The Silent Cry

I read a LOT of mysteries, and the outcome of this one left me stunned. When you read a mystery, you hope to be surprised by the resolution, and this one rates with the best of Agatha Christie.If you've never read Anne Perry, this one showcases all that she's capable of.

The story's topical subject matter adds suspense to the already curious mystery which slowly unfolds. Monk and Hester are still unsure of how they feel about each other, and this just adds further spice to the mix. A well thought out plot, which only leaves one yearning for more.

Once I picked up The Silent Cry, there was no putting it down. This is the very first Anne Perry book I've ever read. Upon finishing it, I went to the book store to purchase all the previously published books in the Monk series. Last year, I read all the Elizabeth George books during the first month of a snowy Minnesota winter. I can't wait to get started reading Anne Perry's books during my first "Maine" winter. Nothing like a good mystery when the snow is falling outside.

Anne Perry is one of my favorite authors and this is one of her best books. By now, I am more than ready for her hero, Inspector William Monk, to make his mind up about his feelings for Hester Latterly, an independent, non-conformist, and highly likeable nurse who challenges all of Monk's ideas of what (or whom) constitutes the "perfect" woman. Ms. Perry weaves this problem (for Monk anyway) throughout the story and finally provides us hopeless (hopeful?) romantics with a few sops of encouragement. All of the supporting characters are finely and wonderfully drawn (likeable or not) and the attention to detail of the historical period is unmatched. Well worth anyone's time.

The Silent Cry is the best so far in Perry's Monk series. The mystery is genuinely mysterious, the period color superb, the characters well-developed and fully realized. The nurse Hester Latterly, Monk himself, and the other returning characters are as engaging and realistic as ever, and Perry's dialogue, as always, sounds like real Victorian people having real Victorian conversations. The book is slightly flawed by some minor incononsistencies in the plot, mostly having to do with the injuries to Rhys Duff, but these are not very troubling. The picture Perry paints of Victorian London and the social issues and manners of the time would make the book worth reading even if it weren't an outstanding mystery.