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Charlotte & Thomas Pitt #11
Highgate Rise
Clemency Shaw, the wife of a prominent doctor, has died in a tragic fire. But whether the blaze was set by an arsonist aiming for the doctor, or set by the doctor himself, Inspector Thomas Pitt isn't certain. With the scarcity of clues, Pitt turns to Clemency's stuffy, but distinguished, relatives. Meanwhile, Pitt's wellborn wife, Charlotte, retraces the dangerous path that Clemency walked the last months of her life, and finds herself enmeshed in a sinister web that stretches from the lowest slums to the loftiest centers of power....
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
461 people are currently reading
1192 people want to read
About the author
Anne Perry
360 books3,375 followersAnne Perry, born Juliet Hulme in England, lived in Scotland most of her life after serving five years in prison for murder (in New Zealand). A beloved mystery authoress, she is best known for her Thomas Pitt and William Monk series.
Her first novel, "The Cater Street Hangman", was published in 1979. Her works extend to several categories of genre fiction, including historical mysteries. Many of them feature recurring characters, most importantly Thomas Pitt and amnesiac private investigator William Monk, who first appeared in 1990, "The Face Of A Stranger".
Her story "Heroes," from the 1999 anthology Murder And Obsession, won the 2001 Edgar Award For Best Short Story. She was included as an entry in Ben Peek's Twenty-Six Lies / One Truth, a novel exploring the nature of truth in literature.
Series contributed to:
. Crime Through Time
. Perfectly Criminal
. Malice Domestic
. The World's Finest Mystery And Crime Stories
. Transgressions
. The Year's Finest Crime And Mystery Stories
Her first novel, "The Cater Street Hangman", was published in 1979. Her works extend to several categories of genre fiction, including historical mysteries. Many of them feature recurring characters, most importantly Thomas Pitt and amnesiac private investigator William Monk, who first appeared in 1990, "The Face Of A Stranger".
Her story "Heroes," from the 1999 anthology Murder And Obsession, won the 2001 Edgar Award For Best Short Story. She was included as an entry in Ben Peek's Twenty-Six Lies / One Truth, a novel exploring the nature of truth in literature.
Series contributed to:
. Crime Through Time
. Perfectly Criminal
. Malice Domestic
. The World's Finest Mystery And Crime Stories
. Transgressions
. The Year's Finest Crime And Mystery Stories
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews
June 3, 2022
4.5 stars
A cornerstone novel in the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt series, as the events in this one inform the events of the next several novels and open the door to Jack Radley's political career.
London's slum quarters and the profiteering off of the poorest of the poor is the topic, as well as political and social debate and reform of the time. There are many parallels to today's controversies about the limiting of speech and the fear many people have about the spread of non-conformist ideas. How far does free speech and "telling the truth" go and what are the consequences of both? How much of a role does conventional or religious morality play in finance and the need for wealth and standing?
This, plus the murders having been committed by arson, make it more of a compelling read than usual. The mystery itself is better than the already high average for the series. Very recommended.
A cornerstone novel in the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt series, as the events in this one inform the events of the next several novels and open the door to Jack Radley's political career.
London's slum quarters and the profiteering off of the poorest of the poor is the topic, as well as political and social debate and reform of the time. There are many parallels to today's controversies about the limiting of speech and the fear many people have about the spread of non-conformist ideas. How far does free speech and "telling the truth" go and what are the consequences of both? How much of a role does conventional or religious morality play in finance and the need for wealth and standing?
This, plus the murders having been committed by arson, make it more of a compelling read than usual. The mystery itself is better than the already high average for the series. Very recommended.
June 1, 2017
4.5 stars.
The best in the series so far.
Here the things, when I read Historical Romance, usually the author show us the wonderful life of those time.
Not Ms. Perry thought, she show us the ugliness in those time and your life almost mean nothing if you were not the selected few upper class.
However Ms. Perry's stories is not exactly romance, more like historical mysteries with romance in it:)
The best in the series so far.
Here the things, when I read Historical Romance, usually the author show us the wonderful life of those time.
Not Ms. Perry thought, she show us the ugliness in those time and your life almost mean nothing if you were not the selected few upper class.
