Anne Perry: Dark Assassin (USA 2007)

From the Publisher:
On a parrol boat near Waterloo Bridge, police superintendent William Monk notices a young couple engaged in an intense discussion. Seconds later, the two plunge to their deaths in the icy waters of the Thames. Was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder? Ever the investigator, Monk learns that the woman, Mary Havilland, had planned to marry the fair-haired man who shared her fate. He also discovers that Mary's father had recently died in a supposed suicide. But Mary's friends share their own dark suspicions with Monk, who now faces the mysteries surrounding three deaths. Aided by his intrepid wife, Hester, Monk searches for answers. From luxurious drawing rooms where powerful men hatch their unscrupulous plots, to the sewers beneath the city where poor folk tight crippling poverty, Monk must connect the clues before death strikes again...

Anne Perry: Dark Assassin. A William Monk Novel. Ballantine Books, ISBN: 0345469305 (February, 2007), 340 p., $7.99.

Anne Perry: Dark Assassin (UK 2006)

From the Publisher:
It was hard to be sure what has happened. The two figures had been on the bridge. She had put her hands on the man's shoulders. A caress? Or pushing him away? He had grasped hold of her. To save her, or to push her?

Murder, suicide or accident? Inspector William Monk of the Thames River Police watches helplessly from his patrol boat as the man and woman fall to their deaths. Still feeling his way in a new post, Monk knows he must solve the mystery to gain the respect of his men. Soon both he and Hester find themselves powerfully involved in the story of the dead woman, Mary Havilland, and her quest to vindicate her father.

When engineer James Havilland had been found dead on his stable floor, Mary had refused to accepted that he had shot himself. Yes, he had been obsessed, almost maddened, by his believe that a massive disaster was about to happen in the tunnels of London's new sewer system was being built. But Mary had absolute faith in her father. And now she was dead too...

Anne Perry: Dark Assassin. A William Monk Mystery. Headline, ISBN: 075532059X (September, 2006), 378 p., £6.99.

Anne Perry: Dark Assassin (USA 2006)

From the Publisher:
For countless readers, one of life's great pleasures is the mesmerizing magic of a Victorian mystery by New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry. Her dramas of good and evil unfolding inside London's lavish mansions and teeming slums hold us spellbound. Now, in Dark Assassin, she sweeps us into a darkly compelling world that we never dreamed existed.

A Thames River Police superintendent struggling to win the respect of his men, William Monk is on a patrol boat near Waterloo Bridge when he notices a young couple standing at the bridge railing, apparently engaged in an intense discussion. The woman waves her arms and places her hands on the man's shoulders. A caress or a push? The man grasps hold of her. To save her or to kill her? Seconds later, the pair plunge to their death in the icy waters. Monk can't help but wonder, was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder? It seems impossible to determine the truth, but haunted by the woman's somber beauty, he is impelled to try.

Mary Havilland was her name, and she had planned to marry Toby Argyll, the fair-haired man who shared her fate. Mary's father, an engineer employed by the Argyll Company, had recently died -- a suicide, according to the police and Mary's sister. But Mary's friends tell Monk that she suspected her father had been murdered because of his stubborn insistence that the Argyll Company's current project -- the construction of a splendid new sewer system for the metropolis -- was so badly flawed that it put the entire city in peril from flood and fire.

Monk is now faced with the mysteries of the three deaths. Aided by his intrepid wife Hester, he starts looking for answers and is soon treading a slippery path that takes him from the luxurious drawing rooms where powerful men hatch their unscrupulous plots to a world beneath the city where poor folk fight starvation. In nightmarish tunnels, Monk and Hester find true friends, among them Scuff, a young mudlark; Sutton the ratcatcher; and Snoot, Sutton's clever terrier. For once, even Monk's old enemy, Superintendent Runcorn, is on his side. As rainfall strains the fragile manmade underground, Monk must connect the clues before death strikes again.

With characters as vivid as Dickens's, gripping courtroom scenes, breathless horrors beneath the earth, and a plot that twists and turns toward a stunning denouement, Dark Assassin is absolutely one of Anne Perry's best.

Anne Perry: Dark Assassin. A William Monk Novel. Ballantine Books, ISBN: 0345469291 (March, 2006), 308 p., $25.95.

Anne Perry: Dark Assassin (UK 2006)

From the Publisher:
It was hard to be sure what has happened. The two figures had been on the bridge. She had put her hands on the man's shoulders. A caress? Or pushing him away? He had grasped hold of her. To save her, or to push her?

Murder, suicide or accident? Inspector William Monk of the Thames River Police watches helplessly from his patrol boat as the man and woman fall to their deaths. Still feeling his way in a new post, Monk knows he must solve the mystery to gain the respect of his men. Soon both he and Hester find themselves powerfully involved in the story of the dead woman, Mary Havilland, and her quest to vindicate her father.

Two months previously, James Havilland had been found dead on his stable floor. An engineer working for the Argyll Construction Company, he was convinced that a major disaster was about to happen in the tunnels where London's desperately needed new sewer system was being built. Maddened by his obsession, he'd apparently shot himself. Mary had never accepted that. And now she was dead too. Was it chance or are there more sinister forces at work?

Redolent with the atmosphere of Victorian England that Anne Perry creates so tellingly, DARK ASSASSIN makes a superb addition to this acclaimed authors William and Hester Monk series.

Anne Perry: Dark Assassin. A William Monk Mystery. Headline, ISBN: 0755320581 (February, 2006), 281 p., £19.99.