The Twisted Root

Once again I return to my favorite time period. In this installment of Anne Perry's William Monk series, Monk is asked to find a missing person, and along the way there's a murder and the questionable disappearance of medicine from a hospital. With the help of his new wife Hester (Finally!) and lawyer Sir Oliver Rathbone, they uncover a family secret that can change the life of a young man.

Here's the blurb from The Twisted Root:

In a stunning feat of the imagination, Anne Perry encloses readers within the magic circle of her genius and brings to life the lost world of England's Victorian Age. Hoofbeats clatter on cobblestones, gaslight glimmers through fog, and in the exclusive privacy of elegant drawing rooms, powerful men and women once again live the splendor and shame of that matchless era. With The Twisted Root, Perry holds us rapt with a chilling story of love, betrayal, and consummate evil.

As private investigator William Monk listens to young Lucius Stourbridge plead for help in tracking down his runaway fiancée, he feels a sense of heavy foreboding. Miriam Gardiner disappeared suddenly from a croquet party at the luxurious Bayswater mansion of her in-laws-to-be, and has not been seen since. But on Hampstead Heath, Monk finds the coach in which Miriam had fled and, nearby, the murdered body of the coachman. There is no trace of Miriam.

What strange compulsion could have driven the beautiful widow to abandon the prospect of a loving marriage and financial abundance? Monk's attempt to answer that question proves a challenge, as Miriam Gardiner's fateful flight ends in a packed London courtroom where brilliant barrister Oliver Rathbone wages an uphill battle to absolve her from a charge of murder. And in a race with the hangman, Monk and clever nurse Hester Latterly--themselves now newlyweds--desperately pursue the elusive truth . . . and an unknown killer whose malign brilliance they have scarcely begun to fathom.

As aways I was rooted in one spot while reading this book. Anne Perry has that ability to do that to me. And I'm not complaining. I love it! I love the way she grabs hold of my attention and not let it go until the end of the story. Mind, I always want more, but I'm learning to accept it. It's not only the setting, but it's the characters and their relationship with each other and newly introduced ones.

The Twisted Root by Anne Perry (4/5) Historical Mystery; Published: Ballantine Books (October 1999); Series : # 10, William Monk; Library book;