However Ms. Perry's stories is not exactly romance, more like historical mysteries with romance in it:)
August 14, 2008
Part Victorian Jerry Springer show, part clue-less mystery, but unfortunately, rarely believable, if I hadn't enjoyed this book's sequel, (and didn't have two more with me in English language book exile) I might be giving up on Anne Perry right about now. When I read a Victorian novel, I want the people in the book to act Victorian, dammit. Instead, if it wasn't members of conservative and respected Victorian families airing their dirty laundry out in front of complete strangers, it was very recently widowed and ostensibly bereaved men flirting with the detective's wife. Coupled with a murder that was solved because the author told us it was, well, to say it didn't quite meet my expectations is a bit of an understatement. I like when Perry focuses on her Bow Street detective. I feel she has a good handle on him. When we spend most of the book with his wife and her gaggle of silly women (Is your husband working on a case we can meddle in? I'm soooo bored.), though, I feel I've left the time period and a sense of the gravity of the occasion behind.
May 14, 2013
As this series progresses, Anne Perry is going into some of the worst excesses of the Victorian age. This book centers on two aspects that were hotly debated at the time. The book begins with a terrible fire which kills the wife of a very outspoken local doctor. She had been quietly become involved in trying to breach a system of rental property law which allowed investors to charge extremely high rents for tenements in horrible conditions without anyone being able to tell who the property owner was. The poor were forced to live in such crowded and unsanitary places and they were also leased as brothels, opium dens and sweatshops. Many a righteous upper class families fortune was build on the backs of the wretched poor without anyone being the wiser. Neither of the Pitts can decide if the doctor or his wife was the intended victim.
When another fire errupts at the home of the doctor's friend with whom he is staying, the focus returns to the doctor however, the friend was an outspoken proponent of liberal Fabinism, which was also a source of contention in the village. While Thomas Pitt explores the motives relating to the doctor, Charlotte, Emily, Jack and Aunt Vespasia concentrate on the work the doctor's wife, Clemency, was doing. It appears that she had managed to trace the landlord of a despicable tenement and was surprised and appalled by whom she found as the owner.
While this plot was convoluted, all our main characters were engaging as usual and Charlotte's maid Gracie made an enterance as a detective also. She was an entrancing addition and a breath of fresh air, especially as various characters engage in some very long winded philosophical speeches which strain the patience of the reader.
When another fire errupts at the home of the doctor's friend with whom he is staying, the focus returns to the doctor however, the friend was an outspoken proponent of liberal Fabinism, which was also a source of contention in the village. While Thomas Pitt explores the motives relating to the doctor, Charlotte, Emily, Jack and Aunt Vespasia concentrate on the work the doctor's wife, Clemency, was doing. It appears that she had managed to trace the landlord of a despicable tenement and was surprised and appalled by whom she found as the owner.
While this plot was convoluted, all our main characters were engaging as usual and Charlotte's maid Gracie made an enterance as a detective also. She was an entrancing addition and a breath of fresh air, especially as various characters engage in some very long winded philosophical speeches which strain the patience of the reader.
July 13, 2022
This one was fine though it irked me sort of beyond reason due to some series continuity issues.
In this installment of the Charlotte/Thomas series Aunt Vespasia wears a black dress on page 125. Discerning reader that I am, I had to stop and think - wait, hasn't it been said that Aunt Vespasia never wears black? I tried searching prior books in the series for the word 'black' to see if I could find proof but that got boring pretty quickly.
In the end I hadn't needed to seek out evidence at all - it came to find me in the form of this sentence, on page 322: "Aunt Vespasia, dressed in deep lavender (she refused to wear black), stood next to Charlotte, her chin high, her shoulders square, her hand gripping fiercely her silver-handled cane."
Another issue: I had been surprised to learn that Caroline, Charlotte and Emily's mother, had moved to Rutland Place. Now I know it was only so that book #5 could have a name. Here in book #11, she's back at Cater Street as if nothing happened at all. It's weird that neither the writer nor anyone involved in the publishing of this book noticed the direct contradiction of the basis for a whole prior book.
Many ravings of a political/religious nature. Pitt does not come close to solving the crime. I still like the characters enough to continue, especially now that a) Jack might do something other than be Emily's husband, and b) Gracie has become more than just a handy babysitter/person for Charlotte to talk to when she gets tired of thinking/wondering/hypothesizing in silence.
In this installment of the Charlotte/Thomas series Aunt Vespasia wears a black dress on page 125. Discerning reader that I am, I had to stop and think - wait, hasn't it been said that Aunt Vespasia never wears black? I tried searching prior books in the series for the word 'black' to see if I could find proof but that got boring pretty quickly.
In the end I hadn't needed to seek out evidence at all - it came to find me in the form of this sentence, on page 322: "Aunt Vespasia, dressed in deep lavender (she refused to wear black), stood next to Charlotte, her chin high, her shoulders square, her hand gripping fiercely her silver-handled cane."
