Brunswick Gardens

by Anne Perry

Book Overview

In London's affluent Brunswick Gardens, the battle over Charles Darwin's revolutionary theory of evolution intensifies as the respected Reverend Parmenter is boldly challenged by his beautiful... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0449003183
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Fawcett
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

I miss Charlotte

I am enjoying this in audiobook format. The only disappointment I have is that Charlotte is barely mentioned (I've listened to half of the cd's). Other than that, it is a very good story.

"Shepherds and woodsmen don't die of lonliness; it's people in cities."

The writers of flap copy obviously don't read the books they're trying to promote -- otherwise this 18th installment in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt Victorian mystery series would focus on the controversy over evolution (the original 19th century one, not the present-day religious thuggery), instead of merely mentioning it three or four times in the entire volume. Instead the sociological-philosophical theme (Perry always includes one) is the effect of high-speed scientific and social change on entrenched religion in general and also establishment hypocrisy in protection of the status quo. Unity Bellwood, a brilliant young female linguist who had been assisting an academic Anglican minister with a new book on theology, is found dead at the bottom of the latter's staircase. Was it an accident or was she pushed? Present are the theologian himself, his wife, a son who has converted to Roman Catholicism (and is a real pain in the neck), two daughters (one conservative and the other a would-be "new woman" who greatly admired the deceased) -- and a middle-aged curate who turns out to be Dominic Corde, Charlotte's brother-in-law and a major character in _The Cater Street Hangman,_ the very first book in the series. The clues are very confusing to both Superintendent Pitt and his wife -- the conflicts seem to prove that no one committed the murder -- but there's a reason for that, which most readers will deduce by the time they're two-thirds of the way through the book. Unity's character, as revealed in the investigation, is generally admirable and it's easy to take her side in the struggle to keep women in their place. And Tryphena, the younger (but already widowed) daughter, gets all the good lines in attacking the hypocrisy of organized religion. A pretty good book. One question though: Back several books ago when Pitt was first promoted to Superintendent of the Bow Street Station, he was being assisted by Inspector Tellman -- who in fact was presented as having been Pitt's competition for the job and still somewhat resented the fact. But in the later books, Tellman is suddenly back to being a sergeant. Is this a deliberate offense against internal continuity, just so Tellman could court the Pitts' maid, Gracie?

Into the hearts of Dominic and Thomas we go. . .

. . .and what a fascinating trip! Dominic Corde--such aninsensitive cad in the Cater Street Hangman--turns up here in the lastplace you'd expect to find a man of his calibre--and he's a likely suspect in the first murder case in this outing. Unlike some of the other readers, I didn't really mind that Emily was on vacation and Great-Aunt Vespasia was only in one scene. Life's like that, folks. Hey, you give me a choice between going to Rome and meddling in a politically nasty murder investigation and I'll say, arrivederci, baby:) Dominic is definitely the center-stage, pivotal character in this book. Everyone in this book except maybe Gracie, Tellman, and the Pitt children has been deeply affected in some way by what he was, is, or is perceived to be. I've reread this book three or four times just to savor the wonderful interplay between Dominic and Thomas, as well as Charlotte's coming to terms with her past feelings for Dominic--a perspective that also proves pivotal as the book draws to a close. Borrow it if you don't want to buy it. . .

One of Anne Perry's BEST!

This was one of Perry's most clever, I thought. I missed Charlotte, who was not active in this investigation and Emily was on holiday but the intrigue of Pitt's murder case was excellent! This is an excellent read !

Thomas and Charlotte Pitt at their best!

In the late 1890s, what did it mean to be a woman in England? What did it mean to have a religious faith against Charles Darwin's new theory of evolution? Anne Perry at her finest draws the reader to experience what only one could have imagined. 10 years after Sarah's death in Cater Street, dashing Dominic Corde has taken the cloth of the curate, sharing the home with Reverend Paramenter and his family and Unity Bellwood, 'a new woman', who has a passionate belief in educating women, having the vote, and Charles Darwin. Religion and those who follow it are fodder for her mockery of such arachaic notions. So, who causes her violent death at the bottom of the Paramenter's staircase? Thomas and Charlotte must traverse through some of marriage's most difficult tests and examine their beliefs, when it appears as if Dominic might be the murderer. Jealousy, freedom to choose who one might wish to marry, passions that cause people to act and react, play an intricate ! part in this latest Perry, making the reader question are some choices worth dying or are desires and wants as useless as crying over split milk?