solve-a-murder mystery, but it's kept interesting by a succession of seemingly contradictory clues and by the possibility of multiple culprits. It's also quite a psychodrama; at times it reminds me of Elizabeth George's work, as one ends up trapped in a room with a number of vocally unpleasant people. A difficult young woman has died, and nearly everyone in the house at the time had some reason to dislike her. Meanwhile, because the primary suspect is a clergyman, the local bishop puts pressure on the police to hush the matter up. The conclusion is clever, neither out-of-left-field nor obvious until the very end.

My essential problem with this book was the anachronistic beliefs and thought patterns its characters revealed. The dead woman, Unity Bellwood, is a feminist, and that's not at all anachronistic; the book is set during a period of agitation for female suffrage. But the way she and her friends express themselves is very much in terms of personal development, of being allowed to "be themselves". Those are very late-20th-century concepts. In addition, when the curate Dominic talks to grieving or troubled people, he may as well be quoting from a modern self-help book; his lines don't have a nineteenth-century ring at all.

Most readers probably will not notice the anachronisms, and despite a certain lack of physical action common to many of Perry's books, this is a generally entertaining novel.