Funeral in Blue [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Anne Perry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

In her haunting new Victorian novel, Anne Perry brings to rich and passionate life the city that she has made her own. Once more she shares the intimacy of London's opulent drawing rooms and guides readers through gaslit thoroughfares that echo with hooves on cobblestones, the cries of street vendors, the shouts of newsboys reporting the headlines . . . of two beautiful women found strangled in the studio of a well-known London artist. One of the victims is the wife of Hester Monk's colleague, surgeon Dr. Kristian Beck, a Viennese emigre who swiftly becomes the principal suspect. Now investigator William Monk and his wife seek evidence to save Beck from the hangman, hoping to penetrate not only the mystery of Elissa Beck's death, but the riddle of her life. . . .

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the enormously popular and hard-working Perry comes her 11th Victorian mystery featuring Hester and William Monk, to the certain delight of her faithful admirers. In the studio of a London artist, two women have been murdered, one of them the wife of Dr. Kristian Beck, a physician from Vienna with whom Hester's dear friend, Lady Callandra, is secretly in love. When Beck is charged with the murder, Callandra enlists the aid of Hester and William. Neither of the Monks fits tidily into polite society. William, a former policeman now working as a private enquiry agent, has no memory of his life before a serious injury five years ago; it may partly explain his cantankerous personality. Hester, a nurse who served under Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War, is outspoken, courageous, passionate, independent and stubborn not exactly your typical subservient Victorian gentlewoman. Indeed, a common theme for Perry is spotlighting the social ills of 19th-century England, particularly the treatment accorded to women. Here she layers a new evil into the plot: anti-Semitism, widely accepted then and a haunting precursor of ugliness to come. The author excels at re-creating the ambience of 1860s London streets, but stumbles in plot cohesion, succumbing at the last moment to out-of-left-field syndrome. Throughout, the key characters engage in a great deal of inner reflection made ponderous by wordiness and repetition. No doubt Perry's myriad fans won't care a whit. (Oct. 2)Forecast: The sample chapter included in the mass market edition of Slaves of Obsession, featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt from Perry's other Victorian series, will help fuel this novel's surefire sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-William Monk and his wife Hester become involved in a murder investigation when their friend Lady Callandra Daviot asks them to help prove the innocence of her distinguished colleague, whose wife was one of the victims. The action moves from London to Vienna and deals with such issues as anti-Semitism and religious and intellectual freedom. The details of Victorian London are essential to the atmosphere of the book and help advance the story as the two search for the killer. Perry is so masterful at setting the scene that readers can picture the fog rolling in along the river, smell the stench that rises from the gutters, and hear the hooves of the horses as they plod along the cobblestone streets. A secondary plot concerns the inner turmoil that Monk experiences as he joins forces with Runcorn, commander of the Totem Court Road police station and an old adversary. When Monk travels to Vienna to interview people who knew Kristian Beck and his wife, he finds treachery, deceit, and long-buried family secrets. Will the devastating information that Monk uncovers be enough to save Beck's life? This is the issue that heightens the suspense throughout his murder trial. Teens who enjoy Victorian murder mysteries with lots of atmosphere will have no problem delving into this one.
Patricia White-Williams, Kings Park Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 574 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; Lrg edition (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078623640X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786236404
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,364,962 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

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a fascinating read, October 13, 2001

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Funeral in Blue (William Monk Novels) (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading the latest William & Hester Monk mystery novel, and I must confess that while I enjoyed it very much, if you're looking for the kind of mystery novel that it full of twists and turns, and that will keep you happily guessing till the very end, you might be in for a bit of a disappointment. "Funeral In Blue" is an interesting and absorbing read, but mainly because of the psychological element in the novel. What makes "Funeral In Blue" such compelling reading is NOT the mystery at hand: who could have murdered Elissa Beck, and the artist's model, Sarah Mackeson, but rather the manner in which Perry delves into the characters of the personalities involved in this novel.

Briefly the novel opens with the grisly discovery of the bodies of two women in artist, Argo Allardyce's studio. The dead women turn out to be Sarah Mackeson, Allardyce's model, and Eliisa Beck, the wife of Dr. Kristian Beck (a friend of Hester's) and the daughter of rising political and barrister, Fuller Pendreigh. The nature of the crime causes the police to focus their investigations on Allardyce (who had been commissioned to paint Eliisa's portrait and who happened to be in love with her) and Kristian. Allardyce, it turns out has an iron cast alibi; however Kristian's alibi proves to be shaky at best. And then Monk, together with the detective in charge of the case, discover that Elissa was a hopeless and addicted gambler, and who was near ruining Kristian with her enormous debts. Krisitan is arrested for the murders of both his wife and Sarah Mackeson, however neither Monk nor Hester believe that Kristian could have committed so heinous a crime. Neither does Elissa's father, who commissions Monk to investigate the murders more thoroughly while he undertakes to defend Krisitan in court. Monk's investigations takes him from the gambling slums of London, to Vienna, where Kristian and Elissa first met during the 1848 revolution, where they became comrades in arms, and where they fell in love with each other. For this case seems to hinge on the characters of both Eliisa and Kristian, both one time fiery revolutionaries, all set to change society and the world, and how they have changed since -- for while Kristian seems to have given his life to helping the sick and the poor, Eliisa seems to have exchanged the heady danger of revolution for that of gambling. What had caused Eliisa to fall into such an abyss? Could her murder be linked to her gambling debts? Could Kristian have killed both his wife and the model, Sarah? An added complication for the Monks arises when they realise that Imogen, Hester's sister-in-law, was a gambling cohort of Eliisa's and who may know more of the murder than she is letting on. For Monk and Hester the stakes have never seemed higher as they battle to help a friend, and protect Imogen from discovery and ruin.

