An Echo of Murder: A William Monk Novel

I was a little disappointed. It was the same formula' someone of the main characters charged with murder. Hester has been on trial' Monk has been on trial Oliver has been on trial, the only one left out has been
Scuff and that's probably the next book. By the way in this book Hester felt bad because she had not had any contact with her brother. Clearly in former books Hester was living with Charles when she met Monk. In another book Charles asked Hester for help to find out what his wife was up to.

Another w

I have read every book that Anne Perry has written. Each one has been a gem. This novel is no different. It takes you through the gritty side of the late 1800's. Monk faces one of his most complex cases. But with the aid of his family and friends he solves this puzzling case. If you want to read a great mystery this is the book for you.

This novel is somewhat more gory than most of Anne Perry's books, but it treats a new topic for her: discrimination against foreigners in Victorian London. It's got all the plot twists and turns of her other novels, complete with tense courtroom scenes and a surprise ending. I very much enjoyed it.

I have been reading this author's books since the beginning. She is one of my favorites !

About this book, I have never been a fan of her books with Monk but have read all of them. This one was no different; not a favorite !

English novelist Anne Perry writes historical crime fiction. In abundance. Thirty-two books to date in the Thomas Pitt series, set in England in the period beginning in 1881. Five in a World War I series. And twenty-three in a series of novels featuring William Monk, who serves as Commander of the Thames River Police in London in the years following the American Civil War. An Echo of Murder is the latest entry in that series.

It's 1870 now. As the novel opens, we find Commander Monk and his wife, Hester, living in comfortable surroundings on Paradise Street south of the Thames. A young man of about eighteen known as Scuff lives with them. Hester, who served as a nurse with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War (1853-56), has founded a medical clinic across the river. Her experiences in the war figure in a major way in the story that unfolds.

An Echo of Murder begins with the savage killing of a Hungarian émigré in what appears to be a ritual murder. Investigating the crime, and others that follow, leads Monk, his sidekick, Hooper, Scuff, and eventually his wife Hester into a deep dive into the Hungarian immigrant community. But Monk's investigation turns up virtually no clues until close to the very end of the book, and the story veers off into detailed accounts of Hester's experience in the Crimea and Scuff's training as a doctor in a clinic that caters to the Hungarian community. Taking center stage well into the story is Heather's friend Fitz, who served with her as an army surgeon in the war; we learn far too much about his experiences there, too. Perry can't sustain the suspense amid all those digressions. And, unfortunately, she seems never to have met a point she can't belabor. I found the book slow going, not to mention often tedious.

Anne Perry, born Juliet Marion Hulme, served five years for the murder of her best friend's mother at the age of fifteen. She later changed her name.

This is the latest installment of the William and Hester Monk series. I couldn't wait for this book to end. How many times in how many books do we have to hear about the horrors of the Crimean War and Hester's saintliness and bravery in fighting the horrors. Has anyone else noticed that the author fills up each successive book with more and more repetitive information that has been written over and over again in each book in the series? Hester has become a goody-two-shoes tedious bore and Anne Perry must be running out of gas. Her William Monk character still has it all over Hester but unfortunately he seems to have disappeared in this story. In between an improbable story is the usual pearl gripping and moralizing mixed in with Hester expounding on proper nursing techniques. Done with this series. I think the author is too.

Spoilers below; OK, it is getting more difficult to want to read these, and I have read every one
Not to quibble, however; Hester is the best nurse ever, and a woman all admire. IN THE PAST. In the present, she hardly ever goes to her own clinic, sitting home while other people run it for her. Monk is at work, ScuffWill is off doctoring, what is she doing beyond making bubble and squeak and being earnest?
Hesters hackneyed passion for caring-in the bowels of hell among rats-flares up in the company of old war connections, but she is a hollow character in terms of her own life now.
Also; since when is the resemblance of two people in photographs proof that one is the father of the other, and sufficient grounds to arrest one of them for murder? They could have been cousins or something. AND inserting the wispy shade of Defend and Betray into the wrap up and the ludicrous finale is simply insulting. Maybe someone should knock Monk in the head so he can remember how to be arrogant again and send He and Hester off to the Crimea.