Another issue: I had been surprised to learn that Caroline, Charlotte and Emily's mother, had moved to Rutland Place. Now I know it was only so that book #5 could have a name. Here in book #11, she's back at Cater Street as if nothing happened at all. It's weird that neither the writer nor anyone involved in the publishing of this book noticed the direct contradiction of the basis for a whole prior book.
Many ravings of a political/religious nature. Pitt does not come close to solving the crime. I still like the characters enough to continue, especially now that a) Jack might do something other than be Emily's husband, and b) Gracie has become more than just a handy babysitter/person for Charlotte to talk to when she gets tired of thinking/wondering/hypothesizing in silence.
October 25, 2020
“Highgate Rise” is the eleventh Charlotte & Thomas Pitt mystery, five-star quality for me. This series grows remarkably well, rewarding those who savour the building blocks of chronology. Thomas has morals we can respect, declining job promotions that would take him out of interacting with people. He has compassion for all. Charlotte and Emily were high class; Charlotte marrying our police inspector and Emily marrying above herself. She was widowed and has now remarried for love, to Jack; titled without an income. He is sharp at assisting the investigations that Thomas now willingly shares with them. They are careful but have been witnessing the struggle of the poor, as much as the plight of highborn women, who cannot vote for better laws and rights either. Jack can cast votes, however....
The crimes of this 1991 novel, depicting a timeline of precisely 100 years ago, are ghastly; loss of lives and homes in fire. With Anne Perry’s usual intricacy, one cannot tell if the target was Doctor Clemency Shaw or his wife. It takes varied and inventive sleuthing teams, including the Pitt’s loyal housekeeper, Gracie, to trace the owner of rental companies hidden behind solicitors and scuzzy landlords. It seems that renting unhygienic, unsafe rooms to a score of poor who can only pay a bit each, translates into big revenues. Thankfully for a few of the tenements, the loss of august reputations are the returns that hypocrites reap!
I have found that those who revere religions alongside God, criticize those who do not; even in my own family. They are maddeningly too busy perceiving evil everywhere, to absorb joy in God’s natural forms. Nothing shines light on core issues better than a fictional story, showing how it feels to be misjudged. This story is serious and adventurous all at once.
** Happy eighty-second birthday to dear Anne Perry, on October 28th! **
The crimes of this 1991 novel, depicting a timeline of precisely 100 years ago, are ghastly; loss of lives and homes in fire. With Anne Perry’s usual intricacy, one cannot tell if the target was Doctor Clemency Shaw or his wife. It takes varied and inventive sleuthing teams, including the Pitt’s loyal housekeeper, Gracie, to trace the owner of rental companies hidden behind solicitors and scuzzy landlords. It seems that renting unhygienic, unsafe rooms to a score of poor who can only pay a bit each, translates into big revenues. Thankfully for a few of the tenements, the loss of august reputations are the returns that hypocrites reap!
I have found that those who revere religions alongside God, criticize those who do not; even in my own family. They are maddeningly too busy perceiving evil everywhere, to absorb joy in God’s natural forms. Nothing shines light on core issues better than a fictional story, showing how it feels to be misjudged. This story is serious and adventurous all at once.
** Happy eighty-second birthday to dear Anne Perry, on October 28th! **
October 20, 2017
La Perry mi ha proprio stufato, chi mi consiglia dei gialli vittoriani piu' interessanti? (a parte Wilkie Collins)
Qui la storia era interessante, le indagini di Pitt anche, ma le intromissioni di Charlotte, che mi sta proprio antipatica, proprio non le sopporto piu'...
Qui la storia era interessante, le indagini di Pitt anche, ma le intromissioni di Charlotte, che mi sta proprio antipatica, proprio non le sopporto piu'...
January 17, 2021
I suspect this is written with an assumption that people will read the whole series in order, that the person who picks this up is already acquainted with all these characters. It was hard to keep track of so many!
