Cain His Brother - Hardcover

Perry, Anne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 044990847X ISBN 13: 9780449908471

Publisher: Fawcett, 1995

Synopsis

"Give her a good murder and a shameful social evil, and Anne Perry can write a Victorian mystery that would make Dickens's eyes pop."
--The New York Times Book Review
Victoria's London was the queen of the universe, a dazzling metropolis from whose magnificent mansions and discreetly luxurious clubs flowed the strategies that built the greatest empire ever known. Meanwhile the city's poor suffered and died in hopeless obscurity. Inspector William Monk knows his city's best and its worst--or so he believes until the day when charming Genevieve Stonefield comes to plead with him to find her missing husband.
In his family life, Angus Stonefield had been gentle and loving; in business, a man of probity; and in his relationship with his twin brother, Caleb, a virtual saint. Now he is missing, and it appears more than possible that Caleb--a creature long since abandoned to depravity--has murdered him.
And so Monk puts himself into the missing man's shoes, searching in Stonefield's comfortable home, his prospering business, his favorite haunts, and, finally, the city's dangerous, fever-ridden slums for clues to Angus's fate and his vicious brother's whereabouts. Slowly, Monk inches toward the truth--and also, unwittingly, toward the destruction of his good name and livelihood....
Cain His Brother builds from one astonishment to another until, in a transfixed courtroom, fate, or perhaps the devil, plays with men's lives and laughs a last mad laugh. Never before has Anne Perry penetrated so deeply into the darkness of the human heart and into a past that rises up to haunt us with its tragic ironies.
A MAIN SELECTION OF THE MYSTERY GUILD
AN ALTERNATE SELECTION OF THE LITERARY GUILD AND DOUBLEDAY BOOK CLUBS

About this title

From the Inside Flap

er a good murder and a shameful social evil, and Anne Perry can write a Victorian mystery that would make Dickens's eyes pop."
--The New York Times Book Review
Victoria's London was the queen of the universe, a dazzling metropolis from whose magnificent mansions and discreetly luxurious clubs flowed the strategies that built the greatest empire ever known. Meanwhile the city's poor suffered and died in hopeless obscurity. Inspector William Monk knows his city's best and its worst--or so he believes until the day when charming Genevieve Stonefield comes to plead with him to find her missing husband.
In his family life, Angus Stonefield had been gentle and loving; in business, a man of probity; and in his relationship with his twin brother, Caleb, a virtual saint. Now he is missing, and it appears more than possible that Caleb--a creature long since abandoned to depravity--has murdered him.
And so Monk puts himself into the missing man's shoes, searching in Stonefield's comf

Reviews

In her sixth William Monk mystery, Perry evokes early Victorian London with her usual skill, although the novel is somewhat hampered by an awkward plot element. Genevieve Stonefield comes to Monk for help, believing that her missing husband, the upright Angus Stonefield, has been murdered by his depraved twin brother, Caleb. When Monk finds evidence of Angus's death, he also comes upon a makeshift typhoid hospital staffed by his two friends, Lady Callandra Daviot and Hester Latterly. The relationship between Hester and Monk seems excessively turbulent this time out, marked by an antagonism that is unexpectedly harsh after the moments of closeness they shared in the previous book (The Sins of the Wolf). More interesting than the resolution of Angus's death is a subplot involving a woman from Monk's past whom the amnesiac investigator can't recall. The fate of their friendship and his investigation into her past make up the best parts of a story which, while written with care and intelligence, suffers from a predictable ending.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Perry's lingering fame from the murder she committed as an adolescent won't hurt her latest book's popularity, but there's no doubt that her historical mysteries would be critical and popular successes no matter what her background. Victorian detective William Monk returns, this time in one of the most challenging cases he's ever faced. Genevieve Stonefield begs Monk to find her missing husband, Angus, whom she fears has been killed by his twin brother, Caleb. Angus, a respected businessman, loyal husband and father, and pillar of the community, has disappeared after a visit to Caleb, who's as different from Angus as it's possible to be; he's a violent thief, ruffian, and blackguard who lives in one of London's most dangerous slums. Genevieve's fears that Angus is dead at Caleb's hand seem well founded; all Monk has to do is find the means, the motive, the opportunity--and the body. But the more he investigates, the more bizarre twists and frustrating dead ends he encounters, until his persistence finally breaks the case wide open in a stunning climax that surprises even the unflappable Monk. This one deserves high marks for superb plotting, fine writing, intriguing characters, and outstanding historical detail. Buy multiple copies. Emily Melton

Edition details

• Publisher: Fawcett
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 044990847X
• ISBN 13: 9780449908471
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 326