Imagine a race of people discriminated against merely because they are different. They live and work amongst us and have been raising their families side by side with us. These are hard-working people who provide for their loved ones and offer a service to their community by sharing in their customs, food and diversity.

Now, imagine these same people being strategically slain just because they are different by a faceless and nameless killer or killers working through some sadistic agenda. It sounds like I could be describing race and immigration relations in almost any large country today. However, these are the elements at the center of Anne Perry's latest Victorian-era mystery, AN ECHO OF MURDER.

Commander William Monk is called to perhaps the most horrific scene he has ever witnessed. An esteemed Hungarian warehouse owner is found butchered in his own office. He had been skewered by a bayonet, and blood and gore cover his former work space. There are also 17 mysterious candles placed around the murder scene, perhaps harkening to some ritualistic killing.

The thriving Hungarian population in London at this time is made up of very hard-working and well-respected individuals. This makes things that much more difficult for Monk to fathom who could have been behind such a brutal slaying that just screamed of hate. The victim may have been deceased just two hours before Monk's men stumbled upon his lifeless body. This was not mere murder, Monk notes, but conscious brutality and calculated torture.

Monk has only one course of action --- to turn to the closed-mouthed Hungarian community for assistance in pointing out who could have been behind such a heinous crime. The 17 candles definitely speak to some other purpose, and that act in and of itself has scared away the Hungarian people from speaking frankly to Monk. He ends up finding a somewhat unwilling partner in a pharmacist named Dobokai. When similar murders within the Hungarian community take place, each bearing the eerie 17-candle ritual, Monk and Dobokai realize they are in a race against time to prevent this from becoming an out-and-out slaughter --- not to mention the panic spreading through this normally quiet community.

Meanwhile, Monk's wife, former battlefield nurse Hester, has her own situation to work through. A traumatized former soldier, dealing with much more than mere PTSD, is in her hospital, and she soon realizes she knows this man from the war. It is not his unique name, Herbert Fitzherbert, that alarms Hester but the fact that she thought she saw him killed in battle. She must unwrap the mystery surrounding Fitzherbert and ensure that he is indeed who he claims to be. This being an Anne Perry novel, it is no surprise that this interesting storyline will soon merge with Monk's to further confound her readers.

Monk and Dobokai recognize that the strange 17-candle setup calls to some secret society with a deadly quest in mind. Monk is not easily convinced of this and feels more and more that it may be some type of vendetta against the Hungarian population that he needs to get to the bottom of. Fans of the series will remember that Monk has his own challenges, having lost his entire memory prior to a coach accident just after the Crimean War. This makes long-term thinking, especially into past history, difficult and could very well set him up for failure in a case that is steeped in the sins of the past.

There are not many writers out there who wield a pen with such social conscience as Anne Perry does. AN ECHO OF MURDER speaks directly to current real-world issues and does so in the guise of another solid Victorian-era mystery. Hang on for a wild ride as the Monks pull together to keep blood from spilling throughout the streets of London.

Reviewed by Ray Palen

An Anne Perry mystery always feels like a deep submersion into history and a delving into the darkest corners of humanity while using her circle of heroes to show there can be hope and justice as well. An Echo of Murder the #23 entry in the William Monk series is no exception.

From the beginning, there was no doubt this was going to be brutal and emotionally tense. Was the vicious killing of a Hungarian business owner in his office a hate crime? Was it personal? Was it a lunatic? Monk and his River Police have the job of discovering the answers- and quickly, as it happens again.

While Monk is chasing down leads attempting to bring a killer to justice, Hester and Scuff encounter a man seemingly back from the dead for Hester. Hester thought she left a good army surgeon and great friend back on the battlefield of the Crimean War dead, yet here he is suffering acute PTSD (though, Perry, accurately did not label it b/c of the Victorian time period). Fitz is a shell of who he once was, but Hester is determine to get him help.

In the end, brilliant and wily barrister, Sir Oliver Rathbone, joins Monk and Hester to defend an innocent man of a heinous series of murders.

As usual, I was quite engaged with all the elements surrounding the murder case. The author tackles two main social issues of the day (which are still relevant now, actually)- the hatred of people ethnically and religiously different from one's own and also the lack of treatment or understanding for those come back broken by war. Alongside these issues, the story gives Scuff (now 18 yrs and desirous of being called Will) a much larger role as he is nearly a man and is studying medicine, but also still feeling vulnerable that he will lose all the good things he has since Monk and Hester adopted him.