I liked that this book seemed written based on some research on the time (many details were anachronistic or a bit of a stretch to believe but I was enjoying it enough to forgive that). I liked that the solving of the mystery was so collaborative although I fear that by bringing more and more people into the team the author risks making the series really unwieldy (as it is much of what happened was a stretch to believe). There's an odd irony in the women being portrayed quite so independent so that it's verging on feminist revisionism (of what was not a great time for women) but then still including completely unnecessary scenes of Jack bossing Emily around and "protecting" her in a way that would have been done in the time but for 2021 seems frustratingly sexist and we might not need quite so much of Emily being portrayed as enjoying it. I also felt a lot of the dribbly inside people's head bits could have been edited shorter or dispensed with...especially given the POV kept changing for them. I feel much of the philosophical and moral stuff is the author trying to elevate an enjoyable series to something more philosophical and "deep" and I did not feel that was successful or contributed anything. At the same time the portrayal of the horrors of slums and the wealthy people that enabled so much poverty and suffering was a point worth highlighting.
The denouement was sort of anticlimactic with one of the suspects ranting until the criminal outed themselves, leaving me wondering what the point of all the detective work was.
4 stars because I enjoyed myself but plenty of room for improvement.
I liked that this book seemed written based on some research on the time (many details were anachronistic or a bit of a stretch to believe but I was enjoying it enough to forgive that). I liked that the solving of the mystery was so collaborative although I fear that by bringing more and more people into the team the author risks making the series really unwieldy (as it is much of what happened was a stretch to believe). There's an odd irony in the women being portrayed quite so independent so that it's verging on feminist revisionism (of what was not a great time for women) but then still including completely unnecessary scenes of Jack bossing Emily around and "protecting" her in a way that would have been done in the time but for 2021 seems frustratingly sexist and we might not need quite so much of Emily being portrayed as enjoying it. I also felt a lot of the dribbly inside people's head bits could have been edited shorter or dispensed with...especially given the POV kept changing for them. I feel much of the philosophical and moral stuff is the author trying to elevate an enjoyable series to something more philosophical and "deep" and I did not feel that was successful or contributed anything. At the same time the portrayal of the horrors of slums and the wealthy people that enabled so much poverty and suffering was a point worth highlighting.
The denouement was sort of anticlimactic with one of the suspects ranting until the criminal outed themselves, leaving me wondering what the point of all the detective work was.
4 stars because I enjoyed myself but plenty of room for improvement.
February 20, 2021
Es war ein schöner - und gegen Ende hin - spannender Roman!
Anfangs brauchte ich Zeit um reinzukommen und erst ab Seite 150 hat das Buch und die Geschichte an Spannung zugenommen.
Leider merkt man jedoch hin und wieder, dass das Buch nicht in der Zeit geschrieben wurde, in der es handelt. Einflüsse des 20ten Jahrhunderts, in dem das Buch geschrieben wurde, sind widerzuerkennen.
Beispielsweise sind die Geflogenheiten oder manche Verhaltensweise etwas ungewöhnlich für diese Zeit. Dennoch verstehe ich den Hintergrund der Autorin, die vermutlich bewusst eine emanzipiertere Frau in dieser Zeit darstellen wollte, als es wahrscheinlich der Fall war.
Ich überlege, ob ich noch mehr Bücher dieser Reihe lesen soll, denn ich bin durch Zufall auf dieses Buch in einem offenem Bücherschrank gestoßen und wusste nicht, dass es der elfte Teil einer Reihe ist. :D
Mal schauen... :)
Anfangs brauchte ich Zeit um reinzukommen und erst ab Seite 150 hat das Buch und die Geschichte an Spannung zugenommen.
Leider merkt man jedoch hin und wieder, dass das Buch nicht in der Zeit geschrieben wurde, in der es handelt. Einflüsse des 20ten Jahrhunderts, in dem das Buch geschrieben wurde, sind widerzuerkennen.
Beispielsweise sind die Geflogenheiten oder manche Verhaltensweise etwas ungewöhnlich für diese Zeit. Dennoch verstehe ich den Hintergrund der Autorin, die vermutlich bewusst eine emanzipiertere Frau in dieser Zeit darstellen wollte, als es wahrscheinlich der Fall war.
Ich überlege, ob ich noch mehr Bücher dieser Reihe lesen soll, denn ich bin durch Zufall auf dieses Buch in einem offenem Bücherschrank gestoßen und wusste nicht, dass es der elfte Teil einer Reihe ist. :D
Mal schauen... :)
August 27, 2009
All the things I didn't like in the last book are continued in this book and the plot just wasn't as engrossing. The WHOdunit was boringly stereotypical, the WHYdunit was just not believable, the great climatic scene was dumb and the emotion of the book was mostly forced. On the other hand, Thomas and Charlotte are still quite likable, their servant Gracie gets involved which is nice for her and Charlotte's introduction to this segment of society through her crotchety old grandmother was different. What is getting a bit old is the way almost everyone who is involved in the church is portrayed. I know that all churches, the church of England in the 1800's included, have their share of shallow self serving people, but surely there was more than one solitary lonely truly good church person back in these days. I know not all writers look favorably on religion, but I expect more from Anne Perry, who is herself religious, although obviously not Church of England.
