Customer Reviews

Buckingham Palace Gardens (Thomas and Charlotte Pitt Series)

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2 star:		(6)
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Firstly I would like to say I am a long time fan of Anne Perry - I have followed all of her series and appreciate her accuracy and attention to detail as she takes us into. Two of her series are placed in the Victorian Era.

It is an earlier time with the Monk series, but with Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series, it is the waning days of the Victorian era - After Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria was almost a recluse in her grief and didn't execute her duties as she did.

The Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series has always been charming because it features a working class man, a policeman, Thomas Pitt, who through a murder investigation met a gentry family, and one of their daughters, Charlotte, and they fall in love and marry. She has to adjust to doing her own chores, and he has guilty feelings he is depriving Charlotte with the luxuries she is accustomed to - But they are rich with the love and respect they have with each other. They have 2 children, and have a maid, a whisp of a young woman, Gracie Phipps, who helps them. She literally grows up in the Pitt household.

The charm of this series is Mrs. Perry used all the adult characters to be involved in the mystery and resolution of it. But as Pitt has progressed from policeman to a member of Special Services, that cannot happen as readily. But this outing it is Gracie Phipps' time to shine.

There has been a murder in Buckingham Palace. The Queen is away and the Prince of Wales and his buds are at play, in the guise of meeting to plan a railroad that will run the span of Africa...when the ladies go to bed, they have prostitutes come in to 'entertain' them. Something goes wrong and one of the girls is found in the laundry closet and is naked and gutted - blood all around the sheets - and the Queen's sheets to boot!

With the sensitive nature of the crime, Narraway and Pitt are called in to find what happened and on the QT handle it.

Charlotte, and her sister Emily cannot come on this type of investigation. They used to go in and glean facts and clues for him in social situations, and enlist help from Emily's great aunt in law Aunt Vespasia Cumming Gould - she is a jewel in this series - once was hailed as the most beautiful woman of her time, she is still beautiful in the winter of her life and loves to help them.

But the only person who may be able to help in this Buckingham Palace mystery is Gracie Phipps - she is put undercover as a maid in the palace to see if she can find clues - servants in those days were just about invisible - they could be standing in back of guests dining and the guests treated them as if they weren't there - and the servants could hear a lot of juicy things...

There are brief appearances by our friends, Charlotte, Emily, etc. But thank goodness, Narraway goes to Lady Vespasia for advise about the people involved in the murder investigation. Her part is too short, but much longer than our other friends we are accustomed to seeing in the Pitt books.

The mystery is well layered with twists and turns, and Gracie learns that she is capable of helping Thomas. The difference in class is such a major factor - many of the servants even in the Palace cannot read - and they make a big deal that Gracie can read - and even read Oscar Wilde!

Palace's resolution is handled well, and it is another excellent work by Perry -

Hopefully Perry will give us more of our friends in the next Pitt book.

But Perry continues to write true reflections of the time.

I have been reading this series since it began over 30 years ago. I know things have to move along and characters have to grow and develop, but frankly, I did not enjoy the 2/3 of the book with all those bored, self-interested, vapid upper crust folks. Ok, I get it, that is part of what the author is trying to show about the times and the repression in society...but I have enough unpleasantness in daily life that I don't want to extend it into my "pleasure" reading. All that angst over who loved whom who didn't love whom....In 2008 parlance, they soooo needed to get over themselves. The parts with Gracie were most enjoyable. I really missed Charlotte and the home front.......Hope the next in the series is better. Lately, there have been several authors whom I have been reading for 20+ years whose books just haven't grabbed/held my interest, and Anne Perry is one of them.

Anne Perry delivers yet again with this deliciously perplexing Thomas Pitt installment, "Buckingham Palace Gardens."