And yes!!! Finally get to see what comes of a Latterly family reunion. Those who read The Christmas Escape and have followed along with the series knowing Hester's background will really appreciate this inclusion.

But, I also want to address the mystery and the riveting courtroom drama finale. I figured out the killer early, but I didn't know the motive and it remained pretty obscure for some time. I have to say that it moved at a gentle pace until the court case began and then I was riveted and couldn't pry myself away from the book.

The mystery is broken up by switching back and forth with Hester and Scuff's storylines crossing Monk's investigation. I don't bring that up as a criticism, but just to give readers a heads-up that in this book, the mystery is only one of the plot threads instead of the main one.

All in all, this was a strong and engaging entry in the series. It has standalone ability, but the reader would draw so much more from it by getting the series in order. Historical Mystery fans are the target audience for this series and I shamelessly push it at you.

An Echo of Murder
Author: Anne Perry
Published by Ballentine Books - 2017
ISBN: 978-0-425-28501-5

As a huge fan of Anne Perry’s series, especially the “Monk and Hester” series, I was excited to read An Echo of Murder. Monk is now Commander Monk and his wife Hester, a nurse who at one time worked under Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, both live and work on the docks of London. Their adopted son Scuff, takes a new name, Will, which is a form of his father’s William (Monk), and is training under the worthy Crow, to become a doctor too. Of course there is a murder but this one is unusually brutal and strange for its setting in a factory owned by a Hungarian and recent refugee. The Hungarians are newcomers to the area and resented by the long-timers who have lived and worked there all their lives.

In the early light of dawn, Monk and Hester are awakened by a loud pounding on their door by Hooper, a policeman under Monk. He’s come to take Monk to see the victim, Imrus Fodor, who is impaled by a bayonet, still attached to a rifle. Surrounding the body is a strange ring of 17 candles no longer burning, their wicks red where they had been dipped in the man’s blood. This was just the start of this case.

Other characters involved in the most intriguing puzzle include a doctor named Herbert Fitzherbert, aka “Fitz” who had been a close friend of Hester’s while they both served in the medical corps in the Crimean War. Will (Scuff) labored under Fitz to keep a patient alive while Fitz himself suffering from a form of PTSD (a term unknown to all at this time) struggled with his own mental health.

The “Echo” of the title takes the form of subsequent murders too similar for comfort to the first stabbing death. These baffle Monk and his police force almost to the end of the book.
A very interesting addition to the current cast of Perry’s characters is Hester’s ‘long lost’ brother, Charles who gives every indication of staying a while in Hester’s life.

Some readers will figure out the mystery earlier than I did although I got the answers well before the courtroom scene complete with Sir Oliver Rathbone to the rescue in dramatic fashion. I loved it!

Anne Perry is known to offer colorful Victorian books filled with informative facts on the life and times of her London peoples who can become like family if you allow them to. These are what draw me to Ms Perry’s series like this one, labeled “A William Monk Novel” and others: The Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series and her World War I novels. I love them all and devour each and every one as they become available. Highly recommended.

William Monk just keeps on getting better. In many series that have run this long, the stories become repetitive and predictable, but not so with this series. Each new book is exciting and interesting and you never know where it will lead because it is always filled with twists and turns that will keep you guessing right up until the end.

Monk is called out early in the morning to a warehouse near the river. The crime is a grisly murder that has some resemblance to it being ritualistic. The victim is an immigrant from Hungary who was well respected and well liked within his community. Who would want to kill him?

After a week or more of investigation there are no leads and Monk is worn totally out. Then, another early morning call and yet another grisly murder – of a well-liked Hungarian immigrant. Then, they just keep coming – all respectable, well liked men of the Hungarian immigrant community. Is it somebody with a vendetta against Hungarians? Immigrants? Or are they just random. Monk is sure they are all the work of the same killer because they are all identical.

Hester, Monk’s wife, gets involved because of a very old friend that she thought had died 16 years earlier. Is that old friend the madman killing Hungarians? Surely not – he’s a sweet gentle man. Hester and Monk’s ward (for lack of a better word) also becomes involved in the case because he has befriended and come to admire Fitz, Hester’s old friend.

