Bedford Square, Anne Perry

 The Book

    Pitt is awakened in the early dawn of a mid June day because a dead body lays on the doorstep of a wealthy man's house. When the corpse is cleared, Pitt knocks on the door, only to learn it is the house of retired General Brandon Balantyne, a man he deeply admires. When he goes inside, he meets Gen. Balantyne, his wife Augusta, and learns that their son, is working for the Foreign Office overseas. Balantyne likes Pitt, Augusta does not. Pitt and Tellman start their investigation. 

    When Pitt arrives back at his Bow Street Office, he is called into Assistant Commissioner Cornwallis' office, where Cornwallis confesses someone is attempting to blackmail him for an incident where he no longer has evidence that he is innocent. 

    Step by step Pitt and Tellman pursue their separate investigations, with Pitt not even telling Tellman that he's investigating the blackmail. This leaves Pitt working long hours, which Charlotte uses to her advantage to butter up Tellman for information through their maid Gracie. Effectively using Tellman's crush on Gracie to her advantage. 

    Then Charlotte calls on Balantyne to offer her friendship. He confesses the man on his doorstep had an ornamental snuffbox which he gave to a blackmailer. Again, Balantyne knows he's innocent of the charge, but it is so far in the past he cannot prove it. Charlotte agrees to help and to not tell Pitt. For awhile, all goes sideways when the body is misidentified and Pitt is ignorant about how far the blackmail goes. Gradually they get the upper hand, if only they could figure out what the victims have in common, then, they might know who the blackmailer and murderer is. 

My Thoughts

    This book is about 60 pages shorter than most of her books, but it is well done. The scenes are all relevant and tightly written, with just enough detail in them to have the reader walk through the story. The intertwining plots, the dramatic irony and Charlotte's use of Tellman's crush are all well done. This is a solid book, but I feel like brining in the Balantyne family for a third outing was a bit stale. I would have preferred that the series sprinkle in the younger generation of the Balantynes in throughout, especially since Charlotte and Thomas named their daughter after the former governess that Brandy Balantyne married. It's funny how some aspects of world building, Anne Perry gets so right, and other, it's just kind of a whiff. At any rate, I was glad of the shorter book, it saved me a solid day of reading. And seeing as how some of the banned books are long and densely written, it was nice to have a reread that I could breeze through without feeling I had given it short shrift. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

This 330 page first edition came to me from Prospects Height Public Library. It entered into their library, if the penciled in date on the inside spine of the cover page is to be believe in April of 1999. The book is in excellent condition, feeling as if it has rarely been read over the preceding 25 years. The cover says that this book cost $24.95 back in 1999. That is the number we will use. 

This Book                                                     $24.95

Items Reviewed This Year                          $298.90

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