Blind Justice

July 22, 2013
Set in Victorian England, bestseller Perry’s entertaining, if flawed, 19th William Monk novel (after 2012’s A Sunless Sea) poses a complicated moral question. The Thames River policeman’s wife, Hester, can’t help wanting to assist Josephine Raleigh, a nurse who works with her at a clinic for prostitutes and is in despair over her father’s debt, since Hester’s own father killed himself when he was unable to meet his financial obligations. Hester is disturbed to learn that the senior Raleigh’s woes stem from being coerced into making donations he couldn’t afford to a suburban London church, whose leader, Abel Taft, is charged with fraud. A new judge, Sir Oliver Rathbone, a friend of the Monk’s, presides over the trial. The interesting ethical bind Rathbone finds himself facing could have been more sharply framed, and the resolution’s tidiness will be a minus for some. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maas Literary Agency.

November 15, 2013

To clear Judge Oliver Rathbone's name, Victorian London police inspector William Monk investigates the murder-suicide of an embezzling minister's family. While Rathbone languishes in prison for impeding justice, Monk is aided by his wife, Hester, and their adopted urchin, Scruff, to vindicate their friend. This allows the family to summarize the book's moral lessons during dinner table conversations about friendship, loyalty, and honor. Repetitive courtroom scenes are used as templates to nudge the plot forward in scenes that eventually expose a secret society engaged in child pornography and abuse. Davina Porter, a veteran reader of Perry's mysteries (A Sunless Sea), is able to embody the era in voices that project the social standing of male and female characters. VERDICT Held aloft by Perry's track record and fan loyalty, this title will likely circulate in libraries that collect her novels.--Judith Robinson, Dept. of Lib. & Information Studies, Univ. at Buffalo

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