The Face of a Stranger: The First William Monk Novel (Mortalis) [Paperback]

Anne Perry (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mortalis | Publication Date: September 30, 2008

"Richly textured with the sights and sounds of London and its countryside...Solidly absorbing and Perry's best to date."
THE KIRKUS REVIEWS
His name, they tell him, is William Monk, and he is a London police detecive. But the accident that felled him has left him with only half a life; his memory and his entire past have vanished. As he tries to hide the truth, Monk returns to work and is assigned to investigate the brutal murder of a Crimean War hero and man about town. Which makes Monk's efforts doubly difficult, since he's forgotten his professional skills along with everything else....
A Dual Main Selection of the Mystery Guild


From the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Branching out from her popular Victorian London sleuthing team, Inspector Thomas Pitt and his wife Charlotte, Perry ( Cardington Crescent ) introduces another exemplary "Peeler" (as in Bobby Peele, the first "bobby"), detective William Monk, in this period mystery with a pronounced and satisfying psychological dimension. After an accident in his carriage, Monk wakes up with no memory; ashamed to admit it, he bluffs his way through recovery and returns to work, where he is assigned a particularly tricky investigation of a young nobleman's brutal murder. While tracking the last affairs of Joscelinsp ok? yes Grey, Monk traces his own history and dislikes what he turns up on both fronts. Uncovering unpleasant secrets within Grey's aristocratic family, he also finds his gradually revealed former self to have been ambitious, cold and perhaps cruel. Integral to Perry's rich, unpredictable plot is the Crimean War, graphically described by Hester Latterly, a forthright young woman of the middle class who nursed there with Florence Nightingale. While Monk's unwillingness to face directly the questions of his past is often a stumbling block, forbearing readers will be amply rewarded by Perry's resolutions of both mysteries. Mystery Guild dual main selection.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-- Readers are immediately immersed into the Victorian world of William Monk as he awakens from a coma in a squalid London hospital. Leaving in a semi-amnesic state, he finds his flat through a receipt in his pocket. Gradually, as he begins to solve a much-publicized murder case, Monk's established abilities as an investigator are renewed. As he unravels the case, he also comes to know his own past. Perry leads readers to the solutions of the two mysteries with a fine, comfortable style and descriptions of turn-of-the-century London that are vivid and accurate.
- Diane Goheen, Topeka West High School, KS
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034551355X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345513557
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,597 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" (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