Half Moon Street (Inspector Pitt) [Paperback]

Anne Perry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 2000 | Series: Inspector Pitt

The body lies reclined in a punt, clothed in a torn dress, head thrown back in a mimic of ecstasy. It is a feminine pose but the body is distinctly male. The case already reeks of scandal and the body is not even cold. Pitt is the natural choice to investigate what he soon realises is the most unnatural of killings.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Secrets and lies, calumnies and evasions: in Anne Perry's Victorian mysteries, these elements, rather than a hat or gloves, a bustle or a watch fob, are the usual accoutrements of refined ladies and gentlemen. Half Moon Street marks the return of Inspector Thomas Pitt (20 novels now, beginning with The Cater Street Hangman and still going strong) to the cobblestoned streets and elegant drawing rooms of 19th-century London.

The inhabitants of those drawing rooms aren't usually thrilled to see him, because he always comes bearing bad news. This time, a body has turned up in a boat on the Thames: Delbert Cathcart, a talented portrait photographer with a taste for blackmail. Clad in a velvet dress, wrists manacled, legs spread grotesquely, skull crushed, Cathcart reminds Pitt of a perverse echo of the Lady of Shalott, or perhaps a debased Ophelia. Which of Cathcart's clients could have been pushed so far as to retaliate in such hideous fashion?

Pitt's official investigation is usually combined with another more idiosyncratic approach to the crime; this secondary analysis gives Perry free rein to dissect the manners and morals of Victorian society. In Half Moon Street, the genteel inquisition falls to Caroline Fielding, Charlotte's mother (Charlotte, who must need a bit of rest after so many outings, has been packed off to Paris for a vacation; her presence in the book is restricted to letters marveling, rather tediously, at the scandalous iniquities of the Moulin Rouge dance hall). Perry's readers will no doubt remember that Caroline scandalized society by marrying a much younger actor, Joshua. Half Moon Street introduces Caroline to his theatrical world, and to Cecily Antrim, a beautiful actress with liberal politics. Cecily poses both a personal and philosophical threat to Caroline, who is disturbed by her willingness to expose the realities of female sexuality on stage: "Should such things be said? Was there something indecent in the exposure of feelings so intimate? To know it herself was one thing, to realize that others also knew was quite different. It was being publicly naked rather than privately." This fear of exposure resonates through the worlds of theatrical and photographic art, as actors, diplomats, and genteel citizens race to hide their secrets from Pitt and Caroline.

While Perry evokes the London atmosphere with her usual skill, her narrative lacks its usual finesse. Rather than balancing Pitt's and Caroline's investigation, the novel lurches between them so that it seems all too often that Perry, in pursuit of one story, has forgotten the other. Additionally, Caroline's reaction to feminist politics and sexuality is inexplicably repetitive; her turgid expressions of horror seem the result of an overly eager copy-and-paste procedure. One hopes that this is a momentary lapse in an otherwise solid series. --Kelly Flynn --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Set in Oscar Wilde's London in 1891, Perry's new Thomas Pitt mystery is all about the importance of being earnest. Superintendent Pitt is summoned to the Thames when police discover the body of a young man dressed in a torn green velvet gown, manacled to a punt, "in parody of ecstasy and death." At first it seems the victim is Henri Bonnard, a functionary in the French embassy; eventually, Pitt and dour sidekick Sergeant Tellman identify the body as Delbert Cathcart, a gifted photographer. Was there a connection between Cathcart and lookalike Bonnard? Why was Cathcart's body arranged in that disturbing "feminine pose," which Perry repeatedly describes as a "mockery" of paintings of the Lady of Shallot and Ophelia? Meanwhile, Pitt's mother-in-law, Caroline Fielding, recently married to an actor 17 years her junior, blushes and stammers as her husband and his theater friends expound on Ibsen. While she's clarifying her views on the irresponsibility of pornography, Caroline spends long hours entertaining Samuel Ellison, her late husband's American half-brother, who tearfully recounts his nation's history ("I watched the white man strengthen and the red man die"). For a grandma, Caroline is an oddly jejune character, and her moralistic musings overwhelm the mystery plot, which stagnates early on. What's clearly intended to be intellectually challenging comes across as silly and pretentious. There's even a pub scene in which Wilde himself witlessly pontificates, and "a pale young Irishman addressed by his fellows as Yeats, stare[s] moodily into the distance." 15-city author tour; audio rights to Random House Audio. (Apr..
- moodily into the distance." 15-city author tour; audio rights to Random House Audio. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Headline Paperbacks; paperback / softback edition (December 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747262322
• ISBN-13: 978-0747262329
• Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 1.2 x 7.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,384,835 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

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Perry's best, April 6, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Half Moon Street (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt Novels) (Hardcover)

His wife Charlotte accompanied by her sister and brother-in-law are vacationing in Paris and his children are at the shore with their nanny. Bow Street police Superintendent Thomas Pitt feels a bit empty and lonely.

That changes when a murdered male corpse is found floating on the Thames. The victim's arms are chained to the boat's sides and he is wearing a dress. The case is difficult because the victim's name remains unknown. Eventually, Pitt learns the deceased is famous photographer Delbert Cathart, an artist known for capturing the essence of his subjects. The placement of the body, a parody of sexual fulfillment, suggests this is a crime of passion, the perpetrator one of the many individuals who have posed for Delbert or have been affected by his work. The diligent Pitt continues his investigation seeking a motive that hopefully will lead him to the perpetrator.

Anne Perry is one of the giantesses of the mystery genre as her works constantly reach readers on different levels, many of which are emotionally charged. Victorian London is vigorously brought to life as a place where men struggle to keep the power that women want for themselves. The who-done-it of HALF MOON STREET is entertaining and puzzling as Ms. Perry continues to be the leading light of the Victorian mystery.

Harriet Klausner

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Missed the bus on Half Moon Street, June 26, 2000

By 

"gcplude" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Half Moon Street (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt Novels) (Hardcover)

I have enjoyed every one of Anne Perry's mysteries, both the Pitt and Monk series, until this one. I was sorely disappointed with the story line. It was weak and predictable. The women's rights thread was interesting and fitting, but the actual mystery was sparse. Not the usual intricately woven tale I'm accustomed to from Ms. Perry. I almost had the sense that the book was written to meet a publishing schedule rather than the natural continuation of a very interesting and entertaining series. Very often I'll think I know who the guilty party is only to find myself, as a result of a unexpected plot twist, to be mistaken in the end. I was disappointed to find out I was right this time. I would much prefer to have to wait longer for the next book to come out and have it be up to her usual standards than to repeat this experience again.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Definitely not her best!, May 19, 2000

By 

K. L Sadler "Dr. Karen L. Sadler" (Freedom, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Half Moon Street (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt Novels) (Hardcover)

I usually enjoy the no-brainer historical mystery which Anne Perry is one of the better writers. She has built some believeable characters with plots and twists that are believeable from the Victorian Era in England. In this book though, like many shows such as MASH that have been on TV too long, she is less concern about her characters and her plots then presenting her own philosophy about pornography. Not that I disagree with her, but this book was difficult to read because there were two different storylines, one extremely preachy, and one that was the basis for the mystery, yet was not built up properly. I hate to go back and forth between plots, and though she ties them up at the end, it didn't satisfy me or what I expect of her as a writer. Maybe it is like other people have written about characters or series which have gone on too long, the author is more concerned with meeting a deadline, then developing plot and character. I may go back and read some of her older books that I have not yet read, but I am not sure I will pick up any future ones. It becomes a waste of the reader's time. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh, [e-mail]