When one of the prostitutes hired to entertain the Prince of Wales and his four male companions is found butchered in a linen cupboard at Buckingham Palace, the Prince immediately summons the services of the Special Branch to clean up the mess and see that there is no scandal. And the police officer ordered to oversee such a miracle? None other than Thomas Pitt. Honest and with a strong sense of right and wrong, Pitt soon finds many of his cherished illusions about royalty sorely tested by developments in the case. But time is of the essence: the Queen is due back and the scandal must be death with before her return. And when Pitt's investigations reveal that the murderer can only be one of the Prince's friends, he quickly realises that he needs help ferreting out the truth about the rich and powerful. And so, while his superior, Narraway, flies around London using his contacts to find out more about the Prince's friends, Pitt enlists the help of his maid, Gracie, to discover the gossip "belowstairs" among the palace servants, never really anticipating the scope of conspiracy he would uncover and the effect it could have on his career...

The disappointing part about "Buckingham Palace Gardens" is that Charlotte Pitt barely makes an appearance in this particular outing; I did miss her presence and the input that she could have provided this particular installment. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed "Buckingham Palace Gardens" and the manner in which Anne Perry used Gracie to act as Pitt's foil. As usual, the period details and ambiance were superb, and her character portrayals vivid and lifelike. At heart, the story-line was a deceptively simple one; but Perry did such a fantastic job of layering plot twist upon plot twist, that this seemingly simple mystery became an engagingly perplexing conundrum for Pitt and us to solve. If I had any criticism, it was that I didn't fully understand the reasons why one of the characters conspired against another -- but perhaps a rereading of the novel is in order. All in all, however, I'd say that "Buckingham Palace Gardens" was a delightfully engrossing read.

I first became familiar with Anne Perry's two Victorian series about a year and a half ago. I have since read each of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels as well as the Monk series. I received my copy of Buckingham Palace Gardens earlier this week and finished the book within days. For Perry fans, this is Classic Perry. One follows Thomas Pitt as he unravels the mystery within the Palace. What's different with this novel is that it really does primarily take place within the Palace itself during the space of about a week, give or take a few days. I have no idea where the "Gardens" part comes in, as there is no real garden scenes in the book. Would rather have the book titled "Buckingham Palace Prison" to capture how the characters felt. I also want to learn more about Princes Alexandra from the scenes in the book. Gracie SHINES through on this story. She is courageous, she's questioning, she's a detective here. What did I miss in this book? I missed the continued exploration of the relationship between Gracie and Samuel Tellman (Would have LOVED reading what he thought of Gracie at Buckingham Palace! Wished he could have sneaked in to see her disguised as a delivery man or something.), I missed Aunt Vespasia's more meaningful involvement... and of course, the assistance of Charlotte. It is a good story, worth the read, can't wait for the next book!

Kyra

Author, "Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria"

"Prolific" certainly describes Anne Perry. The author of current good British suspense and historical intrigue, whether it's Victorian or World War I periods, Perry keeps up her reputation of "good reads" with her latest Thomas Pitt adventure, "Buckingham Palace Gardens."

Inspector Pitt, the irascible and intrepid central figure, is awakened "by his boss, Narraway, very early in the morning. He's got to investigate the murder of a maid. 'Can't one of the more junior policemen go to the scene of the crime,'" grumbles Pitt. 'It's at Buckingham Palace,' says Narraway."

In Perry's very readable way, she narrows the suspects to a group of house guests who've been meeting with the Prince of Wales to persuade him to support the funding of the Cape to Cairo railway project, certainly a hot and timely topic! Naturally enough, there's plenty of court intrigue here, and as always, plenty of socially relevant significance.

Perry gives us a fascinating picture of Palace life and her hero, naturally, belives firmly in the concept of justice; alas, he also witnesses how the privileged few seem to want to "make their own laws and (provide) their own justice," a theme that certainly is not unique to this particular period. Pitt is able to overcome the usual obstacles, as he has done in all of the Pitt stories. Still, Perry's style of writing--and she handles Pitt with care--carries the book, and with such great ease.

