Pentecost Alley, Anne Perry

 

The Book 

Pitt is called out of bed in the wee hours of a Sunday morning to investigate the strangulation of Ada McKinley, a prostitute in the Whitechapel area. It's 1888 London when a badge and cufflinks suggest the son of Augustus Fitzjames, Finlay, might be the murderer it's enough of a reason to hand the case off to Pitt.. It's sad and the residents are frightened. Inspector Ewart, whose case it should be, is certain Finlay is innocent and cannot wait for Pitt to prove that it is so. Charlotte's sister Emily is bored and cultivates a friendship with Finlay's sister to insinuate herself into the case. She tricks Charlotte into getting Pitt to search Finlay's house again for proof of his innocence, because she helped the sister fake and plant it. Pitt works and works the case, until he arrests Ada's pimp for the murder. Everyone thinks they can breath a sigh of relief, but another prostitute is found murdered in the same bizarre manner, and Finlay is implicated once again. 

Now the politicians that Pitt supports are his bitterest enemies, His brother-in-law, Emily's husband and MP Jack Radley is having one hell of a time defending Pitt, and his new boss is all but lost in the maze of complications, being a simple navy man himself. 

But Pitt is good at his job, and unravels the truth, until it all comes out and he can prove that while Finaly may have cleaned up his act since he accidently killed a prostitute, Ewart is still guilty of corruption and the police surgeon is guilty of planting evidence so that Finlay pays because Finlay killed the surgeon's sister. After all, what's the life of one sex worker worth? 

My Thoughts

 Anne Perry's work has always been about the complexities of morality and very frequently the lies people will tell themselves to excuse their own weaknesses. And this is about how far rich people will go to hide their indiscretions. The copyright on the book is 1996, and I think this book is her answer to those who believe that the rich and powerful do not pay for their crimes. She did. Certainly in tiny New Zealand, a person would have been hard pressed to find a child more powerfully connected than Juliet Hulme's (see this post). And yet, Juliet paid for her crimes, her parents got her a lawyer, but they did not corrupt the system of justice to let her off the hook. Something Anne came to admire in her parents. This book and it's message are that if the murder is sensational enough, politicians will be quick to react, indeed public opinion may force them to, but at the end of the day, a just system will have a lawful outcome. 

I am hard pressed to believe that as she grew older, Anne came to admire the detectives who worked on her case, and she believed they were an integral part of justice. I think, she is trying to make the case, that these are people who have good intentions. 

Growing up in America, it is easy to see that sometimes, we fit the law to fit our preconceived ideas of what an "good society" is, and not always justly. We need a fair justice system, and no doubt police, prosecutors, and lawmakers want to believe the system, the way it is, is just. And if we get outcomes, like Juliet Hulme got for the murder she committed, then we do have a fair system. But we need more of it. We need unbiased detectives, ones who stick to just the facts, and do not try to shoe horn their biases into investigations. We need good police officers, ones who treat each member of the public, fairly and with dignity for as long as possible. We need good prosecutors, ones who match the charges to facts fairly, The random element comes in when faced with a jury. But then, they are human, just as society is human, and that allows for emotion to be brought into the case. Nothing will every be perfect, but we can strive to make it better. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

    This is the first book of two books I checked out this year. I picked them up on Jan 2, 2024. This book is from the Palatine Public Library. They have no information on how long this book has been in circulation. The cover has barely begun to show some signs of wear, but all in all this book is in very good condition. There are no marks inside the library book and no folds. The copyright date on the book is 2011, and while I would guess this book is a little bit newer than that, that is the date I would use to if I wanted to index the price against inflation. Anyway, the cover says the book cost $15.00. 

This Book                                                             $15.00

Items Reviewed This Year                                   $15.00

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