Customer Reviews

Silent Cry (William Monk Novels)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read a LOT of mysteries, and the outcome of this one left me stunned. When you read a mystery, you hope to be surprised by the resolution, and this one rates with the best of Agatha Christie.

If you've never read Anne Perry, this one showcases all that she's capable of.

The Silent Cry is the best so far in Perry's Monk series. The mystery is genuinely mysterious, the period color superb, the characters well-developed and fully realized. The nurse Hester Latterly, Monk himself, and the other returning characters are as engaging and realistic as ever, and Perry's dialogue, as always, sounds like real Victorian people having real Victorian conversations. The book is slightly flawed by some minor incononsistencies in the plot, mostly having to do with the injuries to Rhys Duff, but these are not very troubling. The picture Perry paints of Victorian London and the social issues and manners of the time would make the book worth reading even if it weren't an outstanding mystery.

Anne Perry is one of my favorite authors and this is one of her best books. By now, I am more than ready for her hero, Inspector William Monk, to make his mind up about his feelings for Hester Latterly, an independent, non-conformist, and highly likeable nurse who challenges all of Monk's ideas of what (or whom) constitutes the "perfect" woman. Ms. Perry weaves this problem (for Monk anyway) throughout the story and finally provides us hopeless (hopeful?) romantics with a few sops of encouragement. All of the supporting characters are finely and wonderfully drawn (likeable or not) and the attention to detail of the historical period is unmatched. Well worth anyone's time.

I had mixed feelings about this book. On the positive side, the Victorian atmosphere and detail are absorbing, the Cockney dialog is well-rendered, if occasionally heavy-handed ("D'yer want me ter say 'oo I got, an' wot 'e found?"), and the mystery does come to an unexpected and dramatic conclusion.

However I found the investigation to be very slow-moving and implausible. A murder has occurred in a dodgy London slum, and several prostitutes have been raped in another. On the surface these crimes appear to be unrelated, but Inspector Monk comes to an "inescapable" conclusion as to what happened and the motive behind them based on, in my view, the thinnest of circumstantial evidence. I could never accept that a detective of his purported caliber would see this as a closed case. Similarly, when the book moves to the courtroom, the defense attorney -- supposedly a man of unparalleled gifts -- is stymied as to how to refute the iron-clad case against him. I would fire that attorney.

Lastly, while the turmoil of Monk's halting romance with Hester and his memory loss may be a satisfying thread for readers of the ongoing series, I didn't think either of these dimensions moved far enough along to engage people who have just read this book alone.

I found John M. Gray's "The Fiend in Human" to be a much more subtle and effective Victorian thriller. This one left me flat.

The story's topical subject matter adds suspense to the already curious mystery which slowly unfolds. Monk and Hester are still unsure of how they feel about each other, and this just adds further spice to the mix. A well thought out plot, which only leaves one yearning for more.

This is my first Anne Peery novel in the William Monk series. The fact that I began my introduction to Monk with the eighth book in the series in no way lessened my enjoyment of THE SILENT CRY.

The story begins in a cobbled alleyway on the seamier side of Victorian London with the discovery of the brutally beaten bodies of two gentlemen. It is discovered that the victims are father and son, Leighton and Rhys Duff. With the father dead and the son barely clinging to life the question is what were they doing in this seedy section of town known for drugs and prostitution.

Multiple storylines abound, with Monk the amnesiac P.I. undertaking an investigation into the rape of several female sweatshop laborers while Detective John Evan delves into the crimes against the Duff men. At the same time Monks friend, nurse Hester Latterly, has been employed by the Duff family to assist Rhys in recovering from his horrific ordeal. She ably confronts the devastating destruction, both physical and mental, that has befallen her patient as she uncovers the guilty secret that has left him mute.

Ms. Perry exhorts her readers to join with her characters as they explore the social evils that pervade the seamier side of Victorian London as well as the duplicity of the "upper-classes" and the application of a double standard of justice, or injustice, dispensed by the courts of the day.

If you're looking for a warm nostalgic stroll down memory lane to a time of simple pleasures shared by family and friends, look elsewhere. What THE SILENT CRY gives the reader is a nitty-gritty journey into a bleak and appalling era of British history. 31/2 stars

One of the interesting things that Anne Perry does with her Monk novels is examine some of the morally reprehensible aspects of Victorian life that are often ignored when considering the time period in popular culture. In THE SILENT CRY Perry describes how the sexual assault of poor women was considered just another thing that happens, using Monk's disgust and anger as her way to comment on the loathsome behavior of a society that would excuse assault of the poor, but let a rich man be killed and the powers that be will become interested in finding "justice." Monk is hired to investigate the assault of a number of factory girls who are brutally raped when trying to make extra money via prostitution. His investigations overlap Hester's nursing of a young man found brutally beaten, alongside his murdered father. Together they find the answer that is not totally surprising, but is still stunning in its resolution. While there are flaws in this mystery, it takes Hester with her experience, far too long to figure out the true nature of the crime and the nature of injuries should not have led to one character's suspicion of committing the crime.(I leave it at this, don't want to spoil anything.) This Monk mystery is an eye opening examination of Victorian mores and a decent mystery as well.

Once I picked up The Silent Cry, there was no putting it down. This is the very first Anne Perry book I've ever read. Upon finishing it, I went to the book store to purchase all the previously published books in the Monk series. Last year, I read all the Elizabeth George books during the first month of a snowy Minnesota winter. I can't wait to get started reading Anne Perry's books during my first "Maine" winter. Nothing like a good mystery when the snow is falling outside.

Victorian-era police detective John Evan is called to an alley in the dangerous St. Giles section of London to investigate two deaths. The bodies turn out to be those of a father and son who definitely do not belong in St. Giles, and one of them - that of the son, Rhys Duff - isn't quite dead, after all. So Crimean veteran nurse Hester Latterly finds herself employed by Rhys Duff's mother to care for him, as the young man's grave injuries slowly heal but his voice refuses to return. Hysterical reaction, the doctors say. But does he remember what happened? Yes, he tells Hester by nodding in the only way he can now communicate thanks to badly broken hands. He remembers. And cannot tell anyone.

Former detective William Monk, now engaged in private investigations, has to sort out what happened. Why were the two Duffs in St. Giles, where respectable men go only for purposes they prefer to keep secret? Who killed the father, and tried to kill the son? Or did they fight each other?

Like the other Anne Perry books I have read, this one is as much detailed historical novel as engrossing mystery. Its Victorian setting is meticulous, and in Hester Latterly Perry offers readers a heroine who seems completely believable. She also further develops William Monk's characterization in a way that makes this difficult man easier for readers to understand, if not to like. Another one that kept me up far too late!

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 science fiction EPPIE winner "Regs"

I am a devoted reader of Ms. Perry's Monk & Pitt novels; but I must say that this book is a far cry from her best. Her character development is usually spot on and the reader usually has a myriad of possible culprits from which to choose. However, this reader was left wondering if the author allowed her parlormaid to write the book as the ending was so implausibly and melodramatically far-fetched.