Pitt came to literary life in 1979 with the mesmerizing "The Cater Street Hangman" and then proceeded to lead a successful series of some 18 other books. Perry's similar series, timewise, involves William Monk (debuting in 1990 with "The Face of a Stranger"). A "private equiry agent," Monk and his wife Hester hold their own lenghty series and later Perry introduces us to her WWI set, beginning with "No Graves as Yet." All three are excellent reading. Granted, Perry's conclusions rarely contain any major surprises, but that doesn't dilute the reading thrill and interest-grabbing moments she creates. "Buckingham Palace Gardens" is yet another of Perry's accomplishments!

I think Perry is at the end of the line with the Pitt series. Not much original or unpredictable in this one. Same themes as in all her previous Pitt books, and too much repeated internal contemplation by the characters that doesn't move the plot line forward. Time for her (or us) to move on.

A friend gave me this on my last trip, and I just finished it on the bus from NYC to Washington DC. A century or so ago, four men with their wives are gathered at Buckingham Palace to discuss a massive infrastructure investment with the Prince. One morning, a prostitute is found murdered in a closet. Thomas Pitt, working class detective now risen to Special Services (or something of that sort), is called in.

Ups: The mystery is interesting, and every time I thought it was solved, I was wrong. Overlaying the mystery is a massive amount of class insecurity and reflection from the servants to the working class individuals like Pitt.

Downs: Elsa, one of the wives, spends a lot of time ruminating about love in a not very interesting way. I daresay Perry could have left some of that in Elsa's unobserved mind.

I enjoyed it, but I doubt I'll rush out to read more Anne Perry. I admit that I enjoy the simplicity of Agatha Christie's mysteries, very focused on the mystery itself and less on the people. Perhaps that makes them lesser "literature," but it allows them to fill one purpose very well, which is what I seek from them.

Note on content: No sexually explicit scenes, but there was a party in the palace the night before the prostitute was murdered, and - despite Pitt's disapproval - he must ask some carefully phrased questions. A bit of gore at the crime scenes. Grotesque classism on display.

This book is typical schmaltz with some good atmospherics, but I guessed the murderer immediately [though not all the related details]. It was a fast read but not at all demanding or rich. If you're looking for something light to enjoy on the subway, okay; if not, stick to Holmes.

I've read all of Perry's books in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series, but had missed this one; I lost interest in the Monk series awhile ago. When I saw Perry was coming out with her first Pitt novel in three years, I wanted to catch up. I have mixed feelings about this book; the plot is intriguing (mutilated, murdered prostitute found in a linen closet at Buckingham Palace the morning after a debauch hosted by the Prince of Wales, Pitt and Narraway of Special Branch called in to investigate) but Perry's customary internal musings and dialogues over feelings, life, death and the nature of love/lust/passion began to pall less than halfway through the book. Charlotte was totally absent, and although we get Gracie called in to pose as a palace servant (read spy - and she's the best part, in my opinion!), there is very little Vespasia and Emily walks on and off - literally. Narraway is an interesting character, and plot summaries indicate he and Charlotte will star in the next book, but Pitt seems lifeless and largely clueless in this outing - understandably out of his depth and disgusted by the blatant self-serving hypocrisy of his social "betters", but largely at sea without Charlotte by his side. We are given a few tantalizing glimpses of the Princess of Wales, largely isolated by her profound deafness, but very insightful and aware of what's going on around her; I wish she would have had Pitt to tea more often! I felt the book could've easily been trimmed down by 50-100 pages and would've been tighter, leaner and MUCH more exciting. The last several chapters seemed interminable and then the action felt suddenly cut off in the final throne room scene; I admit, at that point I was skimming but still felt rather gob-smacked . . . it was like Perry wanted to get to a magic page total, and then said, "Phew! That's it then, THE END!"

I will definitely check the new Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novel out of the library, but I wouldn't buy it; I think after 20-plus Pitt novels, Perry is tired of writing this series, and it shows.

I am a longtime fan of Anne Perry and have read all her books. I found this one very tedious and much too long. It did have a great plot but too many intricacies... much too involved and it was hard to keep focused. It was also very believable but I felt I was struggling with all the paths it was taking. I was on the verge of taking notes to keep the facts straight. Nevertheless, I await her next book !