- Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Ivy Books; Reissue edition (Sep 30 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0804115079
- ISBN-13: 978-0804115070
- Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 2.8 x 17.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 204 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #359,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Continuation of the Henry Monk series set in Victorian London, in which the detective is hired by a woman who thinks her missing husband may have been murdered by his brother.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Perry's lingering fame from the murder she committed as an adolescent won't hurt her latest book's popularity, but there's no doubt that her historical mysteries would be critical and popular successes no matter what her background. Victorian detective William Monk returns, this time in one of the most challenging cases he's ever faced. Genevieve Stonefield begs Monk to find her missing husband, Angus, whom she fears has been killed by his twin brother, Caleb. Angus, a respected businessman, loyal husband and father, and pillar of the community, has disappeared after a visit to Caleb, who's as different from Angus as it's possible to be; he's a violent thief, ruffian, and blackguard who lives in one of London's most dangerous slums. Genevieve's fears that Angus is dead at Caleb's hand seem well founded; all Monk has to do is find the means, the motive, the opportunity--and the body. But the more he investigates, the more bizarre twists and frustrating dead ends he encounters, until his persistence finally breaks the case wide open in a stunning climax that surprises even the unflappable Monk. This one deserves high marks for superb plotting, fine writing, intriguing characters, and outstanding historical detail. Buy multiple copies. Emily Melton
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
"Mr. MONK?" she said, then took a deep breath. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
"Mr. MONK?" she said, then took a deep breath. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enthralling read with a disappointing ending,
By
Ce commentaire est de: Cain His Brother (Mass Market Paperback)
I love Anne Perry's ability to twist and wind through a story and keep you hanging until the last pages. I also love her well researched novels that offer such exsquisite detail about Victorian London, especially the class differences (particularly in this book). Unfortunately I found the conclusion of this novel truly unoriginal and disappointing. The result it ended with was a thought that had ocurred to me earlier in the novel, but I doubted it just because of the lack of inspiration it required. I am more fond of the Monk/Latterly series than the Pitts series, and "Cain..." is one of the better stories among the Perry novels, but I would definitely read it knowing in advance that the ending doesn't compare with the rest of the story. If you want a truly excellent Anne Perry book, read "The Face of a Stranger" (the first Monk/Latterly novel). A great read.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Padded writing but gritty atmosphere,
By
Ce commentaire est de: Cain His Brother (Hardcover)
Perry's Victorian London mystery, featuring the amnesiac ex-Inspector William Monk and the Florence Nightingale-trained nurse Hester Latterly, revolves around the disappearance of a model husband and father of five with a successful business.Angus Stonefield disappears on a visit to his vicious and violent twin brother in the slums and Angus' lovely wife is convinced that this time Caleb - the twin - has murdered her husband. While investigating, Monk runs into Hester Latterly setting up a make-shift hospital to deal with a serious outbreak of typhoid in the filthy and overcrowded slums. Hester and Monk's relationship remains tensely ambivalent and Monk's bitter interior monologues become tediously repetitious. This is a heavily padded novel with an overworked plot device but Perry's fans will enjoy her gritty depiction of hopeless poverty and stark class divisions.
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Perry's best novels,
By Eva25at (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews
Ce commentaire est de: Cain His Brother (Mass Market Paperback)
A lady instructs ex-inspector Monk to find evidence of her husband's death. She is convinced that Angus, a devoted husband and father has been murdered by his twin-brother Caleb, a true monster by all accounts. Her means of susbsistence are threatened because she and her five children cannot inherit Angus' fortune unless she is able to produce a body. Monk understands her existential dread. Of course, there is always the possibility that Angus went deliberately underground or that his wife had a hand in it. He is helped by nurse Hester Latterly, who is very busy with typhoid patients, rich and poor, and by star-attorney Oliver Rathbone who pleads Mrs. Angus' cause before court. Monk goes also through a private nightmare: he falls in love with a charming lady who encourages his advances. Suddenly she tears her clothes up in full view of many high-born eyewitnesses and runs away screaming...But before she is able to round off her scheme and ruin Monk's career, Hester resorts to a very artful ruse...One of Perry's best. Gripping, psychologically revealing, and sociocritical. Perry is as good as Dickens when she exposes grievances. In one scene she reveals that the lower classes of the time owned just one pot: for cooking, doing the laundry, washing the baby and as nightpot...Hester's counteroffensive against the libellous lady will make you shake with laughter - and wince...
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