Krishna
What is interesting is that you learn the progression of the life of the characters in each story. You see them meet, court, fall in love, marry, have children. The fact that each story stands alone despite this is a good idea, which means that you can read the books at random and/ or independently, and still they make complete sense. But the books give you a sense of the order in which they were written, if you read many of them, by dint of where in their relationships the detectives are.
In that sense, this story is a prequel to Ashworth Hall (reviewed earlier) which in itself is a prequel to Bluegate Fields mentioned above. In this one, Charlotte’s sister Emily is still courting Jack Radley…
Thomas Pitt is called in to investigate what looks like a murder robbery in the house of Yorks at Hanover Close. Robert York has been killed, a window is broken, and some valuables were missing. Though the murder happened three years ago and is unsolved, Veronica York, Robert’s widow, is about to marry Julian Danver in the Foreign Office and that office calls on Ballarat, Pitt’s boss, to check up on things once again.
Thomas quickly establishes that this is no ordinary murder. First, no valuables have been ‘fenced’ since. Second, the window break does not look like a break in. When he questions a maid, she mentions a mysterious figure in Red, a woman who was seen in the vicinity just before the murder once or twice, but not since. The maid Dulcie, soon is found dead, ‘falling out of the window’. Pitt’s suspicions intensify.
When he finally tracks down the woman in Red (Cerise), he finds that she is dead (recently killed) and he himself was the only person to have gone there that day and so he is arrested and thrown in jail. Emily, determined to help them, disguises as a maid and takes the place of the killed maid, notwithstanding the danger she would face.
When Charlotte realizes that the police will let Pitt’s rot in jail rather than uncover uncomfortable truths about possible leaks in the Foreign Office, is desperate to save him and embarks on an audacious gamble in one reckless gamble that can risk all…
The ending is really nice, as Anne’s books normally are. The story holds one’s interest, and as ever, the sense of Victorian England is all pervasive.
A good read, and therefore, a 7/10
— Krishna