Bethlehem Road

June 5, 1990
With a steady hand at dissecting character and motivation, a keen grasp of social history and a flair for description of Victorian London, Perry guarantees a good read to those who like their murder in a believable historical and psychological context. Last seen in Silence in Hanover Close , London policeman Thomas Pitt and his well-born, well-educated wife, Charlotte, here investigate the gruesome murders of members of Parliament on night-shrouded Westminster Bridge. Because the murdered MPs held differing political views and had separate personal connections that might have each motivated a murderer or murderers, the case is as impenetrable as a pea-souper until the Pitts get to work. A real treat is the beautifully drawn character of a suffragette who has lost her daughter. Etched with pain and compassion unusual in a detective novel, this characterization makes up for a mildly disappointing turn of plot at the novel's conclusion.

The plotting of this ingenious Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mystery, set in Victorian London, is intricate and interesting as Anne Perry plays fair with her readers while staying three jumps ahead of them. The wonder is that Davina Porter, who must surely have been registered as a national treasure by now, actually seems to get better, though there was no room for improvement. Here she calls up the thickness and temperature of the London fog as someone starts cutting the throats of Members of Parliament on Westminster Bridge. The shrill snobbery of Charlotte's poisonous old grandmother, so distinct from the lively warmth of Charlotte's equally fancy favorite aunt, is a snap to Porter. Male and female, upstairs or below stairs, these characters live. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine