More Than Meets the Eye

If judgment is based on first impressions, then The Twisted Root is simply an old-fashioned whodunit, complete with an English private investigator, a mysterious dead body or two, and some wealthy suspects who just must be hiding something. But like the characters in the rapidly unfolding story, this tale is much more complex than it appears.

Young Lucius Stourbridge, heir to a considerable fortune, seeks the services of private investigator Simon Monk—a popular recurring character of author Anne Perry—to find his fiancée, Miriam Gardiner, who ran away from the Stourbridge family home in an unexplained frenzy. Shortly thereafter, the coachman who facilitated her flight is found murdered. The ensuing search for Miriam Gardiner results in many twists in the increasingly complex plot, eventually leading to Miriam's arrest for murder. But this is just the beginning.

With such an engaging story already in the works, Perry's secondary plot seems a nuisance when it is introduced. Revolving around Monk's new bride, Hester, and her efforts to improve working conditions for nurses in the local hospital, this break from the primary story gives the impression that Perry is trying a little too hard to give her mystery tale a more contemporary and socially conscious facet. There doesn't seem to be any compelling reason to care about Hester's run-in with hospital administrators, and even the brief glimpses of the Monks' domestic life—although they admirably illuminate the state of gender equality in the Victorian age—are forced and inconsequential. Then Perry's skill as a novelist comes into play, as she beautifully interweaves her plots into a suspenseful and well-crafted mystery tale turned courtroom drama.

You see, the dead coachman was found on the path to the home of Cleo Anderson—the woman who found and raised Miriam as a child. But Cleo Anderson is also a nurse at the hospital where Hester works, and she is the prime suspect in the theft of a large quantity of medicine. With Miriam Gardiner and Cleo Anderson facing charges of murder, and an unshakable certainty that neither woman is guilty, Monk must find the connection, the missing fragment that unites the pieces of this puzzle. And he must do so without the help of Miriam, who is hiding a secret so shocking she cannot cooperate or speak in her own defense.

If you think I've revealed too much of the plot, be assured that I have yet to scratch the surface of the mystery. For everyone in this tale has something to hide. Treadwell, the dead coachman; the members of the Stourbridge family; Sergeant Robb, the policeman investigating the case; the administrators at the hospital; even Hester Monk—all are in possession of secrets that may either confirm or dispute the guilt of Miriam and Cleo.

The threads of suspense are pulled tight right up to the very last moment, when the sordid truth is finally revealed. The astonishing secret that Miriam Gardiner has been keeping is proof positive that this is no stodgy, traditional mystery. And while some of the sleuthing techniques employed by Hester Monk are quite implausible, the final product is a clever and deftly spun tale, incorporating straight-up mystery, courtroom drama, and a touch of social commentary for good measure. A deliciously guilty pleasure, indeed.

Wonderful narration is provided by television and film actor Simon Jones. Jones makes the story come alive, breathing a distinct personality into each character in the large cast. Making the narrative even more enjoyable is the absence of sound effects and music—the sound of horses' hooves will no doubt echo in your imagination much more strongly, thanks to Jones's powerful reading.

—Karen Burns

A novel whose supsense remains high until the final pages...Anne Parry is [a] master of crime fiction, who rarely fails to deliver a strong story and a colorful cast of characters.

When a law flies in the face of moral justice, can a person be condemned for defying it—even to the point of murder? Anne Perry argues the issue with uncommon eloquence...

No one is better known for portraying Victorian life and social mores.

The story gets increasingly twisted by a secondary plot involving Monk's reformed-minded wifewho discovers medicine is being pilfered from the hospital where she volunteers. Through HesterPerry fulfills what might be her primary purpose — to comment on Victorian social conditions....Perry carries the suspense right into the last few pages. A twisted rootindeed. —Christian Science Monitor

In this 10th entry in the popular series featuring prickly English investigator William Monk and his equally prickly bride, nurse Hester Latterly (A Breach of Promise, etc.), Perry mulls over the moral justification of criminal acts. Just back from his honeymoon in the summer of 1860, Monk tries to locate Mrs. Miriam Gardiner, a comely widow who inexplicably fled in a coach from her wealthy young fianc 's home. Monk's search takes him to Hampstead Heath, where the coachman's body is found--murdered, he deduces, by a single blow to the head. Could Miriam have struck that deadly blow as she fled, and if so, why? Cornered at last, Miriam refuses to explain her behavior or implicate the coachman's murderer, even though Monk suspects she's the victim of some atrocity. Meanwhile, Hester gears up to defend Cleo Anderson, a saintly nurse who admits to filching hospital supplies to treat impoverished war veterans. Plot mechanics grind away as Perry strains to connect the two crimes, resolving matters with an ending that reads like Henry Fielding without the laughs. Fans of earlier Monk and Latterly mysteries may enjoy Perry's sometimes overwrought depiction of the two-career couple negotiating who cooks supper, but the many other anachronisms just don't wash (says Hester's colleague: "you want to have nurses visit the poor in their homes? You are fifty years before your time"). Despite the characters' tendency to sermonize self-righteously, Perry's theme is the hazy nature of guilt--a topic sure to intrigue those who've followed her career. For thrills, however, readers should turn to other books in the series. Mystery Guild selection; Random House audio. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Series entry No. 10 featuring Victorian England investigator William Monk follows two twisted mysteries until they merge. Lucius Stourbridge hires Monk to find his runaway fianc e, Miriam Gardiner, and missing coachman, James Treadwell, who is found bludgeoned to death. William's new wife, Hester, hospital volunteer and war nurse, becomes embroiled in a mystery surrounding drugs missing from the hospital pharmacy. Although lifelike, the characters drone on about the nature of guilt, medical standards, veterans' rights, and the status of women. Terrence Hardiman's dramatic reading doesn't quite save it. Purchase only for Monk fans.-Sandy Glover, West Linn P.L., OR Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

The case before Hester and Monk in Anne Perry's latest, The Twisted Root is the first case they must solve together since their marriage, and it's a memorable one...And as always, Perry manages to entertain as Hester and Monk race to find evidence that will barrister Oliver Rathbone save the silent, suffering Miriam from the gallows.

Now that he's savoring the joys of marriage to unlicensed nurse Hester Latterly, enquiry agent William Monk (A Breach of Promise, 1998, etc.) is all the quicker to feel the distress of Lucius Stourbridge, whose fiancée, bewitching widow Miriam Gardiner, vanished from the middle of a croquet match at the Stourbridge home in Cleveland Square. And when James Treadwell, the Stourbridge coachman who carried the lady off at her request, is found murdered near Hampstead Heath, Miriam's peril is only deepened: she's arrested for his murder. Nor does Hester's own subplot offer any relief, since her investigation into the disappearance of anaesthetic medicines from North London Hospital leads her straight to the woman the police will call Miriam's conspirator. Even after a second shocking murder whose motives remain stubbornly obscure, the facts of the case seem simple and damning, and Monk's friend (and Hester's former suitor) Sir Oliver Rathbone, stonewalled by his silent clients, accepts the defense brief without a clue how to proceed. But Perry—though her main mission, as usual, is to criticize the 19th century by showing how much more enlightened the 20th is about medical standards, veterans' rights, and the endless duel over the status of women—manages a climactic thunderbolt that will leave even her most loyal fans gasping. What fearful secret could lead Miriam to prefer trial and execution to telling her story? No writer since Agatha Christie has been so good at teasing her audience with such obvious questions until choosing to ring down the curtain. (Mystery Guild selection)