April 5, 2011
Charlotte and Thomas Pitt's maid, Gracie, has been admiring her mistress's detecting adventures for the past few books, but her participation in this story adds a freshness to the plot and the characterizations. Dedicated readers of the Pitt series know Charlotte, Emily, Thomas, and Great Aunt Vespasia so well now that new characters are always welcome additions to the cast.
September 6, 2020
So not as great as the last I read from this series. It says a lot that I cannot come up with any great fun things to say about this book. It was ok but not by any means close to the best of the series.
October 28, 2019
It was delightful reading having Charlotte investigate along with Emily, Jack, Great-Aunt Vespasia and Charlotte's maid Gracie. I hope they will team up again in later novels.
April 19, 2020
I stopped reading the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt books after Ms Perry started writing the Wm Monk series...there was more depth to them. But since the COVID thing, and relying on Libby e-books, I discovered all Anne Perry books are available. Since I have read all the Monk series, I went back to Charlotte and Thomas and have been binge reading them: up to Highgate Rise right now. I have seen the progression of Perry's writing go from just good descriptions of Victorian life from poor to mid-class to the wealthy to actually getting into the horrors and restrictions of being a woman in those times as related in Bethlehem Square. And in Highgate, the terrible truth of wealthy men getting richer exploiting the poor living in crowded slums -with no sanitation or water, or even decent buildings, not willing to alleviate the suffering or better the living conditions, hiding behind layers of managers to keep the public ignorant of how they were making their fortunes. Also, the hypocrisy of clergy and good Christians, who felt the poor deserved no better.
February 17, 2019
I enjoyed this book although it was not my favorite by this author. It was, in my estimate too long. It could have made its point with fewer woods and passionate scenes about ideas and how much passion differences over ideas can inspire. One thing worth mentioning is how many of the political differences that inspired strong feelings at the time are the same as today, especially economic inequality and the role of women in public life. The themes of the book - the power of ideas and the responsibilities of power resonated with me. As always, Ms Perry's books are about more than just solving a mystery or finding a culprit. Her evocation of society in this novel is particularly good.
October 16, 2017
I was manning the Book Sales table at a Friends of Ngaio Marsh event yesterday, and was encouraged to read the books--a subtle form of advertising! It seemed to work--we sold a good amount of books!
This is the second Anne Perry book I've read, and I enjoyed the story, characters and mystery, although I found it hard to get into the story. The stilted style of the prose and the frequent head-hopping, while very true to the Victorian period, did stop me from connecting with the story as much as I would have liked. Over all, a very good book, and I picked up a second book to read as well.
This is the second Anne Perry book I've read, and I enjoyed the story, characters and mystery, although I found it hard to get into the story. The stilted style of the prose and the frequent head-hopping, while very true to the Victorian period, did stop me from connecting with the story as much as I would have liked. Over all, a very good book, and I picked up a second book to read as well.
March 6, 2024
8.25/10
The author explored many thought provoking themes in this installment in the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt series of mysteries. Strongly held ideas and beliefs are very powerful—powerful enough to be motive for murder.
The author explored many thought provoking themes in this installment in the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt series of mysteries. Strongly held ideas and beliefs are very powerful—powerful enough to be motive for murder.
July 16, 2017
This book started out with such promise, arson and murder but became far too melodramatic for my taste.
December 12, 2019
Coup de cœur!
September 28, 2023
Best Thomas and Charlotte Pitt Mystery so far.
March 9, 2024
J’ai beaucoup aimé retrouver l’inspecteur Pitt et ses proches dans ce tome bien tourné. On accroche aux personnages et on vit leurs expériences tout au long du livre jusqu’au dénouement.
July 4, 2018
When Inspector Pitt is called in the middle of the night to a house fire in Highgate, he is out of his area of responsibility - and soon feeling out of his depth.
Clemency Shaw, the wife of a successful if spiky local Doctor, has died in a fire which is soon identified as arson. The arsonist destroyed the Shaw house, and took Clemency's life. Dr Shaw only escaped as he was called out to a women in early labour, only arriving home after the fire has been subdued. He has no idea who could have done this terrible thing, but soon after voices his concern to Pitt that he, Dr Shaw, could have been the intended victim. Dr Shaw shares progressive ideas about society and the sharing of wealth, which are at odds with most of his neighbours and has led to several long standing argumentative stand offs with more prominent members of Highgate society.
