Rutland Place

This is yet another example of Anne Perry's fabulous detectives. Anyone who loves a good mystery would most certainly enjoy this author.

Anne Perry's mystery stories are notable for their immense wealth of detail about Victorian England. Her investigative team is Charlotte Pitt, a young woman from a family of means, and her husband, Inspector Thomas Pitt. Because their marriage stretches across the British class gap, the two of them often combine to provide discoveries and insights that one or the other might have missed on their own. And, of course, the detailing of the stratified society that was London at that time is an anglophile's delight. The mystery begins innocently enough. Charlotte's mother Caroline has lost a locket with an embarrassing enclosure, and she has asked Charlotte to look into it for her. As they visit the other residents of Rutland Place they discover that many other items have also been stolen, and that many secrets lurk beneath the refined surface. Suddenly the game deepens and Wilhelmina Spencer-Brown, a resident with a habit of prying, dies of poison. The police, in the person of Thomas Pitt investigate, but the walls of the upper class are difficult hurdles to negotiate. Charlotte, anxious to protect her mother from further embarrassment, joins in the investigation. Between her and Thomas the clues gradually accumulate, but with excruciating slowness. Dishonesty, flirtation, and things far worse gradually come to the surface until a second murder attempt triggers the final tragedy. The crime and its bitter aftermath stand revealed, and we are reminded that often things are not what they seem. I like Perry's stories for their careful attention to detail and method. They are just complicated enough, and hard work is an important part of reaching the solution. My complaint is that the books are often too dry, even when there is pressing emotional content. To a degree this reflects the restraint of the times Perry writes about. Rutland Place proceeds ever slowly, with no whirls of dramatic action to light a fire under it. Yet it manages to affect the reader with it's chilling vision of the dark corners of 'bright' society.

Rutland Place is one of the most successful of Anne Perry's novels about Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. The mystery encompasses Charlotte's family which gives the events more immediacy for the reader who has been going through all of the novels, and the nuances of the Victorian withdrawing room have never been better portrayed by Ms. Perry. In addition, the misdirection away from the evil doers and what they did works pretty well in this one. As the story opens, Charlotte finds that her mother is distraught over the loss of a locket. Originally, her mother explains this distress as being concern because her mother-in-law gave her the locket as a gift. But later, Charlotte finds out that there's a powerful personal reason for getting that locket back. In the backdrop, it soon becomes apparent that others have lost small items of jewelry. Since the losses have occurred in many houses, it cannot be one of the servants . . . it must be "the quality" behind it. But what's the motive? The mystery develops into a murder investigation when a woman dies in a way that can hardly be an accident . . . or suicide. But who did it? And why? And how is the lost locket involved? The book's main weakness is that the locket story line doesn't quite carry off its initial promise. If you've run out of novels that you enjoy about Victorians and their mannerly evasions, you'll enjoy this one.

RUTLAND PLACE is dark and moody with an excellent sense of period and locale, as are all the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt books. And this time Perry has given us especially interesting characters. This book involves more than one mystery, with unusual solutions. It is not always the expected thing that happens in Anne Perry's books. That's one reason I like them. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt work separately and together this time, in about equal shares. There's even some light-hearted fun. And at 217 pages it's a good, quick read.

Another Pitt mystery that made me turn the pages. When Charlotte Pitt discovers that her mother has lost a locket, a keepsake of an indescretion, her first thoughts are to protect her family. Soon, this spirals into a world of secrets, lies, murder, and sexual misconduct. All conducted above stairs.Once again, Charlotte and Emily are great characters, both with talents for solving a mystery, but different ways of doing it. Pitt, himself, is a great character.My only complaint is my regular complaint... more Charlotte and Thomas together!