Did Fitz commit the murders? If not, who did and can they prove any of it? You’ll just have to read it to see because I don’t want to tell too much and spoil the story for you.

I’m already looking forward to Monk #24.

"I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher."

5 Stars

Commander Monk and DS Hooper are called to the scene of a horrific murder. Imrus Fodor has been stabbed through the heart with a bayonet and his fingers broken along with additional mutilations. It was done with intense rage or hatred. Fodor didn’t either have the chance to defend himself or was taken by surprise. He was killed at his place of work.

Since Fodor was Hungarian the local community mistrusts the police officers and many don’t speak English very well. Monk and Hooper ask for the assistance of Antal Dobokai, a local pharmacist who discovered the body. Although Monk does not like the man, he needs his help.

When they interview various witnesses and acquaintances, Monk realizes just how difficult this case is. Bigotry and fear of the other play a big part in this novel. Monk must step carefully. When more people are murdered in the same way as Fodor, the suspense and fear escalate.

Hester is treating a man who may know something about the victims, but he is very traumatized and Hester and Monk must be careful.

This book is extremely well written and plotted, as are all of Anne Perry’s books. The suspense starts immediately with a brutal murder and doesn’t let up until the denouement and the killer is caught. I like the way the author interjects domestic scenes with Monk’s wife Hester and how she assists him with his cases. I truly enjoy reading both the Monk and Pitt stories that Ms. Perry writes.

I want to send a big thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine/Ballantine for forwarding to me a copy of this most wonderful novel for me to read.

Thames River Police Commander Monk is faced with an eerie and challenging case. A Hungarian warehouse owner has been pierced through the chest with a bayonet and surrounded by seventeen candles that have been dipped in blood. Monk is at a disadvantage since the people who hold the key to solving the case don’t speak English and Monk is forced to rely on someone he doesn’t fully trust to translate for him. He faces both fear and prejudice when investigating the case. Things become more complicated when a traumatized war veteran with whom Monk’s wife Hester worked beside during the Crimean War seems to play a part in the case.

I have been reading books by Anne Perry for several years and the William Monk series has always been my favorite. Overall, I’m pleased with this latest installment in this long-running series. Monk and Hester are closer than ever and their relationship with the young man, Scuff, who the couple has unofficially adopted, has also grown. Both Scuff and Monk gain a new appreciation of Hester as they see her through the eyes of Herbert “Fitz” Fitzherbert, who was a doctor who dealt with unspeakable conditions alongside Hester in the Crimea. Scuff has become an interesting character himself and his work in learning to become a doctor to help the poor in Victorian England is interesting and adds to the history and depth of the book. Scuff plays a crucial role in the investigation and some of personal scenes with Monk and with Hester are very touching.

The pace of the investigation gets a little slow as Monk and his subordinate and friend Hooper don’t make any progress on the case and the body count starts to rise. Finally, it picks up toward the end and the case ends on a satisfying and a bit of a surprising note. Oliver Rathbone makes a brief, but important appearance near the end to help prevent the wrong person from being charged with the gruesome murders. Longtime fan of the series as well as new readers who enjoy historical mysteries will enjoy the book.

William Monk, Commander of the Thames River Police, is in charge of a grisly investigation. An unidentified assailant has murdered Imrus Fodor, a Hungarian businessman, by stabbing him through the heart with a bayonet. Afterwards, the perpetrator mutilated his victim and surrounded the corpse with seventeen candles dipped in the dead man's blood. What madman hated Fodor enough to commit such a monstrous crime? Monk and his assistant, Hooper, spend countless hours interviewing possible witnesses, but in spite of their efforts, they fail to come up with a viable suspect.

As she has in the past, Perry skillfully captures the ambiance of Victorian London, but this time, she adds an extra dimension. The author explores the baseless prejudice that some Londoners bear towards their foreign-born neighbors. Since the Hungarians speak a different language, eat special foods, and tend to socialize with their native countrymen, some of their fellow citizens have taken an irrational dislike to them. When additional murders take place of a similar nature, there is a real danger that a panicked populace may start rioting in the streets.

