Cardington Crescent by Anne Perry

 The Book

    Cardington Crescent is a book where Anne Perry ties up a few loose ends. Charlotte's sister Emily married above her rank in life. She loves her philandering husband. George, and attempts to win him back from his current lover, Sybilla March, the wife of his cousin William. The entire family, including Great Aunt Vespasia are staying with the Marches. Eustace is the head of the family, his mother, the indomitable Lavinia March, and his youngest daughter Tassie round out the family still at home. Rounding out the Marches' guest list is a man of about thirty named Jack Radley, with whom Emily flirts a little bit in retaliation for George's affair with Sybilla. When Sybilla and George have a fight, Emily gets the chance to reconcile with her errant husband. She takes advantage of it, not pushing him too far, and pretending she did not know about the affair. She sleeps soundly for the first time in weeks and wakes up late only to discover George is dead. When the doctor rules it murder, Aunt Vespasia sends for Pitt and Charlotte, Pitt to find the truth and arrest the guilty party and Charlotte to help Emily. Charlotte gest to the truth before Pitt, but will he get there fast enough to save his much beloved wife? 

My Thoughts

    I don't think the last time I read through these books I noticed just how much of the world is missing in these books. The Cater Street Hangman introduces us to a world in the middle of the Victorian era. I would argue, perhaps as an American, that 1880s London, specifically 1886-1890 are the very few years Americans most identify with that era. The queen is a recluse, sliding into old age, a madman stalks the streets of London, where crime and poverty run rampant in a decadent city at the heart of an empire squashing the rest of the world. And for all of the superb world building, the realistic interactions of the characters inside of a world that feels comparable to that of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes'. A feat in and of itself. But Charlotte doesn't interact with her parents. Even when Emily's husband dies, they aren't there, the convenient fact being presented that they are traveling abroad in an era where hunting them down would have been more difficult that the space and time allotted in the book. But they've only been in one other book to this point. 

Pitt's work world was incredibly late in arriving. And by this point, killing off Emily's husband seems a bit...forced. 

Honestly, I know the world building in this series is about to pick up, but I had forgotten just how many books into this series it was. Sigh. Oh well. Onwards. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

This book is another one of the Ballantine Press Paperbacks. It seems that most of Perry's collection was replaced or augmented in 2018. Again this book entered into my library on April 6, 2018. Honestly I got into the habit of talking about these books because of something interesting inside the covers. There was a mistake in the way it was catalogued when they came in. Somebody forgot to change the stamp from March to April, so in all of these books the March is crossed out and April Stamped over it. If it had not been for that and the leatherette editions of the Agatha Christies, I doubt these segments would be as long as they are. And they are interesting.

This book has not been frequently read, the pages are still tight to the binding and the pages are pristine. It cost $17.00. 

This Book                           $17.00

This Summer                    $327.00