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 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.

Reviews

The detecting and diplomatic skills of Thomas Pitt, now assigned to the Special Branch, are tested as never before in bestseller Perry's solid 25th novel to feature the Victorian sleuth (after 2005's Long Spoon Lane). In 1893, the discovery of a prostitute's mutilated corpse in a Buckingham Palace cupboard after a stag party presided over by the prince of Wales could spell political disaster for the monarchy. Pitt soon eliminates the members of the sizable household staff as suspects, narrowing his focus to the prince himself and his close friends, who, it turns out, have been planning a major construction project in Africa-a railway that would run from South Africa to Egypt. Though the sensitive nature of Pitt's assignment precludes any active involvement by Charlotte, his wife and partner in earlier cases, he's able to place her maid, Gracie Phipps, on the palace staff to assist him. Perry does a nice job with some plot twists, even if most readers will quickly discount the heir to the throne of England as a viable suspect. (Mar.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

"An intricate plot about a murder at the palace [with] an irresistibly appealing "Upstairs, Downstairs" perspective . . . a fine introduction to Perry's alluring world of Victorian crime and intrigue."--"New York Times Book Review

""Another winner . . . a wonderful cast of characters with many twisting plots."--"Press Journal, "Vero Beach, Fla.

"Perry writes with an intelligence that's both refreshing and entertaining."--"Arizona Republic
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Praise for Anne Perry and her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels
Long Spoon Lane
"Anne Perry has once again delivered the tasty concoction her readers have come to expect . . . and presents us with moral and political puzzles that are all too close to our own."
-Los Angeles Times Book Review
"The clear parallels [Perry] draws to current political issues are persuasive-and chilling."
-The New York Times Book Review
Seven Dials
"Terrific, vivid stuff . . . The alarmingly prolific Anne Perry [is] a master of the genre."
-The Seattle Times
"Perry's as good as it gets. . . . The final courtroom scene produces more victims and left me breathless."
-The Providence Journal

"From the Hardcover edition."