Book Review: Murder on the Serpentine (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt #32) by Anne Perry

Summary: Murder on the Serpentine (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt #32) by Anne Perry

In the history of Anne Perry’s bestselling Victorian mystery series, the stakes have never been greater than now—as a mission for queen and country places the future of the British Empire squarely in Thomas Pitt’s hands.

It is not the custom for the commander of Special Branch to receive a royal summons—so Thomas Pitt knows it must be for a matter of the gravest importance. The body of Sir John Halberd, the Queen’s confidant, has been found in the shallow water of the Serpentine in Hyde Park, bearing the evidence of a fatal blow to the head. At Her Majesty’s request, Sir John had been surreptitiously investigating Alan Kendrick, a horse-racing enthusiast who seems to have had an undue amount of influence on her son, the Prince of Wales.

Now Commander Pitt must navigate the corridors of power with the utmost discretion and stealth, for it seems certain that Sir John’s killer is a member of the upper classes. Aided by his wife, Charlotte, and her social contacts, Pitt seeks out the hidden motives behind the polite façade of those to the manner born—and uncovers a threat to the throne that could topple the monarchy.

With Murder on the Serpentine, Thomas Pitt nears a crossroads in his brilliant career—one that promises new challenges, both professional and personal, still to be met. But first, he and Charlotte must conquer the twists and turns of suspense master Anne Perry’s most cunningly crafted plot yet—to achieve their finest hour, or suffer their darkest.

Book review: Murder on the Serpentine (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt #32) by Anne Perry

Head of special branch, Commander Thomas Pitt, is summoned to Buckingham Palace by Queen Victoria for a secret mission, as his new job is to deal with threats to the safety of the nation.
The queen’s close friend and confidante Sir John Halberd is found dead in a rowing boat on the Serpentine. She asks Pitt to discreetly investigate. He must investigate persons of interest very closely indeed, which leads him to information he feels uncomfortable having. Nevertheless, it seems vital to a successful outcome, which is exactly what The Queen expects of him. Connections to the royal family, horse racing and politics within the country and abroad broadens Pitt’s investigation.

The plot develops through social connections, family, friends, acquaintances, people who know people in Society. Pitt’s superior believes he has both the skill and the stomach for the job as Head of Special Branch, if not the breading or the social background to go with it. But Pitt feels out of his depth. He worries that as he is not born into aristocracy, he will not be able to do his work well. I find his insecurities very human and relatable.

Commander Pitt goes about gathering information and dealing with what he learns in a compassionate way I feel he should really be prouder of. I wish he was more relaxed about his character and abilities. The thorough understanding of people’s nature is probably a result of his experience as a police detective. I enjoy following his thought process throughout the story as it seems to include a mix of ethical and philosophical deliberations probably adjusting him to his new position at Special Branch.

Charlotte Pitt is born into High Society and understands the intricacies, mannerisms and codes of behavior among the upper crust. She helps her husband gather information he would otherwise not have been privy to, and doesn’t want him to carry the burden of what he finds out on his own. Charlotte doesn’t want to look the other way faced with tough and dangerous issues and has helped her husband with investigations before. She wants to contribute to justice for whoever needs it, and makes sure her husband doesn’t get too daunted by the enormity of his job. Does Thomas Pitt have the perfect wife or what? I find her totally admirable.

Emily Radley, Charlotte’s younger; sister takes part in the investigation when information from Society is needed. Together they sift through all the gossip for snippets of information that may be useful to the investigation and passes it on to Pitt. They go to parties and social gatherings where they conduct verbal fencing worthy any politician.

With every book I read by Anne Perry, I enjoy new aspects of her writing. There are such detailed local descriptions of London at the time, which I find totally fascinating. Murder on the Serpentine gives vivid descriptions of people’s reactions and feelings as well as how they looked and dressed. We get glimpses into the way the characters lived, both the affluent and the working-class, like The Pitt family. All this makes the writing come alive in a unique way very few authors can replicate. I’m so drawn into the plot, I’m lost to this world for hours while I find out who the culprit is.

There is an unexpected learning experience about human relations and communication skills from reading Murder on the Serpentine. I would so much have enjoyed a few conversations with Commander Pitt in person, if indeed he were real. Enormous amounts of research must have gone into crafting his and the other characters for this series as they seem so multi layered and real.

There is this impressive, whole universe of reoccurring characters who make larger or smaller appearances in every book, and who are all fascinating. I really appreciate that the plot includes small background stories to complement the main plot, so new readers may catch up on what part characters have played in previous installments. Ideally, I should have read the series in order, but I first happened upon Anne Perry’s Christmas novellas. After that I seem to have jumped back and forth a bit. It is great to read them as standalones, but I have decided to go back and start with #1 in order to fully appreciate the story line running through the whole Charlotte & Thomas Pitt series.

Murder on the Serpentine is recommended for a fan of Anne Perry’s other work. -There really is plenty to choose from. Readers of crime fiction or historical crime fiction will enjoy Murder on the Serpentine too. All opinions in this review are completely my own.

My rating: 5 stars / 5

Book Details

Print Length: 289 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 21, 2017)
Publication Date: March 21, 2017
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B01HA4LFW0

About The Author

Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including Dark Assassin and The Shifting Tide, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including The Cater Street Hangman, Calandar Square, Buckingham Palace Gardens and Long Spoon Lane. She is also the author of the World War I novels No Graves As Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade, and We Shall Not Sleep, as well as six holiday novels, most recently A Christmas Grace. Anne Perry lives in Scotland.
To learn more about Anne Perry, visit: http://www.anneperry.co.uk/books