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26th out of 117 books
—
19 voters
Cardington Crescent (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt #8)
by
Anne Perry
"A detailed period puzzler suffused with atmosphere, emotion, and suspense!"
BOOKLIST
When George March, a womanizing aristocrat, is found dead over his morning coffee, his wife Emily is accused of murder. But Emily's sister is none other than the indomitable Charlotte Pitt. Together, she and her husband, Inspector Thomas Pitt, take on the seemingly irreproachable March clan...more
BOOKLIST
When George March, a womanizing aristocrat, is found dead over his morning coffee, his wife Emily is accused of murder. But Emily's sister is none other than the indomitable Charlotte Pitt. Together, she and her husband, Inspector Thomas Pitt, take on the seemingly irreproachable March clan...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
April 12th 1988
by Fawcett
(first published 1987)
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Anne Perry's Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery series depends heavily upon class differences and tension for each episode's ambience. Charlotte comes from an aristocratic family, while her husband the police inspector could not be more plebian. In Cardington Crescent, Charlotte is called to the townhouse where her sister Emily and brother-in-law George are visiting his family. When George is found dead in his bed, Emily becomes the prime suspect, because it's common knowledge that he's been chea...more
Eighth in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mystery series set in late 19th century London.
The Story
The Eustace March is having a house party and part of its intention is to vet Jack Radley and arrange his marriage to Tassie. For some reason, George, Emily, and Aunt Vespasia are part of the party; Vespasia is Eustace's mother-in-law and George's great-aunt. William and Sybilla March are also visiting.
As the members of the party pursue the activities of upperclass-dom, George takes up an overt flirt...more
The Story
The Eustace March is having a house party and part of its intention is to vet Jack Radley and arrange his marriage to Tassie. For some reason, George, Emily, and Aunt Vespasia are part of the party; Vespasia is Eustace's mother-in-law and George's great-aunt. William and Sybilla March are also visiting.
As the members of the party pursue the activities of upperclass-dom, George takes up an overt flirt...more
Eighth in this series that is particularly reliable for conveying social protocol, class distinctions, and upstairs/downstairs interactions and relationships in Victorian London in the 1880s. In becoming Mrs. Pitt, Charlotte married below her social class out of love, but as Pitt was raised a gamekeeper's son on an estate where he was educated and taught as a friend and companion to the heir, he has the language and knowledge skills to move between classes while she has the insight and compassio...more
This was a pretty good story. I got lured into the mystery and was anxious to find out who dunnit, but the ending was a little weak and, while not ruining the story, certainly did not help. The ending was one of those that has a list of more of less equal suspects and the author just chose one in the last couple of pages.
As with all of the Anne Perry books, a lot of the story centers around the Victorian background rather than the mystery itself. For the most part I enjoy that, although this eff...more
As with all of the Anne Perry books, a lot of the story centers around the Victorian background rather than the mystery itself. For the most part I enjoy that, although this eff...more
Lady Emily and her husband, Lord Ashton are visiting a rather unpleasant set of relatives when it becomes apparent that George is falling for the lovely wife of their host's son. Emily is distraught, but with her pluck, she attacks the problem with her usual sense. George and the young woman have a terrible scene and he and Emily are reconciled. The problem is that no one knows this and when George is found murdered, Emily is suspect. The detective on the case is Emily's brother-in-law, Thomas P...more
My first Anne Perry mystery; I enjoyed her world-building skills, the rich details of the Victorian era that set the mood perfectly. This was a classic "English country house" mystery, with limited suspects and a single investigator (Pitt) with sidekick, but the true sleuth is Pitt's wife Charlotte. Some excellent suspense moments, my only complaint is that the conclusion, where the murderer is revealed, felt flat and too speedy. There was no real explanation of motive, everything was simply all...more
Three stars for a plot which seesaws between two seemingly disparate murders, four stars for its engaging story, characters, and sense of historical place, including Charlotte and Emily, and Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould who play major roles.
Cardington Crescent is the eighth book in Anne Perry’s Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series of historical mysteries. The main story takes place in June 1887. George and Emily are staying with his relations, Eustace March in Cardington Crescent when George is murde...more
Cardington Crescent is the eighth book in Anne Perry’s Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series of historical mysteries. The main story takes place in June 1887. George and Emily are staying with his relations, Eustace March in Cardington Crescent when George is murde...more
Ann Perry always paints a detailed and interesting portrait of life in Victorian England. This particular story, however, I did not find as compelling as some of her other novels. I always look forward to another Ann Perry mystery, and I must say that I did continue reading avidly to find out what was the answer to all the who-done-it question, but in the end, it was not as satisfying a read as I had anticipated. Of course, I would still recommend this book to those who enjoy a good Ann Perry no...more
Thomas Pitt is working on a particularly grisly case -- the dismembered body of a young woman wrapped in paper and discarded in a church yard -- when his brother-in-law is found murdered at the home of an autocratic and wealthy man. It is CHarlotte Pitt who succeeds in identifying the murderer of her sister's husband, but Thomas finds the killer of the dismembered woman while following up on a clue uncovered by Charlotte. A satisfying period mystery.
I am a fan of The Pitt books. This one lives up to the others in terms of social mores and customs and the characters feel like old friends. However, the ending of this one was very abrupt (the last few pages) and unsatisfying. While the villain made as much sense as would several other possibilities, the motive is barely revealed. It's almost as if Perry either couldn't figure it out herself or ran out of allotted space. Very disappointing.