This is an engrossing novel that spotlights William Monk, who has matured over the years and overcome some of the self-doubt that had plagued him. We also spend time with Monk's devoted and compassionate wife, Hester, and their adopted son, Scuff. Now eighteen, Scuff, who wants to study medicine, is an apprentice to Crow, a skilled physician who has taken the young man under his wing. The book's major flaw is its implausible conclusion. Perry comes up with a solution that is not only improbable, but also arrived at far too conveniently and coincidentally. Still, "An Echo of Murder" will interest fans of William Monk, who is faced with one of the most challenging and disturbing cases of his career.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. What seemed to be hate crimes occurring in neighborhoods of recent Hungarian immigration in London made the story feel very timely, even with its Victorian setting. The characters are well rounded and realistic, although quite a bit of the book is spent developing them. I often felt that I might have enjoyed the story more if I’d “met” the characters before; it wasn’t necessary in order to understand this book, but I think this might be a series better started at the beginning.

Anne Perry has a skilled hand with incorporating social issues as a natural backdrop to the story. For example, Dr. Herbert Fitzherbert, a surgeon who mastered the skill during his service in the Crimean War, is viewed with suspicion and fear in the community because his severe posttraumatic stress disorder results in odd behavior that sometimes manifests in public. He is charged with a gruesome killing on no more evidence than that he is known to act strangely, and he doubts his own sanity enough to be unsure whether or not he is the murderer. She also incorporates issues such as women’s rights and poverty, never with a sledgehammer approach but as part of the setting in a way that still resonates today.

The story does occasionally lag, particularly at times when background information about each character is being detailed. There is a satisfyingly realistic twist at the end, but Detective Monk’s skill at working out the solution depended a bit too much on lucky guesses. All in all, though, this was a good story well told, and I am planning to explore other books in this series.

My thanks to Overdrive and Meridian Library for my copy. Anne Perry did not disappoint in the 23rd book on the William Monk series, it as good as all her books. The book covers family secrets, the horror of war, mob violence and deceit of an individual.
Monk's current case is the vicious death of Hungarian living in London. Scuff is learning to be a doctor and he meets an army surgeon, Fritz who is living in the area. Fritz is an old friend of Hester. She believed that he died in the war. She had found a body as we're saving the living. This surgeon has blackouts with memories of the Crimean battlefields. As more similar deaths occur in the Hungarian community tensions escalate as Monk does not make an arrest. Fritz is found on the streets covered in blood and the Hungarians are convinced he is the killer. Mob violence takes over and Monk is forced to arrest Fritz for the murder. Hester is determined to save him from the gallows. Will she succeed? I HIGHLY recommend this book and series.

It is astounding that prejudice and stereotypes, which were prevalent in 1870’s Victorian London, are fluid in today’s “civilized” nations. Anne Perry tackled this subject with a fascinating mystery.

The opening scene depicts a horrifying murder. A man in the Hungarian community is the victim of an apparent ritualistic murder. He has a bayonet thrust in his chest, his fingers are broken and his lips are cut off, rather gruesome, to the say the least.

Commander William Monk and his wife, Hester, begin to study this case by learning about the divisions of the Hungarian community versus the British. The fear of the “other” is the pronounced theme as it permeates the community. The British openly are angry about their possible loss of jobs and defy integration of the Hungarian culture. Sound familiar? Have we made any progress?

Monk is determined to safeguard everyone while solving the gruesome crime as other murders occur. Strong secondary characters play in this mystery. Fitz Fitzherbert, a doctor, suffering from what we now call PTSD, had a close relationship with Hester in Crimea, The plot thickens and the reader is educated in the crude, sometimes deadly, treatment performed by physicians during those times.

The weakness I detected was the non-impressive motive for the killings. However, Perry is a stark reminder that Victorian England was not all pomp and flourish. There was great misery and overwhelming poverty. Perry is comforting to me, years of reading her noteworthy mysteries have given me solace when I read poor fiction adorned with minimal research. She has distinguished herself in historical whodunits.

