Blind Justice

In all the series mysteries I read, Anne Perry's Victorian mysteries -- the series about Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and the one about William and Hester Monk -- are two of my favorites. In this book, the new one about the Monks, Hester decides to investigate when a young worker at the clinic Hester runs admits that her father has been ruined financially after being pressured to contribute more money than he can afford to his church's charity work for the poor.

These mysteries almost always include a long report on a trial, usually with the Monks' friend Sir Oliver Rathbone appearing for the prosecution or the defense. This one has two; most of the book takes place in a courtroom. Sir Oliver is a judge now, and when the church's minister is tried for fraud, Sir Oliver's handling of the case has serious consequences.  I think it's proof of how well these books are written that I can read these scenes (pages and pages of them), and all the serious moral and ethical questions that Monk and Hester, and many other characters raise -- were Rathbone's actions wrong?  were they justified, even if they were?  will friends stand by you, even still love you, if you transgress? -- and find the book still completely holding my attention. And everything that happens ties back to a horrifying case that has had a profound effect on the main characters (devastating, but also changing some lives for the better). It's a story line that has driven the last several books in the series, and I think it's admirable {more realistic, more credible} that Perry has let this happen, instead of moving the series too quickly in another direction as other authors might.

Thank you to Random House, via NetGalley, for sharing this book with me a little early. It's being published here this week.