What a treat! Not only was there a birthday celebration for Anne Perry at The Poisoned Pen, but she talked about two recent books, Dark Tide Rising, and A Christmas Revelation. You can order signed copies of these two, and copies of Perry’s other books through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DEi5ju
You’re welcome to join in the celebration, too. Watch the video of the event.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drLb4jQxJl4&w=560&h=315]
If you don’t have time to watch the video, here are the summaries of the two books. First, Dark Tide Rising.
“Riveting . . . one of the series’ more powerful recent entries.”—Publishers Weekly
When a ransom exchange turns deadly in this thrilling mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry, Commander William Monk faces an unthinkable possibility: betrayal by his own men.
Jacob’s Island is a broken-down waterside slum, a place of perpetual gloom where Monk is just as likely to lose a man to the mud and tides as to the criminals who hide in the shadows. Kidnappers have chosen this warren of tunnels and alleys as the site of a ransom exchange for Kate Exeter, the wife of wealthy real estate developer Harry Exeter. Harry asks the Thames River Police to secretly accompany him to the spot and ensure that no harm comes to him or his captive wife. But on arrival, Monk and five of his best men are attacked from all sides, and Monk is left wondering who could have given away their plans.
As Monk follows leads from Kate’s worried cousin and a crafty clerk at the bank where Exeter gathered the ransom money, it seems undeniable that one of his own men has betrayed him. Delving into their pasts, he realizes how little he knows about the people he works with every day, including his right-hand man John Hooper, the one colleague Monk has always been certain he can count on—but who is also hiding a dreadful secret. As the case runs into a series of deadly obstructions, Monk must choose between his own safety and the chance to solve the mystery—and to figure out where his men’s loyalty really lies.
Praise for Dark Tide Rising
“Perry makes cunning work of the plot, which raises issues of trust and loyalty while driving home a grim message about the vulnerability of women who entrust their fortunes to unscrupulous men.”—The New York Times Book Review
“One of the most successful of prolific Perry’s recent Victorian melodramas. The opening chapters are appropriately portentous, the mystification is authentic, and if the final surprise isn’t exactly a shock, it’s so well-prepared that even readers who don’t gasp will nod in satisfaction.”—Kirkus Reviews
*****
Now, A Christmas Revelation.
“Perry’s Victorian-era holiday mysteries [are] an annual treat.”—The Wall Street Journal
In this intriguing, uplifting holiday mystery from bestselling author Anne Perry, an orphan boy investigates a woman’s kidnapping—and discovers there’s more at stake than a disappearance.
It wouldn’t quite be Christmas without a holiday mystery decorated with all the Victorian trimmings, as only New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry can render it. Now the tradition continues as mayhem is once again found under the mistletoe, and intrigue stalks the cobblestone streets and gaslit parlors of old London Town.
Formerly a river urchin living on the banks of the Thames, nine-year-old Worm has never experienced a family Christmas. But thanks to a job at Hester Monk’s clinic in Portpool Lane, he’s found a makeshift family in kindly volunteer Miss Claudine Burroughs and curmudgeonly old bookkeeper Squeaky Robinson.
When Worm witnesses the abduction of a beautiful woman by a pair of ruffians just days before Christmas, he frantically turns to Squeaky for help. A one-time brothel owner, Squeaky knows the perils of interfering in nasty business, but he can’t bear to disappoint Worm—or leave the boy to attempt a rescue on his own. What neither of the would-be saviors expects, however, is that the damsel in distress already has her dilemma well in hand . . . and is taking steps to bring her captors to justice for crimes far worse than kidnapping. But the rogues, as cunning as they are deadly, are not to be underestimated. The aid of cynical old Squeaky and hopeful young Worm just might make the difference between a merry triumph over evil and a terrible yuletide tragedy.