As always a masterful rendition of murder inquiry, doubt, and the machinations of the human mind under stress. Once again Perry brings a reality check to murder most foul. Commander Monk of the Thames River Police is confronted by a murder unlike any he's seen before. A Hungarian man has been killed in what appears to be some sort of ritualistic endeavour. The body is surrounded by seventeen candles, two of them a dark, purplish-blue color.
As more killings occur fear spreads throughout the Hungarian community. Are these sacrificial murders, a secret society run amok, evidence of extreme ethnic prejudice, or the product of a deranged mind? Is the perpetrator English or Hungarian? The community wants answers and a scapegoat is needed.
The person of possibility turns out to be a friend of Hester's, part of her painful past in the Crimea. A man she knows must be innocent and yet the horrors of the war are all too near to lie peacefully. Is her friend unhinged or innocent?
The struggles for Hester and her friend are laid bare. Struggles Scruff has some idea of although his experiences have been different.
Scruff is coming into his own as he practices medicine under the tutelage of Crow. We see him emerge as a young man more confident his own abilities. It's a pleasure to watch his growth.
There are more questions than answers for Monk and Hooper and many theories to entertain.

A NetGalley ARC

This is a well-written historical mystery - 23rd in the series - set in the time period after the Crimean War which is mentioned quite a bit in this book. The Crimean War was fought between 1853-56, and Commander Monk's wife Hester served as a nurse in that war. That nursing experience helps Monk in his latest sleuthing adventure when a Hungarian warehouse owner is found brutally murdered in his office by a bayonet piecing through his chest. Is it a ritualistic killing? There are 17 candles at the scene, some with blood on them.

Thames River Police Commander Monk needs an interpreter to interview members of the Hungarian community. His investigations don't prevent further deaths in that community. There is much discussion of nursing and wounds in this story with characters who are doctors, nurses, or apprentices to doctors. If you enjoy medical discussions, you will find that aspect enriching the story.

Author Anne Perry creates many likable characters in the book: Monk, Hester, Scuff who is an orphan and apprenticing to their doctor friend, Crow, and Fitz who knew Hester during the war. The story primarily revolves around these characters and the Hungarian translator. There is a dramatic court scene at the end of the story which raises the tension and suspense.

This is the first book in this series which I've read. I found the history, and Victorian backdrop, added interest to the story. I tend not to enjoy so much medical discussion so this story was 3.5 for me. But it seemed well done and original. Monk fans will probably find it a 5 star read.

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for for a review. When a Hungarian warehouse owner is murdered, Commander Monk of the Thames River Police is called to the scene. The victim was viciously stabbed and seventeen candles dipped in his blood surrounded his body. Monk is hampered by his inability to communicate with the Hungarian community and residents who are wary of the police. When another body turns up surrounded by seventeen candles, he questions whether they are dealing with a secret society or one madman.

While Monk deals with the murders, his wife Hester discovers that a doctor she befriended while nursing in the Crimean War has returned to London. Left for dead on the battlefields, he recovered and spent time in Hungary. His knowledge of the language and the community and his spells of post traumatic stress that he still suffers from the war make him a prime suspect.

This is an historical mystery that explores issues that are relevant today. The difficulties faced by an immigrant community and the mental and physical problems faced by a war veteran are handled by Monk and Hester with understanding and compassion. As anxiety grows and crowds become hostile, an arrest is made and the ensuing trial reveals a stunning conclusion. This is Anne Perry at her finest.

This 23rd William Monk book is masterfully writtten, and very compelling. The ending blew me away, even though I had figured out who actually was the murderer about 2/3 of the way through. Anne Perry's dialogue and character development are second to none. Not only that, but we find out some really wonderful nuggets of information about Hester's earlier life and about her family. Monk has been called into a particularly brutal murder in London's dock area and in an area where Hungarian immigrants live. The murder is particularly gruesome. And before they Monk and Hooper get very far, another identical murder takes place in the same area. They are trying to catch a particularly sadistic killer and put a stop to the senseless killings. Before the murderer is unmasked Monk, with the help of the intrepid Hester, have to plumb the depths of the murderer's mind and the unresolved past that drives him now, and while doing this, it brings up past unhappy memories for both of them. I loved the pace of the book, and as usual, loved the courtroom scene with Rathbone, but mostly I love Monk and Hester. They are two of the most complex fictional characters that I've encountered.

