Death on Blackheath, Anne Perry

 

The Book

Commander Pitt is called to look into the disappearance of a maid from top naval weapons researcher Dudley Kynastan's house. Because the man is inventing systems that will completely transform the way war is waged on the oceans of the world, it of the utmost importance to determine if someone is trying to harm Kynastan. The Kyanstans swirl in the same level of society as Charlotte's sister Emily Radley, formerly Lady Ashworth. To Thomas's surprise, this is now the level of society he and Charlotte also occupy. He worries about Charlotte and Emily getting involved, especially since Emily's husband Jack, a member of Parliament, may or may not be offered a position working closely with Kynastan. 

Then the gruesome bodies start to reappear, and the most mischievous, devious, and plotting friend Pitt has, MP Somerset Carlisle, is asking questions in the House of Commons forcing Pitt to take up the investigation after he has been ordered off of it. Pitt remembers back to an earlier case, over a decade ago, when Somerset Carlisle resurrected corpse to keep Pitt investigation some truly awful people on Resurrection Row. Could Carlisle be up to his same old tricks? Was Pitt wrong to let him go the last time? Or does Pitt now owe Carlisle a political debt since he's been rescued by Carlisle? There's no time to figure it out, because some is committing treason. Pitt needs to take care of the traitor before he loses his job and England loses mastery of the sea. 

My Thoughts

This is a twisty little classic puzzle mystery/procedural wrapped unto the veil of a national security thriller.  Released in 2014, we continue to see Anne Perry moving more firmly into the murky world of spies and homeland secrets. She had things to say about morality and the lengths government go to in order to protect their citizens. But frequently, that spills into self interest. 

It's a world Perry grew up in. Her father ran the British portion of the Manhattan Project during WWII while Perry was a baby. It gained him a keen understanding of the political pressures inside the British government. It does not escape me that Commander Pitt works hard to find a way through the politics of a situation without sacrificing his integrity. And it tells me a lot that Victor Narraway, Pitt's former boss, continues to worry about Pitt's ability to sleep at night. As if Perry herself, in the wake of 9-11, was still wrestling with these concepts. 

Her extraordinary command of history, especially the Victorian Era, its foibles and challenges, continue to serve her readers well. At least this time, the plot twist, is mostly believable. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

This book came to me from Evanston Public Library. It's a first edition, so I must conclude it's been in their collection since it was published, likely a couple of week after the release date, which was March 25, 2014. The interior cover says the price at publishing was $27.00. 

I went back and tracked the price changes since I was able to start getting first editions. The first time I got an Anne Perry first edition it entered the library system in the spring of 2000. The cover price there was stated at $25.00 for a hard cover. It moved up to $25.95 in 2010 ish, up again to the full $26.00 in 2012. Just two years later, it moved up to $27.00. This is well below the CPI calculation between these two years of $34.37. 

This can only mean one thing. Books have always been an overcrowded field. Even though Perry was a bestseller, she couldn't command more money. And given the prices look similar with stand out writer, Michael Connelly, I'm guess people at the Big Five believed people would pass on the larger names to get a mid-lister or best seller from another publishing house. Just some thoughts. 

Library Books

This Book                                                          $27.00

Library Items Reviewed This Year                 $483.31

Private Books

This Book                                                          $0.00

Total of Private Books                                     $58.75

Total of All Items Reviewed This Year          $607.06

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