Customer Reviews

The Sins of the Wolf

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Hester Latterly, a former Crimean War nurse, takes on a brief assignment between jobs to assist an elderly Scottish woman from Edinburgh to London she has no idea that when they reach their destination she will be charged with murder. Despite the best efforts of her friends private detective William Monk and lawyer Oliver Rathbone, she is put on trial in Scotland. You will enjoy following the twists and turns in this 19th-century "Law and Order"-type mystery as the skilled Anne Perry takes you from investigations to trial procedures without ever missing a beat or hitting a false note.

Perry's Monk mysteries are a bit darker and more psychologically thrilling than her more well-known Pitt series of mysteries, but devoted fans of the Pitts will recognize the skilled plot and character developments, the labrynthine twists and turns of the investigations, and the focus on scandals and secrets.

Anne Perry has done well on the bestseller lists every time her books have come out. After reading this book, I can see why. This is an incredible, breathtaking book. Hester Latterly has been accused of killing an elderly woman in her charge on a train from Edinburgh to London. Things get progressively worse for her when a private detective who is a close collegue of hers comes up with very little to prove her innocence, but a light at the end of the tunnel does eventually appear. Anne Perry brilliantly describes England and Scotland with vivid detail. She even brings the village she lives in in Scotland, Portmahomack, into it. There is a great deal of psychological detail, but keep reading. The end left me with my mouth hanging open. One of the very best historical mysteries I have read.

William and his barrister friend Oliver come to the aid of Hester, whose latest charge died in her care, and the family is accusing her of their matriarch's murder. William and Oliver must go to Scotland, where Oliver isn't authorized to practice law, because that's where the trial is. The courtroom drama is as good as those in Scott Turow's and John Grisham's novels. Who framed Hester, and why? That's what William's about to find out. . .

The three friends face life and death together here, and you can truly feel the bond that's been established among them. Though they don't always like each other, their loyalty and valor in helping one another makes this series a real delight. A great read all the way around

I Have read most of Anne Perry's novels and I am a great fan. All of her books are set in England of another era. Anne Perry has two different settings and main protaganists. The first series and most popular is The Pitts(husband and wife) a detecting team in early Victorian England. Her more recent series features Inspector Monk in the late 1800's.
"The Sin of the Wolf" features Inpsector Monk and with this book, Inpector Monk has finally reached a point where he is a likable character, in prior novels Monk is portrayed as a good person but not one who you could warm up to. With this novel, Miss Perry makes you like him.
There is one more very fascinating aspect to Miss Perry's novels and that is the research she has put into them. When I read anyone if her books I feel like I am getting a very accurate description of not only the times and the people but the way they acted towards one another. England was a very class oriented society and these novels force you to recognize how man has treated man over the centuries.
I should explain, I read mysteries constantly, 2-4 a week, I have read most popular and unpopular authors out there. What keeps me coming back to a certain author is the characters, if I like them, then I want to read all their adventures, so if you are like me, then Anne Perry is a great find

First, I must admit I did enjoy the book, and read it non-stop till two o'clock in the morning. You find yourself really caring for what happens to the characters. The bad point, though, is that they seem to be the only thing carrying the story forward. The author has us, delve alongside Monk, into the secrets of the Farraline family, and, frankly, there are so many of them it's ludicrous. I won't give away the plot, but you have to know that so many things end up being unearthed-it's practically one shameful secret per character-that it makes you wonder, a bit sarcastically, why they all happen in the same family, and how Monk comes to discover all of them practically within the space of a week. This is stretching belief a bit thin. On the plus side, though, it's a compelling story-but definitely not very realistic.

While I agree with those reviewers who cite the courtroom scenes in Sins of the Wolf as terrifically compelling and am delighted with the developing attraction between Hester Latterly and William Monk, I cannot agree that this is one of Perry's finest mys teries in the Monk series. In fact almost every turn of events brought a new jolt of incredulity. As an example, why oh why does Monk make the long and arduous trip (in pages as well as distance) to Northern Scotland to learn a bit of information about on e of the members of the Farraline family which he could so easily have learned from the family member himself and which in fact had no bearing whatsoever on the resolution of the mystery? To be really petty, must Hester turn up at the Farralines one day a fter the conclusion of her trial (and surprisingly cordial and unembarrassed the Farralines are too, considering the mess they'd thrown her into) still wearing her prison garb? And the confrontation and chase scene at the end seemed to me to smack more of a spaghetti western than a quality denouement. In my opinion Perry did much better with the earlier Monks, and I hope to discover she does just as well in the subsequent ones.

Although I read all of Perry's "Thomas Pitt" murder mysteries first, I'm nevertheless developing a liking for this series, set a generation earlier, in London of the late 1850s. William Monk, police inspector turned private eye, and still dealing with amnesia in this fifth outing, is not a particularly likeable person. He's rude, arrogant, and self-righteous -- but so is his frequent investigative, nurse Hester Latterley, lately returned from the Crimea. The third leg of the narrative tripod, defense attorney Oliver Rathbone, is much less so, but he can be rather stuffy, too. This time, Perry sets the crime, Monk's investigation, and the subsequent trial in Edinburgh, which gives her the opportunity to explain on numerous occasions the function of the Procurator Fiscal and to bring in the uniquely Scots trial verdict of "not proven." (She also makes Monk travel by rowboat and horseback to the remote village in the far north of the Highlands where she herself now lives.) The plot, which involves family secrets and a murder committed to protect them, is one of Perry's better efforts in recent years. This is also the first novel in either of her mystery series in which there appears to be no prominent social issue or failing for the characters to struggle with and fulminate against.

This is easily the best entry in the Monk series. The mystery was great, and the personal interplay between Hester, Monk and Rathbone was excellent. This was also the book where the emotion between Monk and Hester finally wins out over their reserve with each other, and the results are endearing. A must read for anyone who likes this series and these characters.

I picked this book up when an office was clearing out more because it was free than out of interest. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it through and through. Murder mysteries are not my usual forte but Perry has a knack for developing characters I came to care about. I've come to understand that this is actually a series and the main character is a recurring one but it still stands on its own very well. It isn't often a female gets the lead in a murder/mystery and I'm glad that she's feminine, smart, and capable.
I was pleased with the historical setting (Victorian England) and found it pleasantly accessible and written in a concise contemporary style.

I am in the process of reading Perry's Monk books in order. All have been excellent, however, the climax of Sins of the Wolf was so surprising and exciting, it has won the title of best in series (so far). The last 30 pages will leave you amazed.