A Sudden Fearful Death, by Anne Perry

 

The Book

    Lady Callandra Daviot has decided to spend her free time being a governor for the London Royal Free Hospital. Being a well-to-do, socially connected widow of a former Army Surgeon has its privileges, and she is enjoying the volunteer work she does at the hospital, or maybe it's just the company of Dr. Kristian Beck, the Austrian doctor who is second in command at the hospital. Callandra is aware she has a crush on a married man, but that doesn't stop how she feels, nor does it stop him from engaging in conversations where he marvels at the advancement of medicine and his pride that he can teach the next generation. It fills her time as she waits for interesting cases from William Monk. 

    Monk on the other hand, is deeply troubled by his latest case. Mrs. Audley Penrose consults him because she wishes to protect her younger sister after her sister was attacked in their home. Monk investigates, and discovers the truth, but it is extremely bitter. He does what he believes is right, and the only way forward with the insight of Hester Latterly. Their sparks are beginning to turn into a deep friendship, which both of them only grudgingly acknowledge. No sooner is Monk done with that case, than Callandra herself has a case for him. She is deeply afraid Dr. Beck is going to be blamed for the murder of the hospital's best nurse, a former acquaintance of Hester's Prudence Barrymore. Hester agrees to seek employment in Barrymore's place, with the help of Callandra and pass on what she sees to Monk. Monk is afraid something will happen to Hester, but it doesn't deter her.  

    The case twists and twists, uncovering a shocking number of abortionists at this hospital, until someone is brought to trial. But what the police believe was his motive, just cannot be true.  Brilliant barrister Oliver Rathbone defends him, but it will take all four, Callandra, Hester, Monk and Rathbone to get to the truth. Which is very ugly indeed.

My Thoughts

    This book has one of the best twist endings I've ever read. Agatha Christie is renowned for some of her twist endings and this twist is on par with some of her best work. And it makes it frustrating to talk about this book, and all of the things that are so well done, because to do so would give away the ending and therefore the first time reader's enjoyment of the plot. 

    I remember clearly the first time I read this book. My girls were very little, and I spent a summer living on my parent's farm with them, where I first checked out the William Monk titles from their local public library. Until then, I had only read the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series and I could not imagine loving anything more than those. And, to be honest, I thought the amnesiac Monk was an over used soap opera-esque plot device. But once I got into the book, I realized what an artistic leap Perry had made. This book revolved around morality in a very different, more open way. And it is here, in these books and in this series that Perry reaches her artistic peak, weaving a tale of personal morality against societal norms. She talks about things, about how things were in those days when Britain ruled the world, and how they were destructive. She brings a modern, or rather mid 20th century lens to the Victorian era and advances a set of arguments about women, empowerment, racism, and prejudices that made the world I grew up in. The books both make me nostalgic for my childhood, in a way I did not think possible and aching for the injustices in this world I live in. Her books are still relevant, and will be for a long time to come. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

This book is a hardcover, that while not a first edition, is definitely not an updated version of this book. It entered my library on Dec 06, 2005. And has been lightly read. There are no markings of dog eared corners. While photographing this book, the glossy clear cover the library puts on it to protect the dust jack combined with the deep black moody background to make the cover a mirror. It took a hot minute to figure out how to photograph the book, but we got it done. There is no indication of what the price of this book is on it anywhere. Using a bit of backwards math, I found from the receipt that this books would have cost $12.39. And that is about the most interesting result I have seen so far this summer. 

This Book                          $12.39

This Summer                   $774.21

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