A Breach of Promise

by Anne Perry Narrated by Terrence Hardiman

Overview

The plaintiffs in a sensational breach of promise suit are wealthy social climbers Barton and Delphine Lambert, suing on behalf of their beautiful daughter, Zillah. The defendant is Zillah's alleged fiance, brilliant young architect Killian Melville, who adamantly declares that he will not, cannot, marry her. Not even to his counsel, distinguished barrister Sir Oliver Rathbone, will Killian explain his rejection of rich and charming Zillah. Utterly baffled, Rathbone turns for help to his old comrades in crime-Monk, the private investigator who knows his city like the back of his hand, and fearless nurse Hester Latterly. But even as they scout London for clues, from Mayfair to sordid Devil's Acre, the case suddenly and tragically ends. An outcome that no one-except a ruthless murderer-could have foreseen.

Editorial Reviews

Romantic Times

Anne Perry simply cannot write a bad book, and A Breach of Promise is one of her very finest. The storyline is spellbinding, and Perry knows how to wring every drop of emotion out of the reader. This book leaves you devastated and shocked, but also surprisingly heartwarmed—it’s full of the rich emotions of human life.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In this latest William Monk tale (after The Silent Cry, 1997), Perry offers her strongest indictment yet of Victorian England and a society "where beauty and reputation were the yardsticks of worth." Barrister Sir Oliver Rathbone defends Killian Melville, a talented young architect, in a breach of promise suit brought by Melville's benefactor, Barton Lambert, in support of Lambert's daughter Zillah. Melville insists that Mrs. Lambert, desperate that her daughter marry, misconstrued his friendship with the young woman. Meanwhile, Hester Latterly is hired to nurse Gabriel Athol, who was tragically injured in India and whose wife, Perdita, finds her desire to understand his suffering thwarted by a brother-in-law who insists that women be shielded from the realities of war and violence. Hester befriends Perdita's maid, Martha, who is desperate to find her two deaf, disfigured nieces who vanished years ago when her brother died and his wife disappeared. Rathbone hires Monk to investigate Melville and the Lamberts; Hester implores Monk to help Martha. The first case ends tragically before the startling truth behind Melville's refusal to marry is revealed; the second project ends on a happier note. Perry does a masterful job depicting Victorian hypocrisy regarding women. But she draws her stories together with an incredible connection whose dissonance spoils an otherwise exceptional novel. Mystery Guild main selection. (Oct.)

Library Journal

Perry's latest foray into the William Monk series is a biting, if somewhat heavy-handed, commentary on women's roles in Victorian England. In this installment, Sir Oliver Rathbone is approached by Killian Melville, a brilliant young architect who has reason to believe he will soon be sued for "breach of promise." Rathbone's initial reluctance to handle a domestic matter is soon overcome by Melville's vitality and intellect. It is a decision Rathbone may regret. Annoyed at himself and his client's reticence regarding a possible defense, Rathbone asks Monk to look into the pasts of both Melville and the woman he allegedly spurned. Terrence Hardiman's masterful narration grips the listener from the outset; the various personae he assumes are engaging and believable. Hardiman's renderings of the gruff-exteriored Monk and the pompously self-righteous duo Wystan Sacheverall and Athol Sheldon deserve particular praise. Highly recommended for popular collections.--Jennifer Belford, Addison P.L., IL Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Pam Lambert

Captivating historical conundrum.
— People Weekly

Marilyn Stasio

. . .[T]he story is full of feeling and weighted with intelligent thought about the status of women in mid-Victorian society.
— The New York Times Book Review

NY Times Book Review

Anne Perry can write a Victorian mystery that would make Dickens' eyes pop.

Kirkus Reviews

Why would handsome, courteous, brilliant young architect Killian Melville—maneuvered (all unwitting, Melville insists to Sir Oliver Rathbone) into wedding plans by patron Barton Lambert's daughter Zillah and her pushy mother Delphine—refuse to marry the lady, a paragon of beauty and virtue, and her wealthy father's heiress? As Lambert family barrister Wystan Sacheverall calls witness after damning witness to the stand in the breach-of-promise suit the Lamberts have entered on behalf of their blushing daughter, Rathbone, convinced that his client is holding out on him and desperate to discover his secret, engages bulldog inquiry agent William Monk, abetted as usual by omnicompetent nurse Hester Latterly (, 1997, etc.), to investigate both the Lambert family and Killian Melville. Monk doesn't turn up anything likely to forestall the expected judgment against Melville, but then suddenly the case is rendered moot by a revelatory stroke of violence most savvy fans will have been waiting for impatiently. The aftermath may seem anticlimactic—especially since Perry has already entered her typically leisurely condemnations of a host of Victorian evils, from the siege of Cawnpore to the rights of women—but this time the surprises she's kept for last will knit the whole novel together more tightly than anything she's published in the past 10 years. A banquet for history buffs who live to see the Victorians chastised for acting like citizens of their age, or commended for having the rare good sense to advocate the views of our own.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169578058
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	10/01/2000
Series:	William Monk Series , #9
Edition description:	Unabridged

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