After the fire, Shaw lodges with his best friend, a man who shares his ideas for a new way forward for society and has also not made himself universally popular. Two days after the Shaw house fire, Dr Shaw is called out on a medical emergency - and his friend's house is burnt down, with Amos Lindsay, his friend, within it.
Pitt and the local constable, Murdo, are at their wits end - who is doing this?
Charlotte, Pitt's wife, is saddened to hear of this tragedy, but is initially distracted by the return of her sister, the impossibly glamourous Emily, freshly back from her continental honeymoon with Jack Radley. Emily seizes on this new mystery and they seek the advice and guidance of the imperial Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould. I must admit that Lady VCG is my favourite character in the Pitt series, she draws you in without courting you and is utterly amazing. When the ladies discover that Clemency, far from being a quiet stay at home society wife, was actively investigating and seeking a way to change the law to stop slum landlords living on the rents of the poor and destitute, they turn there attentions to this cause too.
What they discover, with the further investigations of Pitt will change their, and the inhabitants of Highgate Rise, lives forever.
Turns out I already have a copy of this novel, so I will pass it on.
Clemency Shaw, the wife of a successful if spiky local Doctor, has died in a fire which is soon identified as arson. The arsonist destroyed the Shaw house, and took Clemency's life. Dr Shaw only escaped as he was called out to a women in early labour, only arriving home after the fire has been subdued. He has no idea who could have done this terrible thing, but soon after voices his concern to Pitt that he, Dr Shaw, could have been the intended victim. Dr Shaw shares progressive ideas about society and the sharing of wealth, which are at odds with most of his neighbours and has led to several long standing argumentative stand offs with more prominent members of Highgate society.
After the fire, Shaw lodges with his best friend, a man who shares his ideas for a new way forward for society and has also not made himself universally popular. Two days after the Shaw house fire, Dr Shaw is called out on a medical emergency - and his friend's house is burnt down, with Amos Lindsay, his friend, within it.
Pitt and the local constable, Murdo, are at their wits end - who is doing this?
Charlotte, Pitt's wife, is saddened to hear of this tragedy, but is initially distracted by the return of her sister, the impossibly glamourous Emily, freshly back from her continental honeymoon with Jack Radley. Emily seizes on this new mystery and they seek the advice and guidance of the imperial Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould. I must admit that Lady VCG is my favourite character in the Pitt series, she draws you in without courting you and is utterly amazing. When the ladies discover that Clemency, far from being a quiet stay at home society wife, was actively investigating and seeking a way to change the law to stop slum landlords living on the rents of the poor and destitute, they turn there attentions to this cause too.
What they discover, with the further investigations of Pitt will change their, and the inhabitants of Highgate Rise, lives forever.
Turns out I already have a copy of this novel, so I will pass it on.
March 24, 2016
There is a formula to these stories and part of the charm and interest is to see the growth and change in the characters, Charlotte, Thomas, Emily, and Jack. Each book and murder examines the contrast between the rigid grace and manners of the middle and upper classes with the lower, impoverished classes. Assumptions, judgments, prejudices on both sides play into the difficulty of solving a murder involving the privileged classes.
In this one, an arsonist sets fire to a doctor's house in a prosperous section of London. The doctor's wife is killed and burned nearly to cinders. The assumption is that it was the doctor who was the intended victim, particularly when another arson related death occurs. Pitt and Charlotte investigate. It is almost like the two are partners, with Charlotte using her social connections and Pitt using the power of the police. It's a very enjoyable series. I adore it.
In this one, an arsonist sets fire to a doctor's house in a prosperous section of London. The doctor's wife is killed and burned nearly to cinders. The assumption is that it was the doctor who was the intended victim, particularly when another arson related death occurs. Pitt and Charlotte investigate. It is almost like the two are partners, with Charlotte using her social connections and Pitt using the power of the police. It's a very enjoyable series. I adore it.
April 23, 2011
Eleventh in the series. I particularly enjoyed this installment, because more and more of the secondary characters from earlier novels are being flushed out and many of them are helping out, at various levels, in the detection process of solving the mystery. Thomas and Charlotte are more openly and actively combining their skills and efforts in solving the case, too. Not so much an emphasis on social behavior details of the period in this novel as in many of the earlier ones, but the debate over the beliefs of the Fabian Society was a theme I enjoyed. George Bernard Shaw even puts in an appearance at the funeral of one in a series of murders by arson in a fairly close-knit upper class neighborhood. Who is setting these fires, and why, are the questions driving the plot forward.
