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Bedford Square
The following report compares books using the SERCount Rating (base on the result count from the search engine).
Rating: 3.5/5 from 18 reviews Promises much, delivers littleOne of Perry's Best Pitt ThrillersI am a huge fan of Anne Perry. I have read all of her books and eagerly look forward to the next one. My actual favourite series is the William Monk series, but the Pitt ones are very good too. This particular one is a very good example of her style of writing and it would be a good book to read first in order to get into the series. Her writing puts the reader right there in Victorian England as no one else can. I never guessed what the motive could be at all and was suitably surprised with the last chapter. A really tight well-knit thriller. Blackmail?The book failed for me because I found it implausible that blackmail could succeed without the the blackmailer actually having anything dishonorable, illegal, or even embarrassing, to expose about the persons being blackmailed. Should it even be called blackmail if there is no substance or truth to what is threatened to be revealed, and both parties to the so-called blackmail know that? Having said that, I still think any Anne Perry is worth the read. You always get clear prose, a time-travel feel of things, and likable main characters, as well as in most cases, a creative and interesting story. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A dead man found on the steps of one of Victorian London's most fashionable homes kicks off the 19th mystery featuring Superintendent Thomas Pitt of the Bow Street Police Station and his clever wife, Charlotte.
Although General Brandon Balantyne denies knowing the shabbily dressed man, his snuffbox was found in the dead man's pocket. Since he's dealing with his betters in class-conscious Victorian Britain, Pitt must tread carefully as he delves into the dead man's past in hopes of finding a connection.
"Bedford Square" is a story which promises much but delivers little. There's much talk about class differences -- Pitt's constable assistant is nearly blinded in his anger against the upper classes -- and in Pitt's investigation of what turns out to be a nasty wide-ranging blackmail plot, we are repeatedly told that the victims are all pure in character and how least revelation, no matter how false, will blast their reputations so utterly that it becomes tedious. The solution to the mystery is extremely disappointing: neither making much sense, nor is it in keeping with what we know of the characters. A disappointing book to someone who wondered what all the shouting was about.