In the first mystery in the Pitt series, the Ellison family lost a daughter to the Cater Street Hangman. Since that time friends have suffered unspeakable tragedies, and now Emily Ellison March, Lady Ashworth, is suspected of murdering her husband George by putting belladonna in his morning coffee. Families with this kind of luck need to have someone married to a police detective!
This is my latest selection in the Pitt Series and my march towards reading them all. I enjoyed this one as much as any of the others I have read. Many of my favorite characters from this series appear in this book which certainly adds to my enjoyment of the story. In this one Charlotte Pitt's sister, Emily and her husband, George are visiting members of his extended family. George spends the evening flirting with his cousin's wife. The next morning, George is found dead in his bedroom. Members...more
A bunch of summer reading mystery novels together. Sue Grafton is always dependable, always good. John Maddox Roberts is a new discovery for me. A private eye in ancient Rome is a great idea -- the historical stuff is excellent, the characters and the writing good too. Very readable. I could have used one more plot twist in each of them.
This one is terrible. I'm frankly not all that impressed with Anne Perry's Victorian backgrounds, though they're not bad. But when I was about two thirds through...more
This one is terrible. I'm frankly not all that impressed with Anne Perry's Victorian backgrounds, though they're not bad. But when I was about two thirds through...more
Intrigue intéressante, personnages intrigants, mise en scène victorienne que j'affectionne particulièrement et pourtant... Les deux héros d'Anne Perry, l'inspecteur Pitt et sa femme Charlotte, manquent de vivacité, d'intelligence et de caractère. On préfère malgré nous tous les autres personnages à eux. Et le développement de l'intrigue... dès le début le meurtrier était facile à identifier, difficile de comprendre comment le couple d'enquêteurs a pu mettre 380 pages pour y arriver! Le 3/4 du li...more
Maybe 2.5 stars. I usually like Anne Perry because there aren't any gruesome parts to her books, but this one had several gross things in it that I could've done without. There were a few parts of the book that I did like, but overall it's not one that I would recommend to anybody else.
I am a big fan of Ann Perry and the picture she paints of life in Victorian era England with such vivid descriptions of class distinctions. I have read most of the Hester and Monk books and prefer them to the Charlotte and Pitt books. This one was not a favorites.
Liked the overall story. this was one of those 'last page' mysteries - where they tell you the whodunnit on the last page. Kind of missed the usual endings of the whodunnit being about a dozen pages in from the end then there's a wrap up/explanation. overall, a good read. Will continue on with the series.
Victorian mystery series.. I haven't read her for a couple of years and in the interim, like many others became a Downton Abbey fan. Many of the characterizations reminded me of those in the PBS series and thus I put those faces in the characters in this story. Her Thomas & Charlotte Pitt series is traditional mystery fare and becomes formulaic over the series, but interesting & enjoyable nontheless. Like coming home to friends.
Great to listen to (Davina Porter is a wonderful "reader"). There are rather long stretches where not a lot happens, but I don't mind because the pictures Anne Perry paints of late-Victorian society are so detailed/brilliant that I'm absorbed in the atmosphere.
Too much filler. I got so tired of hearing the same whodunit theories over and over ad nauseum. The ending was too abrupt, the killer's motive too unlikely. I really wanted to like this one but the padding drove me nuts.
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I wish I had read this later as the characters would make more sense. I have just started Callender Square and it is introducing people who were killed in this book. I will try and read these in order.
the only thing stoppingme from giving this o noe 5 stars is the fact that the issue driving the murders was not made clear. It's all left to implication. Very Victorian ... not very modern. 8-)
Good, like all of hers. A historical murder mystery--I know I can always grab one and have a good read. I enjoy the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt ones more than the Monk ones.
Reading this book made me thankful that I was not a female in Victorian England. I found the conclusion a bit confusing, but overall it was intriguing.
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I am completely sick of reading school books after all these years in a Ph.D. program, so I have been gorging on mystery novels for the past few months. I am right now in the middle of the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series by Anne Perry. Like all mystery series, I wouldn't call these high art, but they are fun. They are Victorian murder mysteries--quick and easy to read, but also a good place to pick up tidbits of knowledge about 19th century England. As far as mystery series go, I think this is...more
I just finished this book and I don't get the end? Maybe it is just so dull an end I think there must be more to it.
Nice book to listen to, very similar to the other Charlotte and Thomas Pitt books by Anne Perry.
Excellent another good read from Anne Perry. For me it's not so much the story as the characters who I love to read about and follow from story to story. Highly recommended to those who like period mysteries and want an easy read too.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Could anyone else give an opinion to clarify what may have been the reason for the murders? | 5 | 32 | Apr 19, 2013 03:20pm |
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Anne Perry (born Juliet Hulme) is a British historical novelist.
Juliet took the name "Anne Perry", the latter being her stepfather's surname. Her first novel, The Cater Street Hangman, was published under this name in 1979. Her works generally fall into one of several cate...more
More about Anne Perry...
Anne Perry (born Juliet Hulme) is a British historical novelist.
Juliet took the name "Anne Perry", the latter being her stepfather's surname. Her first novel, The Cater Street Hangman, was published under this name in 1979. Her works generally fall into one of several cate...more
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