HIGHGATE RISE

by Anne Perry ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1991

Another of the author's forays into Victorian London's manners and mores (Cardington Crescent, etc.), once again featuring highborn Charlotte Pitt and her stalwart police-inspector husband Thomas. There have been two terrible fires in the prosperous Highgate area--both of them arson. Clemency Shaw died in the first one--her doctor husband Stephen was out on a call; the second took the life of neighbor and friend Amos Lindsay, in whose house Dr. Shaw was staying after the destruction of his home when, again, the doctor was away on call. Pitt is certain Shaw was the intended victim both times, but when Charlotte hears (from Great-aunt Vespasia) of Clemency's little-known efforts at unmasking slum landlords in high places, other possibilities surface. Charlotte follows Clemency's footsteps through the worst of London's neighborhoods--only to be rewarded finally with startling results that seem, even with other factors, insufficient motivation for the unconvincing, melodramatic denouement that follows. Heavily padded, repetitive narrative and sluggish pacing don't help. Only the author's finely detailed evocation of the high life--as well as the low--of another era might make this one worthwhile.

Pub Date: May 1, 1991

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1991

Categories: FICTION