September 7, 2011
A Victorian mystery featuring Charlotte and Inspector Thomas Pitt. Clemency Shaw, wife of a prominent doctor, has died in a tragic fire in the peaceful suburb of Highgate, apparently the intended victim of an arsonist. As Inspector Pitt searches for clues to the murder, his wife Charlotte uses her social connections to gather gossip about the Shaw family and to help him solve the case. Each book of the series (this is not the first, if you like to read things in order) addresses a different social problem of the Victorian era and carries along the story of the Pitts and their family. The reader gets a real flavor of what it must have been like to live in Victorian England, regardless of one's status in life.
May 22, 2013
I always enjoy an Inspector Pitt novel I love the period in which they are set (around the time of the Whitechapel murders if you don't know) and the characters are delightfully drawn. Sometimes despite the grave investigations there are humorous moments: "She looked at Charlotte down her nose. This was an achievement in itself since she was considerably shorter than Charlotte even when they were both seated." Well it made me laugh. I like the way Anne Perry weaves in and highlights social injustice and sad to say that some things have changed but not to the extent they should have done. Good read.
November 12, 2013
This novel had a complicated plot as Inspector Thomas Pitt is called to a different area to solve a woman's murder in a house fire. He is mystified at the motive and clues are difficult to find until his wife, Charlotte, her sister, Emily, and new husband, Jack, plus Great-Aunt Vespasia all get involved with local the society. Slowly they uncover some secrets that point to multiple motives among the relatives. Lots of interesting characters.
June 9, 2018
I love reading about Victorian London. I really do. I love the stupid customs and the ridiculous clothes and gross food. It’s all silly and sad and weird and beautiful.
The poverty, though, was unspeakable. I wonder if real poverty now is better or worse?
It must have been even better to be a wealthy white man then than it is now, because their dominance was so total. Sorry about your empire, fellas.
The poverty, though, was unspeakable. I wonder if real poverty now is better or worse?
It must have been even better to be a wealthy white man then than it is now, because their dominance was so total. Sorry about your empire, fellas.
December 21, 2019
The plot starts immediately with the first murder. The method of the murder is unusual: arson! From there the reader is introduced to the suspects and bystanders and must sort out which is which.
Thomas Pitt is the officer in charge, and he receives help from his wife, Charlotte, as well as his sister-in -law Emily, brother-in-law Jack, and Lady Cumming- Gould.
The sleuths are old friends whom it is good to meet again. The ending is a lesson for all.♥️❄️🌲🐑✝️🔔☃️✡️♥️
Thomas Pitt is the officer in charge, and he receives help from his wife, Charlotte, as well as his sister-in -law Emily, brother-in-law Jack, and Lady Cumming- Gould.
The sleuths are old friends whom it is good to meet again. The ending is a lesson for all.♥️❄️🌲🐑✝️🔔☃️✡️♥️
December 12, 2024
Highgate Rise is the 11th book in Anne Perry’s “Thomas and Charlotte Pitt” mystery series, which takes place in London during the Victorian era. For those who don’t know, Thomas is employed by Scotland Yard and is married to Charlotte, a high-born woman in Victorian society. I found both to be very sympathetic characters, and I enjoyed spending time with both. (Thomas and Charlotte do have two young children, a boy and a girl, but they are almost never seen in this book since there are plenty of people to care for them when Thomas and Charlotte are busy chasing down motives and suspects.)
The book hits the ground running, when Thomas is called to the affluent London suburb of Highgate, where a fire is rapidly consuming the home of prominent physician, Dr. Stephen Shaw. There is one victim, and it’s not Dr. Shaw. It’s his wife, Clemency. Dr. Shaw had been called out that evening. A quick walk-through of the house, once the flames have been extinguished, shows Pitt that the fire was arson, and was started inside the house rather than outside. Complicating matters is the fact that the dead woman, Clemency Shaw, had planned on being away that evening, while Dr. Shaw had planned on staying home. So was the intended victim, the doctor, or was it the doctor’s wife? It’s assumed by most that the intended victim was meant to be Dr. Shaw, but then another fire breaks out, this time at the home of Amos Lindsey, Shaw’s best friend, with whom he is staying, and Lindsey is killed. This fire is arson as well, and like the first, Dr. Shaw is away at the time and unharmed. As a consequence, Shaw is looked upon, not as a victim, but as Clemency’s possible murderer who tried to throw suspicion off of himself by killing Lindsey.