As is usual with most Anne Perry novels, "Funeral In Blue" is an excellently written and crafted mystery novel. The characters are deftly and thoughtfully portrayed, as is her look at the 1848 uprising. The mystery itself gets resolved suddenly, and there is a gigantic element of coincidence in the resolution of the murders, that gives an air of reality to the whole thing, but which could prove frustrating to all armchair detectives out there. What this mystery novel hinges on however is the riddle that was Elissa Beck. And that is what makes this novel such an absorbing read.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funeral in Blue - Yahoo! Yahoo! Perry fan returns., November 12, 2001

By 

Sissalou "sissalou" (SAINT CLAIR, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Funeral in Blue (William Monk Novels) (Hardcover)

Buy this book. The purpose of this review is not to tell the plot but rather to assure Perry fans that her "Funeral in Blue" is a fine piece of storytelling.

If you are a William Monk fan, you will enjoy this book especially if you are more interested in puzzles than Perry-philosophy. "Funeral in Blue" has a better balance between storytelling and philosophy than most of the recent Monk novels. If you liked "The Face of a Stranger," you will be relieved to read "Funeral in Blue" because it seemed that the recent Monk novels focused more on the "other" characters than Monk and his wife Hester; this book returns its focus to its namesake.

I rated the book like this: Two stars for Ms. Perry returning her focus to Mr. and Mrs. Monk; two stars for Ms. Perry departing, thank goodness, from her usual sordid murder to a crime less gruesome than is her wont; and two stars for the mystery itself. I know that two plus two plus two is six stars, but this mystery novel rated an additional star.

Because Ms. Perry has become somewhat predictable, I had a pretty good idea who the culprit would be (and I was correct), but I have to admit that she did a good job of trying to make me change my mind several times. Give Ms. Perry an A+ for this addition to her Monk series. Once I picked up "Funeral in Blue," I had to read it all the way through. If you like Perry, this one is worth buying.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Monk investigates the murder of two beautiful women., October 14, 2001

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Funeral in Blue (William Monk Novels) (Hardcover)

I used to be a fan of Anne Perry's novels, especially the Monk series. However, for the last few years, I haven't bothered to read her new books, since they have become rather formulaic. I decided to pick up this one to see if anything has changed.

"Funeral in Blue" is another in the series of William Monk mysteries set in Victorian England. William Monk is a former policeman who is now a private investigator, and Hester Latterly, his wife, is a nurse who is married to Monk. In "Funeral in Blue," two women are murdered in the studio of an artist, Argo Allardyce. One of the women, Elissa Beck, is the wife of Kristian Beck, a respected physician with whom Hester has worked. The other woman is an artist's model. Both women were strangled, although the police have no idea why they were killed or who did it. Hester has a personal interest in this case, since her good friend, Callandra Daviot, secretly loves Dr. Beck and Callandra is anxious that he not be blamed for the homicides.

In an implausible scenario, Monk joins forces with his old enemy, Runcorn, a policeman who is in charge of the homicide investigation. Monk and Runcorn interview everyone who has a connection to the case, and ultimately Dr. Beck is arrested, since his alibi for the night of the murders doesn't hold up. In addition, it turns out that Dr. Beck had a strong motive for wishing his wife dead.

During the course of the investigation, Monk visits Vienna, Austria, to explore the roots of Elissa's relationship with Kristian. Elissa and Kristian had fought in the revolution that took place in that city thirteen years earlier. Complicating matters further, Hester's sister-in-law, Imogen Latterly, had a connection with Elissa Beck that may have a bearing on Elissa's death.

As is usual in Perry's novels, most of the book consists of a series of repetitious interviews in which the investigators try to ferret out who is telling the truth and who is lying. Nothing much happens until the end, when the murderer is finally unmasked. The solution is implausible and it comes completely out of left field.

Unfortunately, Perry does little to explore the relationship of Monk and Hester. The couple spends very little time together and Hester and Monk seem more like good friends than husband and wife. The characters in "Funeral in Blue" are rather bland and the pacing is slow. What Perry does well is describe the atmosphere of Victorian London. The city itself is the best and most lively character in the book. If Perry had imbued her characters with as much life as she does the city of London, "Funeral in Blue" would have been a much more compelling mystery.