William Monk is a Thames River Police superintendent on a patrol boat when he notices a young couple standing at a bridge railing, apparently engaged in an intense discussion. The woman waves her arms and places her hands on the man's shoulders. A caress or a push? The man grasps hold of her. To save her or to kill her? Seconds later, the pair plunge to their death in the icy waters. Monk can't help but wonder, was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder? It seems impossible to determine the truth, but haunted by the woman's somber beauty, he is impelled to try. Mary Havilland was her name, and she had planned to marry Toby Argyll, the man who shared her fate. Mary's father, an engineer employed by the Argyll Company, had recently died-a suicide, according to the police and Mary's sister. But Mary suspected her father had been murdered because of his stubborn insistence that the Argyll Company's current project-the construction of a splendid new sewer system for the metropolis-was so badly flawed that it put the entire city in peril from flood and fire. Monk is now faced with the mysteries of the three deaths. Aided by his intrepid wife Hester, he starts looking for answers and is soon treading a slippery path that takes him from the luxurious drawing rooms to nightmarish tunnels beneath the city where poor folk fight starvation. Scuff, a young mudlark, Sutton the ratcatcher, his dog Snoot, return in this book. And for once, even Monk's old enemy, Superintendent Runcorn, is on his side. With characters as vivid as Dickens's, gripping courtroom scenes, breathless horrors beneath the earth, and a plot that twists and turns toward a stunning denouement, Dark Assassin is absolutely one of Anne Perry's best.I can't say it any better than the book jacket. I thoroughly enjoyed the book (which makes it clear that we are lucky to live now and not then).
I don't know why I like her or why I read all her books. I've usually annoyed throughout the whole thing because of how emo her characters are. Every second of every day they are filled with haunting memories and personal insights for EVERYTHING. Basically it is: "And as she spread the marmalade on her toast, she was reminded of how cruel she was to her elderly uncle thirty years ago. Her failings were many and she resolved to be better in the future. She picked up the piece of toast and this brought more memories flooding back..." So yeah, funny how too much emotional information makes a character as thin as paper. She describes historical details (though I also sort of hate how she does dialects) and physical environments very well. And in the meantime, she works in a few murders and a riveting court case (actually, court case was kind of thrown in here at the end unlike how she normally has it running parallel and wasn't exciting at all). This one was okay--others in this series I have liked more--though I was pleasantly surprised that for once the murderer was not a secret pedophile like the culprit is in most of her books.
What do You think about Dark Assassin (2007)?
Another faintly ridiculous yet enjoyable entry in this Victorian mystery series. This one is set in the early 1860s during the construction of the famous London sewer system. Following the Great Stink of 1858 everyone agrees that the sewer is necessary, but the work is dangerous and has disturbed the "toshers" - those who make their living scavenging from the sewers.In need of a steadier source of income, Monk has dropped his private practice and joined the Thames River Police. I was a little disappointed that he doesn’t spend much time on the river in this book, but instead does pretty much the same kind of detective work he has always done.The author is no longer even bothering to take notice of the coincidences that always have Monk and Hester working on the same case. The mystery is not particularly compelling, but the setting is interesting enough to make up for it. The ending is as melodramatic as usual, with an unbelievable contrivance used to pull even the elegant Rathbone down into the filth of the tunnels.
—Jamie
Average historical mystery set in 1860s London and centering around the building of the London sewer system and the nefarious deeds of the engineering company responsible for the construction. This is the 15th book in the William Monk series and I have never read any of the previous books. Starting in the middle was not that difficult; there were references to past characters and Monk's unknown past (he suffered from amnesia and has been slowly learning about his previous life I gathered) and his past less than heroic actions. I still felt that I got a good handle on the character of Monk and his wife, Hester (a former nurse during the Crimean War). I didn't find the mystery very involving or suspenseful. The atmosphere and setting are what recommends this book--gloomy, foggy London. The author did a good job of capturing the social customs of Victorian London. I don't know if I would necessarily read another book in this series but I would probably start with the first book to see where Monk begins and get the full back story.The narrator was very good and added to my enjoyment.
—Carly Thompson
Although i have not yet read the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, I'm beginning to feel that this series is starting to overlap with it, which is a pity. The tension and dynamic Monk, Hester and Rathhone in the other novels added a level of suspense that played well with the mystery. The increasing domestication of the detective and the war nurse make this effort start to read like a romance novel. And that's not really my cup of tea.Interesting data on the building of the sewers and what a enormous undertaking that was, but not enough in the end to be worthy of recommendation. You'd have to be a real hardcore fan, i think, for this one.
—Martin
