Pentecost Alley Perry, Anne

The murder of a prostitute named Ada McKinley in a bedroom on decrepit Pentecost Alley should occasion no stir in Victoria''s great metropolis, but under the victim''s body, the police find a Hellfire Club badge inscribed with the name "Finlay Fitzjames"--a name that instantly draws Superintendent Thomas Pitt into the case. Finlay''s father--immensely wealthy, powerful, and dangerous--refuses to consider the possibility that his son has been in Ada McKinley''s bed. The implication is clear: Pitt is to arrest someone other than Finlay Fitzjames for Ada''s demise. But Thomas Pitt is not a man to be intimidated, and with the help of his quick-witted wife, Charlotte, he stubbornly pursues his investigation--one that twists and turns like London''s own ancient streets.

From the Publisher:

The murder of a prostitute named Ada McKinley in a bedroom on decrepit Pentecost Alley should occasion no stir in Victoria’s great metropolis, but under the victim’s body, the police find a Hellfire Club badge inscribed with the name “Finlay Fitzjames”—a name that instantly draws Superintendent Thomas Pitt into the case. Finlay’s father—immensely wealthy, powerful, and dangerous—refuses to consider the possibility that his son has been in Ada McKinley’s bed. The implication is clear: Pitt is to arrest someone other than Finlay Fitzjames for Ada’s demise. But Thomas Pitt is not a man to be intimidated, and with the help of his quick-witted wife, Charlotte, he stubbornly pursues his investigation—one that twists and turns like London’s own ancient streets.

Annotation:
A prostitute is viciously murdered in Victorian London and Thomas Pitt of the Bow Street Command is determined to bring in the culprit--regardless of his social class.

Author Bio

Anne Perry

Anne Perry, the mystery writer, was born Juliet Marion Hulme in Greenwich, England. Her childhood was a somewhat troubled one. She was often seriously ill, and her family also moved a great deal. It was when she was living in New Zealand that Hulme became notorious. She developed a close friendship with a fellow high school student, Pauline Parker, and in 1954, helped kill the girl's mother, Honora Parker. The case caused a great deal of public outrage. Hulme spent some years in prison, and was released in 1959, upon which she moved to England. At that time, she took the last name of her stepfather, and changed her name to Anne Perry. Perry's criminal past remained hidden for many years. After the 1994 movie dramatization of the murder, HEAVENLY CREATURES, a journalist finally put the pieces together, and Perry publicly admitted that she had once been Hulme. After leaving prison, she took on various jobs, including department store buyer and airline stewardess. Perry moved to Los Angeles for some years, working as an insurance writer and a limousine dispatcher, before she went back to the UK in the mid-70s. She published her first novel, THE CATER STREET HANGMAN, in 1979. Anne Perry is primarily a writer of historical mysteries. She is best known for two series that take place in Victorian England, one concerning Inspector Pitt, set in the 1880s; and the other about the amnesiac Inspector Monk, set in the 1850s. She has also branched out into the fantasy genre with her novels TATHEA and COME ARMAGEDDON.

Praise

New York Times Book Review
"The surface charms of Ms. Perry's picturesque settings are always alluring and even instructive, but it is her fine-bladed outrage that draws the blood in this series." - Marilyn Stasio April 7, 1996

Product Attributes

Book Format:		Paperback
Number of Pages:		0405
Publisher:		Ballantine Books

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Pentecost Alley A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel (Paperback)

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