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A William Monk Novel
by Anne Perry
When the body of a small-time crook named Mickey Parfitt washes up on the tide, no one grieves; far from it. But William Monk, commander of the River Police, is puzzled by the expensive silk cravat used to strangle Parfitt. How did this elegant scarf - whose original owner was obviously a man of substance - end up imbedded in the neck of a wharf rat who richly deserved his sordid end?
Dockside informers lead Monk to what may be a partial answer - a floating palace of corruption on the Thames managed by Parfitt, where a captive band of half-starved boys are forced to perform vile acts for men willing to pay a high price for midnight pleasures. Although Monk and his fearless wife, Hester, would prefer to pin a medal on Parfitt's killer, duty leads them in another direction - to an unresolved crime from the past, to blackmail and more murder, and to a deadly confrontation with some of the empire's most respected men.
To a superlative degree, Acceptable Loss provides colorful characters, a memorable portrait of waterfront life, and a story that achieves its most thrilling moments in a transfixed London courtroom, where Monk faces his old friend Oliver Rathbone in a trial of nearly unbearable tension - in sum, every delectable drop of the rich pleasure that readers expect from an Anne Perry novel.
"With [Perry's] sensitive take on what is also a real-life social issue, I would rate this book as an above average read. Recommended." - The Bookbag (UK)
"Perry brings a wealth of historical detail and accuracy to her best-selling novels... A murder mystery made to make you think." - Lancashire Evening Post (UK)
This information about Acceptable Loss was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Diane M. Hinds
Anne Perry, born Juliet Marion Hulme in Blackheath, London, is the author of the Thomas Pitt series. Among Anne Perry's novels featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt are The Whitechapel Conspiracy, Half Moon Street, Bedford Square, Brunswick Gardens, and Ashworth Hall. She also wrote the popular novels featuring Victorian private investigator William Monk - among them, Funeral in Blue, Slaves of Obsession, The Twisted Root, A Breach of Promise, and The Silent Cry. "Her grasp of Victorian character and conscience still astonishes," said the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Perry won an Edgar award in 2000 with her short story "Heroes". The main character in the story features in an ambitious five-book series set during the First World War.
She died in April 2023, aged 84.
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