The Whitechapel Conspiracy (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
Ce livre fait partie de la saga « Charlotte et Thomas Pitt » et c’en est même le 19ème opus ! Autant vous le dire tout de suite, c’est avec ce livre que j’ai découvert l’auteur et la saga et le fait de ne pas connaître l’historique des différentes enquêtes menées par le couple ne m’a pas manqué.Pour vous situer rapidement le contexte, nous sommes à la fin du 19ème siècle, en Angleterre et le royaume est menacé, le prince dilapide l’argent qu’il n’a pas et sa mère se désintéresse complètement de son rôle de reine. La colère du peuple gronde et la police soupçonne un complot qui pourrait renverser la monarchie en place.Au milieu de toutes ces intrigues politiques, Thomas Pitt, commissaire de police, a mené l’enquête autour d’un meurtre et après avoir témoigné contre le coupable se retrouve exilé et en disgrâce auprès de sa hiérarchie pour avoir mené à l’échafaud un notable respecté de tous. Le doute s’installe et Charlotte, la femme de Thomas, décide de mener à son tour une enquête pour savoir si son mari a eu raison ou non dans son jugement.S’en suit toute une intrigue mêlant politique, meurtres et disparitions mystérieuses, amourettes entre le bras droit de Sir Pitt et sa servante… J’avoue que j’ai eu beaucoup de mal à accrocher, j’ai trouvé le livre long, manquant cruellement d’entrain malgré les rebondissements et le suspens. Je l’ai fini sans grand enthousiasme et il ne m’a pas donné envie de découvrir le reste de la saga.
An above-average entry in this series, involving a potential revolution (theoretically leading to a republic) in England at a time when Queen Victoria has been in mourning for thirty years and making no public appearances, the Prince of Wales is a debt-ridden non-example of an honorable potential monarch, and his son, the Duke of Clarence, has died. All this is tied into the unsolved murders some years previously by Jack the Ripper. (One wonders if Perry had access to or had read Patricia Cornwall's fine book that solves that particular case.) Pitt is being punished by the powerful, evil Inner Circle for his actions in the previous book, having his command at Bow Street taken away and being sent to live undercover in Spitalfields and work for the Special Branch. The deprivation of the company of his family and their missing him are well-described; the conditions in the poorest section of London and in the sugar factories are less well-developed. The subplot involving Aunt Vespasia is also somewhat sketchy. Although the book is enjoyable, it would have been much longer if Perry had adequately developed the plots and subplots--and I wish she had.
What do You think about The Whitechapel Conspiracy (2002)?
21st in this series. Giving testimony in a murder case that goes against the wishes of the Inner Circle, Thomas finds himself removed from his Bow Street position and reassigned as an undercover agent in the poverty-stricken and unsettled Whitechapel neighborhood, where Jack the Ripper had committed his famous serial murders of prostitutes four years earlier. In working on trying to confirm the killer and motive in the court case that triggered his dismissal, Thomas also learns how far and wide the power of the Inner Circle can extend, as well as some interesting perspectives of European Jews resettled in London in this period. Aided by his stalwart team of supporting characters, he also unravels the Jack the Ripper mystery! Political arguments to replace the monarchy with a republic are reviewed throughout the book, as well as the motivations of anarchists and revolutionaries. In a related subplot, Lady Vespasia connects again with the one great love of her youth.
—Scot
I liked this book, but I didn't love it. Probably because this is one of a series and I kind of jumped in w/o having read any other by this author. I felt that I really needed to know more about the characters; the story itself was intriguing but did, I thought, get bogged down occasionally by the political stuff. I did feel that the author did a great job of capturing the aura of Victorian England: every movement, gesture, and facial expression is fraught with meaning, however unspoken. But my eyes glazed over at the esoteric discussions on republicanism, anarchism, etc., and I enjoy politics!
—Briansmom
Anne Perry writes a good murder mystery! This one centers around the Jack the Ripper story in Whitechapel. The back story is a complicated plot to de-throne the king and turn the country into a democracy with a president and congress. The plot is very complicated and involves everyone from judges, lawyers and law enforcement to average citizens. No one is ever quite sure who they can talk to as no one can be sure who is involved. It is very well done.The main characters are Perry's recurring hero Thomas Pitt and his wife. It becomes even more interesting if you have knowledge of the early life of the author.
—Dlhmoore
