Seven Dials

January 6, 2003
In her 23rd Victorian mystery featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt (after 2002's Southampton Row), Perry uses a pending economic crisis to good effect. Now firmly ensconced in his job with Special Branch, Thomas looks into the murder of a junior diplomat, whose corpse turns up in a wheelbarrow in a garden belonging to a mysterious and beautiful Egyptian woman, Ayesha Zakhari. Pitt travels to Egypt for answers, but the more he learns about Miss Zakhari the more he suspects that she's the pawn in some ugly political game. The Pitts' maid, Gracie, involves Charlotte in the search for a missing valet. Gracie also enlists the aid of Thomas's former subordinate, Sergeant Tellman, and in one of the charming subplots of the book, their romance develops further. The trail leads Charlotte into the dark and dangerous alleys of London's Seven Dials district, and eventually she and Thomas discover that the two cases intersect in a horrifying way. Perry once again delivers a complex and satisfying tale that fans of the series will devour. (Feb. 4)Forecast:With a big promotional push including national print ads and a sample chapter in the paperback edition of
Southampton Row (Feb.), this should hit some bestseller lists. The London
Times selected Perry as one of the 20th century's "100 Masters of Crime."

October 1, 2002
Thomas Pitt must protect Senior Cabinet Minister Saville Ryerson from scandal when he is implicated in a murder at the house of a mysterious Egyptian woman.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2002
Perry, selected by the "London Times" as one of the twentieth century's "100 Masters of Crime," is still knocking them dead in the twenty first. Her latest, a Thomas and Charlotte Pitt caper, is a typical blend of Victorian social history (Perry's research extends even to the cleaning agents--sorrel juice, chalk, horse-hoof parings--used in wealthy Victorian homes), political intrigue, and exemplary detective work. What gives this particular series added punch is the character of Charlotte, an aristocrat with a social conscience, who descends into London's netherworld to help fallen women and lost souls. This time, Charlotte goes undercover to find a disappeared servant. Thomas Pitt, of Her Majesty's Special Branch, is faced with an exquisitely sensitive case. A junior diplomat has been found murdered in the garden of a notorious Egyptian woman, with her current lover, a very powerful senior Cabinet minister, found at the scene as well. Pitt is asked to untangle the mystery without bringing down the government. As usual with Perry, the mystery ripples out in complications and new dangers. A fine puzzle. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)