William Monk leads the River Police in Victorian London, supported by his wife, a nurse in the Crimean war who runs a clinic for fallen women, and his adopted son, a homeless orphan who is learning medical skills from not-quite doctors working in the streets near the river.

A horrifying murder laden with ritualistic details takes place in the heart of the Hungarian immigrant community. Why was the victim murdered? Who hated him enough to commit such a gruesome crime? And why are seventeen candles set around the brutally mutilated body? Monk is sickened and mystified. As more corpses are found, Monk feels more helpless, and the Hungarian community grows more fearful and closer to the flashpoint of violence.

At the same time, the people in the novel lead their lives. To call this book a murder mystery is to overlook the depth of the characters and the complexity of their experience. There's a good puzzle, but this is also a well-written novel in an unusual setting, centering on events that most of us don't know much about.

The book contains a lot of graphic violence and gore, not only around the murders, but also in the detailed and realistic descriptions of medical care in Victorian times.

This 23rd William Monk book is masterfully writtten, and very compelling. The ending blew me away, even though I had figured out who actually was the murderer about 2/3 of the way through. Anne Perry's dialogue and character development are second to none. Not only that, but we find out some really wonderful nuggets of information about Hester's earlier life and about her family. Monk has been called into a particularly brutal murder in London's dock area and in an area where Hungarian immigrants live. The murder is particularly gruesome. And before they Monk and Hooper get very far, another identical murder takes place in the same area. They are trying to catch a particularly sadistic killer and put a stop to the senseless killings. Before the murderer is unmasked Monk, with the help of the intrepid Hester, have to plumb the depths of the murderer's mind and the unresolved past that drives him now, and while doing this, it brings up past unhappy memories for both of them. I loved the pace of the book, and as usual, loved the courtroom scene with Rathbone, but mostly I love Monk and Hester. They are two of the most complex fictional characters that I've encountered.

William Monk leads the River Police in Victorian London, supported by his wife, a nurse in the Crimean war who runs a clinic for fallen women, and his adopted son, a homeless orphan who is learning medical skills from not-quite doctors working in the streets near the river.

A horrifying murder laden with ritualistic details takes place in the heart of the Hungarian immigrant community. Why was the victim murdered? Who hated him enough to commit such a gruesome crime? And why are seventeen candles set around the brutally mutilated body? Monk is sickened and mystified. As more corpses are found, Monk feels more helpless, and the Hungarian community grows more fearful and closer to the flashpoint of violence.

At the same time, the people in the novel lead their lives. To call this book a murder mystery is to overlook the depth of the characters and the complexity of their experience. There's a good puzzle, but this is also a well-written novel in an unusual setting, centering on events that most of us don't know much about.

The book contains a lot of graphic violence and gore, not only around the murders, but also in the detailed and realistic descriptions of medical care in Victorian times.

William Monk first entered reader's hands back in 1990 with the first in his series entitled "The Face of a Stranger." "Echo of Murder" is Ann Perry's William Monk detective character and the 23rd in the successful series.

This is a London in 1870 and is a classic Victorian crime mystery. You are not going to find the LA, hard-scrabble detective like Michael Connelly's Bosch or a thriller/suspense novel like Lee Child's Jack Reacher. You have to sit back, relax and maybe sip your tea, while reading Ann Perry. She weaves a well-crafted whodunit where motive is bigotry, but the classic "wrong man" takes the fall. The bizarre ritualistic killing will hold your attention as a reader, just be patient for the payoff and you should be rewarded. The book is filled with Cockney dialect and scenery.

I am a fan of Agatha Christie, R. Austin Freeman and many of the old pulp detectives and I return to them often when mysteries, both in literary and film, go awry and become to far-fetched. This is not the case with Ann Perry, she is methodical in her investigations and returns to that place in time where motive and characters never go out of style.

'eres to 23rd.

***SPOILER ALERT***

I AM ABOUT TO DISCUSS WHO-DUN-IT (in very slightly veiled terms)

Suppose several people have a horrifying secret. Each of them, we may reasonably assume, hopes that no one will ever discover this secret. After all, his/her reputation would be ruined if it became known! Why, then, would one of them need to kill any of the others to make sure that none of them reveals the secret?

