RUTLAND PLACE by Anne
Perry
Charlotte and Thomas Pitt #5
Harper Collins Crime - September 2001
ISBN 0006511244 - Paperback
Historical Mystery - London, England / 1880s
Reviewed by Rachel
A Hyde, MyShelf.com
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a US Copy
First published in 1983
here is another chance to read the fifth in Anne Perry's popular detective
series featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. Charlotte's mother Caroline
has lost a locket containing a compromising picture and she entreats her
daughter to help her retrieve it. On finding out that several other people
in the exclusive Rutland Place have also lost small items she begins to
wonder whether the reason might be blackmail, for surely no servant could
have access to them all? Then somebody is murdered and Pitt is called
in to investigate and everybody is under suspicion. What has happened
to the daughter of the Charringtons, and what secrets do the romantic
Lagarde siblings hide? As the net closes in more and more secrets reveal
themselves until the shocking secret is laid bare.
I am always reminded
of a calm pond into which somebody has just dropped a stone when I read
an Anne Perry novel. Suddenly the surface breaks up into ripples that
spread wider and wider and hidden depth are exposed the more you peer
into the murky water. Rutland Place appears calm and sophisticated to
the onlooker but ugly secrets are hidden behind the lace curtains. The
more you read the more are revealed and the pace gets faster and faster.
Perry certainly has a rare gift of spinning a suspenseful yarn that starts
quietly and rises to a crescendo. Here the oppressive summer heat mirrors
the stifling atmosphere of the Walk as suspects gaze at each other in
fear and wonder who will be next. It all feels historically accurate although
I wonder why the characters have been given overly flamboyant names that
seem more fitting for a romance than a crime novel. These minor gripes
aside it is as superb as her others.
Reviews of
other titles in this series
Rutland
Place #5
Southhampton
Row #22
Seven
Dials #23
Buckingham
Palace Gardens #25
Treason
at Lisson Grove #26
Dorchester Terrace #27 [review
1] [review
2 ]
Death
on Blackheath #29
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