Bluegate Fields

Perry approaches an interesting investigation for even todays standards, not to mention how it must of been in the Victorian era. I applaud Perry for addressing the subject and the depraved way people can use other people, and what people will/have to do for money. Perry obviously feels very deeply about the abuse of children. Unfortunaltely this is something that could happen in the Victorian times as well as now. It isn't always hard to figure out "whodunit" in Perry's mysteries, however she still weaves an intriguing tale. I was confused on whether this was Perry's 5th or 6th novel in the Pitt series, but I read it as the 5th. I appreciate Perry's descriptions of the surroundings of her subjects, I am able to visulize it, feel either the warmth of the fire, or the coldness of the weather.

This is the sixth novel in the series and Inspector Pitt has to deal with the naked body of a young gentleman found in the sewers in a very bad part of town. The trail leads him into a web of deceit involving homosexual prostitution -- quite a different matter among Society than the usual sort of prostitution -- and accusations leveled against the tutor of the deceased, who is tried and condemned to hang. With Charlotte's help in the drawing rooms, Pitt must try to sort out who did what to whom and then overcome the protectiveness of the families involved in order to prove it. As with the others in this series, Perry has a good deal to say about life in Victorian London away from the realm of polite society.

According to the list in the book, this book (copyright 1984) is the fifth in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. And it's the best so far. BLUEGATE FIELDS is complex in both plot and characterization, with distasteful subjects reminiscent of a "Law & Order: SVU" episode. Set in Victorian London at the time when telephones were just beginning to show up in some of the "better" homes, it presents a very strong sense of place and time. The character of Pitt becomes much more filled-out. I liked the way he and Charlotte worked together this time. The plot has tentacles. Hard to put down! A GREAT read!

This is the second book I have read by Anne Perry, the first was Farrier's Lane. They are both very good! I have only read the first chapter in this book, and already I am engrosed in the book! It is amazing. If you have never read a book by Anne Perry, you have to! The books she writes will leave you on edge until the end, and she still leaves you thinking about it even after the book is finished!

Perry's novel shows her at her best and at her worst. Her strengths are in character development, historical background, and social milieu. Her treatment of the London slum areas and the interface between extreme poverty and extreme wealth are top notch. But for all of her considerable strengths, she displays what I feel may be a characteristic weakness in the novel's ending. The ending -- with its quickness and lack of development and lack of integration into the novel as a whole -- seems tacked on, seems an after thought.