A different sort of tale, an ethical
study of the legal system; how letting a guilty man go free may be the “right”
thing to do in the eyes of the law. A
judge, a good friend of Hester and Monk, inherits pornographic photos. In them are prominent members of society in
compromising positions with small boys. The
power one could wield with these pictures is immense. And the judge gives one of these photos to
the prosecution to use in a trial because he knows the accused is guilty and
will get away with it otherwise. Now the
judge is on trial…
Perry does a good job describing London
of the time, and the legal system, and the audio narrator had recognizable
accents for all the characters. It is a
slow moving tale, but that goes with the times.
Even though there are many books in the series prior to this one the
author did a good job filling in the newcomer to the series without bogging the
tale down with personal side stories or over-explaining the past of the
characters.
I think I have put off reading Perry
because I can’t separate the author from her childhood crime. (Look up the movie Heavenly Creatures if you don’t know the story.) For fans of historical mysteries I think she
is a must read.
