Long Spoon Lane by
Anne Perry
hbk out February 05
Published by Headline
at £18.99
This is another of the Inspector Pitt series, about a late Victorian London
detective, who in this book has been transferred to the new Special
Branch, formed to counter Irish terrorists. A series of random bombings
are being perpetrated in the East End, attributed to anarchists and Special
Branch seem powerless to anticipate them. After one, the culprits are
traced to a house in Long Spoon Lane and two are captured and one
killed after a police siege, but it later appears than the dead man, son of
Lord Landsborough, must have been shot from behind by someone in the
house, who then escaped.
The public concern over the bombings gives impetus to a political
campaign to arm all police, extend the powers of search and to allow
questioning of servants without their employer's knowledge, a facility
which could lead to unlimited opportunities for blackmail. The
aristocracy of London, as well as the politicians, are split over the
wisdom of this and much of the story revolves around the machinations to
promote or defeat such a Bill in Parliament.
The book is written in the excellent style associated with Anne Perry and
carries an authentic flavour of those times, where the stately formality of
the toffs contrast with the grim life-style of many of the lower classes.
My only complaint about this book is that the writer assumes too great a
knowledge on the part of the reader about earlier books in the series.
Much of the action is predicated upon previous events and characters,
which are not explained at all. I do not know why Voisey is such an
enemy of Pitt or why Pitt's wife is trying to threaten Voisey with
exposure of his sister for the killing of some Reverend gentlemen, who
appear from nowhere - nor do I understand the frequent references to the
'Inner Circle', except that, from the context, it must be some form of
corrupt society within the Establishment.
It is always a dilemma for writers of a series ( including myself) to know
how much to explain in each book, without boring the regular readers or
mystifying the new ones.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Long Spoon Lane by
Anne Perry
