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4.5 stars. The best in this great series so far. Loved the focus on Hester in this book. She really is an amazing character; admirable strength and independence especially during Victorian times, an era where women's rights were basically non-existent. Monk's gruffness throughout a good part of the story did get a bit tiresome but he still is an interesting character as well as more and more of his lost memories come back to him. The set up to the storyline in this one was excellent; page-turnin...
Anne Perry at her story-telling best; William Monk in one of his most vulnerable positions yet.
There are only a few books in the world worthy of me staying up till 3 AM to finish. This book was one if them.IM FREAKING OUT OK?! That was perfect. PERFECT. Every detail, every moment, was careful and planned and yet totally unexpected!! What even.
Re-reading this story has been a treat. I read it more slowly this time around and enjoyed every word. The main characters are so very admirable. Arriving at book five in the story has me firmly connected to the flow of the series. I’ll be re-reading all of them. There is so much good writing within the covers. A really good mystery.
Hester Latterly is hired to care for an elderly woman making a trip from Edinburgh to London. When she dies on the train, Hester is charged with murder as she was the person who administered a lethal dose of medicine. It's up to Monk to travel to Edinburgh and discover who the real murderer is.I've been a little disappointed with the last two books in the series (although I enjoyed them) because Monk didn't seem to be central. Here, once again, Monk is at the center of the book, as arrogant and
How is it possible that the 5th book in a series could be the best to date (for this reader)? The answer is definitely the writing prowess of Anne Perry. Not just a great mystery but a truly wonderful story...and a love interest for Hester? Yes! This one has mystery unfolding upon mystery, to a very climatic end that leaves me wanting more of this crime fighting duo...or is it trio?
4.5 Stars rounded up to 5 Stars. This particular Monk novel is as close to a page turner as you are going to get, since Victorian police procedurals especially by Anne Perry usually move at a slow pace in keeping with a true mid 19th century atmosphere. So this particular story was a real treat.
All I really need to say about this book is I finished it, went straight to the computer, and ordered more books by Anne Perry. Although I’ve read other books by her in the past, this really is a humdinger – interesting, complex characters, a really puzzling plot, lots of surprises, and a real sense of danger.
Gripping and suspenseful. I had a hard time with the beginning, because the first part introduces the scenario and the characters. There is a strong sense of foreboding as you are introduced to the first few characters, and get to know the elderly lady whom Hester is accused of murdering. I enjoyed this character immensely. The crisis of Hester being in the dock shifts the relationships among her and Monk and Rathbone, with some interesting revelations. There is plenty of courtroom drama, and so...
3.5 stars. Go Hester! I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much. If it’s possible to generalise about Anne Perry’s writing, having only read 5 of her books, I would say they have a slow build and everything gets terribly exciting in the second half of the book. However in this one, we don’t get a proper denouement until the very end of the final chapter and for me, it was too long to wait. It was a good story, but with several red herrings. It was interesting to learn that in Scottish law at the tim...
Pretty good, on to #6.I do wish we could quit pretending that Hester and Monk can't stand each other (though I would totally understand if she truly did despise him). Also, I'd like to quit pretending Monk is a brilliant detective when he a) does not ask any of the most obvious questions, b) decides not to follow up on certain things because they "seem pointless," and c) becomes either enraged or overly emotional at least ten times in each book, often when it is most critical to not become enrag...
This is #5 in the Inspector Monk series, and the most impressive I’ve read yet. The plot is very complex and the storyline is tight throughout. The Perry hallmarks are here: murder, most foul, coupled with a fascinating comparison of the interaction between the upper class and the lower class in Victorian times.Hester takes a position as a traveling companion/nurse for an old lady from Edinburgh who wants to take the train down to London to talk to her daughter, who is about to give birth and ha...
This book was given to me by a friend (Sue) upon the recommendation of another friend (Alison). I have some stress over this book, now, because I enjoyed this murder mystery by Anne Perry so much, I will have to find time to read all of the other books in the William Monk Mystery Series. Set in Victorian Great Britain, Anne Perry does an excellent job of bringing us into another era and place and engaging us with intriguing characters. The plot twists and turns. At times a bit over-the-top in de...
This plot had me going. I must be getting better, because I DID figure out who 'did it,' I just didn't account for the extent of the damage done. I liked the development that happened between Rathbone and Hester, then Monk and Hester. Mary was a great character, too, and I loved reading of their short time together. Somehow Perry succeeded in gettting me to see past Hector's drunkenness and be suspicious of it, all the while really liking him. What a tragic ocurrence in their family. I want to r...
I love historical fiction and I always enjoy a decent mystery, so Anne Perry is always a solid choice for some rainy-day reading. This is one of a series of books about a Victorian detective (William Monk) with complete identity amnesia. He has had a terrible accident and he no longer knows his name, his job or his relatives/acquaintances. Throughout the series, he gradually rediscovers himself and who he was. In this book, his friend (well, in a manner of speaking)Hester, a nurse who served in
It’s been too long since I read Dante’s Inferno; so the title didn’t mean anything to me. After I read the book, I looked up the reference and learned that it refers to Upper Hell being for sins of Incontinence (essentially lack of control), which he calls the Sins of the Wolf. That didn’t add anything to my enjoyment of the book, but it’s nice to know. It seems to me there are several characters in the book who demonstrate such a way of acting, though we don’t learn who is the guilty one until
Good God. My nerves were shot during the entire story.
Still a good series. This is another Victorian mystery in which the family is probably the likeliest to have killed the victim, but it does take a while and a few rabbit trails to close in on who it is. I found the ending satisfactory, and I am hoping that the relationship between Monk and Hester has turned a corner of sorts - not romance, but at least an end to hostilities.Apart from the writing, I found this book to be poorly edited. Grammar mistakes, using the wrong name for someone, and not
2.5 starsThe Sins of the Wolf opens with an interesting premise: Hester Latterly is hired to accompany a lady on a trip from Edinburgh, Scotland, to London, England. Mary Farraline proves to be a delightful person and Hester enjoys her company very much. Her only duty is to make certain Mary takes her prescribed heart medication on time. But despite a wonderful beginning to their trip, Hester awakens in the morning on the train to discover Mary Farraline has died in her sleep. At this point in t...
A very enjoyable entry in the William Monk series. While there was some problems -- I figured out who the murderer was within the first fifty pages -- where this one works is the why someone is so callously disposed of. This time, one of the main characters of the series, Hester Latterly, is accused of murdering a client. The story moves from London to Edinburgh and with all sorts of twists and turns. I give this one five stars despite the flaws. Recommended. For the longer review, please go her...