14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Emily Ashworth, Lady's Maid--One of Perry's very best, June 5, 2000
This review is from: Silence in Hanover Close (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)
In this volume of the Pitt series of mysteries set in late 19th-century London, Charlotte Pitt's sister Emily Ashworth relieves the boredom of mourning following her husband's death (see Cardington Crescent) by going undercover as a lady's maid to help Charlotte and Thomas Pitt uncover a murderer in the exclusive Hanover Close. When Thomas Pitt is asked by his superiors to open a three-year old unsolved mystery, he has no idea that he will put his family--and himself--in so much danger. It is Emily and her great-aunt Vespasia who finally save the day (and Thomas!).
Silence in Hanover Close is one of the best books in the series because here we get to see Emily FINALLY get a clue as to how hard life is for the rest of London. I took a great deal of satisfaction in Emily's new recognition of how hard it was to iron perfect ruffles, and learned how to cut and butter paper thin slices of bread for tea (try the method in the book--it really works, and then you can have your friends over for a book discussion complete with English cucumber sandwiches). Thomas' own danger adds a higher level of drama to the conclusion of the case.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Emily gets into the act. . ., August 3, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Silence in Hanover Close (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)
. . .and we do mean that literally. Thomas and Charlotte helped clear her name when her first husband was poisoned. . .now it's her turn to try and do the same for one of them. This is one of the best in the series--and at the same time one of the hardest to read. If you read these books in order of publication, by now you should have come to really care about these characters and what happens to them. Here one of them suffers--and may hang--unjustly. Thank Heaven for Emily and wonderful folks like Great-Aunt Vespasia, who get out of their comfort zones here so that the one whodunnit gets what he--or she--deserves. Brava, Anne Perry!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Is The Pitts, December 2, 2000
This review is from: Silence in Hanover Close (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)
I have read most of the books in this series, so it's plain that I generally enjoy them. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, along with the others who regularly appear in these stories, are well-developed and plausible characters. By this time, they have become much like old friends and this familiarity adds to their appeal. Perry also does a good job of engaging the interest of the reader by providing mysteries that are intriguing from the start. Also, though I'm not an expert on Victorian London, she seems to do a good job of re-creating that milieu.
On the other hand, Perry sometimes makes it plain who the murderer is in her stories by giving you one clearly dysfunctional character. Sometimes, too, her stories virtually turn into morality plays. She will take up some social evil of the period, make it part of her plot, and dwell on it. Finally, Perry has a tendency to end her stories very abruptly, leaving loose ends dangling and making you feeling like you've just stepped off a cliff.
This particular installment has all the usual strengths. Charlotte and Emily work to solve the case and save Thomas from a dire fate. The unsolved death of Robert York three years earlier gets Pitt started. The case is re-opened because York's widow is soon to marry a Foreign Office official. York was also with the Foreign Office at the time of his death and some secret papers disappeared at that time, so any possibility of scandal or espionage must be put to rest. During the course of the story, the reader gets a close look at the evils of nineteenth century English prisons, but not more so than fits the story. The mystery deepens as more deaths compicate matters. Perry keeps the reader guessing right up to the end in this one. While the end comes rather abruptly, there aren't too many loose ends in this one, so the reader isn't left hanging so much as in some of Perry's other stories.
As a mystery writer, Perry is a step below Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie. Her stories are enjoyable, especially if you've read enough of them to be familiar with the main characters, but the plots aren't usually as difficult to solve. This particular episode, however, is one of her best. A first-rate whodunit that will keep you guessing to the very end. Give it a try.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