When Pitt tells Charlotte about the case, she can’t help but meddle, as she always does. She loves playing Watson to Pitt’s Holmes. While Pitt goes about his investigation in a more conventional, straightforward manner, Charlotte, who is convinced the intended victim was Clemency, begins to retrace the dead woman’s steps during the final two days of her life. Assisting Clemency are her mother, Caroline, her great-aunt Vespasia, and even her maid, who proves invaluable when Clemency and company visit the lodgings of the low-born, as they proceed to uncover dark secrets they are convinced Clemency knew.
Clemency, a compassionate and civic-minded woman, had devoted her life, and the fortune she’d inherited to exposing the high-born who sought to enhance their own fortunes by preying on the needs of the poorest in the city of London; these wealthy persons had been what we’d refer to as “slum lords,” only worse, if you can imagine it. (If you can’t, don’t worry, the living conditions of the poorest are vividly portrayed in this book.) While Charlotte becomes convinced Clemency was the intended victim, Thomas isn’t so sure.
I loved reading this book, though I didn’t find it perfect, nor did I find it one of the best in the “Thomas and Charlotte Pitt” series. I thought the premise was terrific, but there was too much Charlotte and too little Thomas. I adore both characters, but I would have liked a little more balance in the novel. And, there were just too many characters. By the time the murderer and the reason for the murder were revealed, I just didn’t care. I did think the character of Dr. Shaw was very well-drawn and vibrant, one of Perry’s best.
All-in-all, I enjoyed this book, and I’m not sorry I read it. I’ll be reading more from this series. I do love Thomas and Charlotte, and I love the Victorian atmosphere. Highgate Rise was a solid four-star read for me.
The book hits the ground running, when Thomas is called to the affluent London suburb of Highgate, where a fire is rapidly consuming the home of prominent physician, Dr. Stephen Shaw. There is one victim, and it’s not Dr. Shaw. It’s his wife, Clemency. Dr. Shaw had been called out that evening. A quick walk-through of the house, once the flames have been extinguished, shows Pitt that the fire was arson, and was started inside the house rather than outside. Complicating matters is the fact that the dead woman, Clemency Shaw, had planned on being away that evening, while Dr. Shaw had planned on staying home. So was the intended victim, the doctor, or was it the doctor’s wife? It’s assumed by most that the intended victim was meant to be Dr. Shaw, but then another fire breaks out, this time at the home of Amos Lindsey, Shaw’s best friend, with whom he is staying, and Lindsey is killed. This fire is arson as well, and like the first, Dr. Shaw is away at the time and unharmed. As a consequence, Shaw is looked upon, not as a victim, but as Clemency’s possible murderer who tried to throw suspicion off of himself by killing Lindsey.
When Pitt tells Charlotte about the case, she can’t help but meddle, as she always does. She loves playing Watson to Pitt’s Holmes. While Pitt goes about his investigation in a more conventional, straightforward manner, Charlotte, who is convinced the intended victim was Clemency, begins to retrace the dead woman’s steps during the final two days of her life. Assisting Clemency are her mother, Caroline, her great-aunt Vespasia, and even her maid, who proves invaluable when Clemency and company visit the lodgings of the low-born, as they proceed to uncover dark secrets they are convinced Clemency knew.
Clemency, a compassionate and civic-minded woman, had devoted her life, and the fortune she’d inherited to exposing the high-born who sought to enhance their own fortunes by preying on the needs of the poorest in the city of London; these wealthy persons had been what we’d refer to as “slum lords,” only worse, if you can imagine it. (If you can’t, don’t worry, the living conditions of the poorest are vividly portrayed in this book.) While Charlotte becomes convinced Clemency was the intended victim, Thomas isn’t so sure.
I loved reading this book, though I didn’t find it perfect, nor did I find it one of the best in the “Thomas and Charlotte Pitt” series. I thought the premise was terrific, but there was too much Charlotte and too little Thomas. I adore both characters, but I would have liked a little more balance in the novel. And, there were just too many characters. By the time the murderer and the reason for the murder were revealed, I just didn’t care. I did think the character of Dr. Shaw was very well-drawn and vibrant, one of Perry’s best.
All-in-all, I enjoyed this book, and I’m not sorry I read it. I’ll be reading more from this series. I do love Thomas and Charlotte, and I love the Victorian atmosphere. Highgate Rise was a solid four-star read for me.
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