Defend and Betray by Anne Perry – #3 in the William Monk Series

In an earlier post I told you I would be testing the waters of Anne Perry and her mammoth Victorian Mystery series. Well out of the two series I have to say I think the William Monk series has a bit more depth and bite than the Pitt series. I will say however, that the first half of each one I have read has been a bit dry (the case in both series),  but about halfway through they start heating up, by the time I was 3/4th’s the way through I was to the point where I couldn’t put them down.

So far out of all three I have to vote Defend and Betray as my favorite. The story opens with the murder of General Thaddeus Carlyon, his wife Alexandra quickly admits to the crime but won’t give anyone the real reason for her actions. She awaits trial maintaining her reason was jealousy over a possible affair.  For the time period we are talking about I felt the revealed reason to the crime was pretty shocking and the way it all comes out is definitely nail biting. Also in this book more and more of Monk’s elusive past comes to light which is very exciting. The relationship with he and Hester really haven’t heated up too much by this point but you can see it coming, namely in his reaction to realizing she’s interested in Rathborn a local barrister (our version of a courtroom attorney) that has assisted in each of their mysteries.

I found a dealer on Half.com that has loads of Anne Perry books, so I went ahead and ordered the rest of this series ($36 well spent, love cheap books). So we’ll see how far I get.

Currently I am wading through two mother of all mother series. Imagine my surprise and elation (man how long have I been waiting to use “elation” in a sentence) when I stumbled upon two period piece series, both Victorian mystery series?!

Now the first one, Thomas & Charlotte Pitt series, currently numbers up to 26 books – yes friends TWENTY SIX!! And the other series, The Monk series, currently numbers at 15. Needless to say I have some reading to do. I don’t feel like I can give an accurate review of either series yet as I’ve only read the first two of each one. I will say the relationships are quite different in each series and the writing is a bit more dense in the Monk series. Which let’s be honest, I’m glad given there is still the possibility that these could be formula novels, let’s hope not of course.

Did you know I detest formula novels?

The Pitt series began in 1979, Inspector Pitt is one of those fun loving disheveled characters that’s easy to like. The Monk series began in the early 90′s, William Monk is more of a brooding darker force characters. That series begins with him having amnesia and having to relearn his job and who he is without anyone knowing his demise. So far both female characters have a lot in common and easily remind me of each other, but like I said I’ve barely skimmed the surface of these series so jury’s still out on that.

So far I’m really looking forward to delving into both series, so that’s a good sign. Reviews to come when I have a few more under my belt.