The Face of a Stranger [Mass Market Paperback]

Anne Perry (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Ivy Books (1997)
• ASIN: B000RDN90I
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,308,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including Dark Assassin and The Shifting Tide, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including The Cater Street Hangman, Calandar Square, Buckingham Palace Gardens and Long Spoon Lane. She is also the author of the World War I novels No Graves As Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade, and We Shall Not Sleep, as well as six holiday novels, most recently A Christmas Grace. Anne Perry lives in Scotland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent start to a series, May 11, 2002

By 

Excession "excession" (Westfield, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Face of a Stranger (William Monk Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked this book up on a lark, just browsing at the library through the stacks. I can't even say what caught my eye about it. After reading it, however, I heartily recommend the book.

The story starts with an amnesiac detective in the mid-19th century in London. As he returns to duty, he needs to rediscover himself as much as he needs to solve the case that he is assigned. I particularly enjoyed the idea that Monk, the protagonist, didn't like his old self that much (even though I don't think amnesia would change a person's basic traits). In any case, the Crimean War background, along with fine writing, make this historical mystery stand out. I plan to read other Monk novels after giving myself a short break.

I think this book will mainly appeal to two types of readers: first, hardcore mystery readers will enjoy the twists and turns of a traditional "let's gather in the library so I can tell you who did it" mystery; second, readers of historical fiction will enjoy, as I did, the gas-lit streets of London, the withdrawing rooms, and the spiritual depression of the British following the catastrophe that was the Crimean War.

All in all, this is a quick read that combines an interesting plot with high quality writing.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll take Monk over Pitt any day., May 29, 2000

By 

Sharon Wylie (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Face of a Stranger (William Monk Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

The mistake Perry made in her Pitt series was developing her characters too quickly--she has had to compensate by introducing a rather large cast of supporting characters. This, the first in her William Monk series, avoids that gaffe by inducing amnesia in her hero--he hardly knows who he is or what he's about. It may be preposterous, but it's also an enjoyable read and an outstanding mystery.

The story has Monk attempting to learn the set of circumstances that resulted in his hospitalization and amnesia--he must face the horrifying possibility that he was involved in a vicious crime, and he knows too little of himself to trust that he was incapable of such a deed. He learns through the reactions of others that he was (is?) not a nice man, and the more he learns, the more he doubts himself. The fact that his past does not come flooding back to him after another bump on the head speaks well to Perry's prowess as a writer.

Hester Latterly and Oliver Rathbone are the edgy counterparts to Monk's dark personality. Though never friends, these three circle each other with wary respect. Monk himself is an appealing character, the mystery is top-notch, and the Victorian setting is quintessential Perry--she has made it uniquely her own.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perry is now two times as classy!, January 28, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Face of a Stranger (William Monk Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

William Monk awakens in a Victorian-era London hospital with amnesia. Over the course of this book, he returns to his job as a policeman, hoping that work will help him regain his memory as well as his detecting skills. What's fascinating is that not all he discovers about his life before the accident is flattering--including the fact that he may very well have been responsible for a serious crime. Over the course of Perry's new series--this book being the debut--Monk's past will at various times haunt, delight, and maybe even endanger him, and the people who come to be his allies don't always like him, but their loyalties to one another shine through. As with the Pitt mysteries, Anne Perry's trademark detail and eye-opening descriptions of what Victorian life was really like make this an entertaining way to read away a winter afternoon