That is the question that arose as I finished reading this otherwise good Anne Perry novel. I enjoyed all new experiences of the familiar characters and watching them grow and change. But the raison d'etre of a mystery novel--the who-dun-it--was a dud.

I enjoy detective novels set in Britain's Victorian period and have grown fond of Commander William Monk and his wife Hester. This latest novel in the series doesn't disappoint.

Monk is called the scene of a grisly murder of a Hungarian immigrant. The peculiar details of the killing show up in several subsequent killings, each targeting a prosperous, respected Hungarian immigrant. London's population is shocked at the brutality and there is a growing backlash against the immigrants, a sense that they brought this sort of violent crime with them, even though the victims are entirely Hungarian.

Monk's wife Hester comes across Fitz, a close friend and colleague during the Crimean War. Hester is shocked as she had given Fitz up for dead. Fitz suffers from PTSD and is unable to account for his movements -- has Hester's old friend become a violent killer? Monk, Hester, Scruff and Rathbourne try to make sense of the strange killings and Fitz's blackouts.

Anne Perry delivers a complicated mystery and shares more of Hester's backstory. An Echo of Murder is a fun, satisfying read.

Book twenty-three in the William Monk series. I have to admit that I am enjoying these books now the Scuff (Will) is older. It makes him much more involved in the story which adds another layer to the entire mystery which is very good to begin with. It took awhile for the story to really get going and the investigation seemed to be stalled when all of these little details began to pop up. That is when all the characters we know and love (including Rathbone though it took forever for him to make an appearance) show their true skills solving the crime in the nick of time with a few twists that I never seem to completely see coming which is why I always enjoy these so much. I recommend this series to those that enjoy reading historical mystery novels as this is set in historical England and from what I can tell is fairly accurate. The writing style is smooth and the story keep the reader guessing which is a plus for a mystery novel. I really enjoyed so it gets 4/5 stars.

Anne Perry creates great old-fashioned mystery novels with more of a modern conscience than what Agatha Christie and her contemporaries wrote. I love how Perry continues show William and Hester Monk as wonderfully complex and interesting characters who both have very difficult histories which color their everyday lives without being a crutch or a hindrance.

This new Perry is a good addition to the series, bringing back a character from Hester's time in the Crimean War and creating an intriguing set of murders for Monk to solve.

If you enjoy Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh, you'll feel right at home with this series and you could easily jump in with this book without much confusion, Anne Perry is good about giving enough back history to allow new readers to understand the characters, but I think most people would have a better experience starting with The Face of a Stranger which is the first Monk novel.

This is my first foray into the William Monk books. Fans of the series should enjoy it. There's plenty of mystery and twists and turns as Monk tries his best to figure out who is the culprit.

For me, there were parts that were quite slow, and I felt frustrated, that Monk seemed to have his hands tied behind his back for a good portion of the novel because he doesn't speak the language (Hungarian) of the people he needs to talk to. This could heighten the tension, but it left Monk at the mercy of his translator and so he felt much more like an observer to what was going on.

There were a few other parts that didn't really seem like they fit into this story, but gave us more of the history of Hester. So, as a first time reader into the series, those things were frustrating, but it wasn't confusing having not read the other books. It stands well enough on its own, but those that have enjoyed the William Monks novel should enjoy this one as a cozy read.

Anne Perry's long-time William Monk series continues to produce relevant, socially complex mystery tales.

Even though AN ECHO OF MURDER is set in the Victorian Era in London the issues surrounding immigration and minorities is just as present as it is today. In this case, William Monk witnesses probably one of the more horrific murders in his career when he comes upon a slaughtered Hungarian warehouse owner. These events lead him deep into the underground sub-strata of Hungarian immigrants living and working all around him in London --- and will open his eyes to the silent minority that exists alongside him and his colleagues.

I have been reading books by Anne Perry since "The Cater Street Hangman," so a new book in any Anne Perry series is something I look forward to. I found this book to be superb; truly one of her best. Old readers are rewarded with back story about Hester and her brother as well as her past friendship with a doctor with whom she served in the Crimean war. The story resonates both in its time and today, as many continue to fear and distrust anyone who is different. This novel can be read by readers new to the series as well as long term devotees. I was sad when I turned to the last page and will definitely be eagerly awaiting Anne Perry's next novel!