Slaves of Obsession - Softcover

Buch 11 von 23: William Monk

Perry, Anne

 
9780449005927: Slaves of Obsession
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0449005925 ISBN 13: 9780449005927
Verlag: Fawcett Books, 2001

Inhaltsangabe

Ritual murder, mysterious disappearences, and theft spur Victorian investigator William Monk and his wife Hester to investigate an arms dealer and his seemingly flawless London mansion. By the author of The Twisted Root. Reprint.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Among Anne Perry’s other novels featuring investigator William Monk are Funeral in Blue, The Twisted Root, A Breach of Promise, The Silent Cry, and Weighed in the Balance. She also writes the popular novels featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, including The Whitechapel Conspiracy, Half Moon Street, Bedford Square, Brunswick Gardens, Ashworth Hall, and Pentecost Alley. “Her grasp of Victorian character and conscience still astonishes,” said The Cleveland Plain Dealer about the author. Hundreds of thousands of readers in Europe and America agree. Anne Perry lives in Scotland.

Visit the author on the Web at www.anneperry.net.

Aus dem Klappentext

1861. The American Civil War has just begun, and London arms dealer Daniel Alberton is becoming a very wealthy man. His quiet dinner party seems remote indeed from the passions rending America. Yet investigator William Monk and his bride, Hester, sense growing tensions and barely concealed violence. For two of the guests are Americans, each vying to buy Alberton’s armaments. Soon Monk and Hester’s forebodings are fulfilled as one member of the party is brutally murdered and two others disappear– along with Alberton’s entire inventory of weapons. As Monk and Hester track the man they believe to be the murderer all the way to Washington, D.C., and the bloody battlefield at Manassas, <i>Slaves of Obsession</i> twists and turns like a powder-keg fuse and holds the reader breathless and spellbound. . . .

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

"We are invited to dine with Mr. and Mrs. Alberton," Hester said in reply to Monk's questioning gaze across the
breakfast table. "They are friends of Callandra's. She was to go as well, but has been called to Scotland unexpectedly."

"I suppose you would like to accept anyway," he deduced, watching her face. He usually read her emotions quickly,
sometimes with startling accuracy, at others misunderstanding entirely. On this occasion he was correct.

"Yes, I would. Callandra said they are charming and interesting and have a very beautiful home. Mrs. Alberton is half
Italian, and apparently Mr. Alberton has travelled quite a lot as well."

"Then I suppose we had better go. Short notice, isn't it?" he said less than graciously.

It was short notice indeed, but Hester was not disposed to find unnecessary fault with something which promised to be
interesting, and possibly even the beginning of a new friendship. She did not have many friends. The nature of her work
as a nurse had meant that her friendships were frequently of a fleeting nature. She had not been involved with any
gripping cause for quite some little time. Even Monk's cases, while financially rewarding, had over the last four months
of spring and early summer been most uninteresting, and he had not sought her assistance, or in most of them her
opinion. She did not mind that, robberies were tedious, largely motivated by greed, and she did not know the people
concerned.

"Good," she said with a smile, folding up the letter. "I shall write back immediately saying that we shall be
delighted."

His answering look was wry, only very slightly sarcastic.


They arrived at the Alberton house in Tavistock Square just before half past seven. It was, as Callandra had said,
handsome, although Hester would not have thought it worth remarking on. However she changed her mind as soon as they
were in the hallway which was dominated by a curving staircase at the half turn of which was an enormous stained glass
window with the evening sun behind it. It was truly beautiful, and Hester found herself staring at it when she should
have been paying attention to the butler who had admitted them, and watching where she was going.

The withdrawing room also was unusual. There was less furniture in it than was customary, and the colours were paler and
warmer, giving an illusion of light even though in fact the long windows which overlooked the garden faced towards the
eastern sky. The shadows were already lengthening, although it would not be dark yet until after ten o'clock at this
time so shortly after midsummer.

Hester's first impression of Judith Alberton was that she was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. She was taller than
average, but with a slender neck and shoulders which made more apparent the lush curves of her figure, and lent it a
delicacy it might otherwise not have possessed. Her face, when looked at more closely, was totally wrong for
conventional fashion. Her nose was straight and quite prominent, her cheekbones very high, her mouth too large and her
chin definitely short. Her eyes were slanted and of a golden autumn shade. The whole impression was both generous and
passionate. The longer one looked at her the lovelier she seemed. Hester liked her immediately.

"How do you do," Judith said warmly. "I am so pleased you have come. It was kind of you on so hasty an invitation. But
Lady Callandra spoke of you with such affection I did not wish to wait." She smiled at Monk. Her eyes lit with a flare
of interest as she regarded his dark face with its lean bones and broad-bridged nose, but it was Hester to whom she
addressed her attention. "May I introduce my husband?"

The man who came forward was pleasing rather than handsome, far more ordinary than she was, but his features were
regular and there was both strength and charm in them.

"How do you do, Mrs. Monk," he said with a smile, but when courtesy was met he turned immediately to Monk behind her,
searching his countenance steadily for a moment before holding out his hand in welcome, and then turning aside so the
rest of the company could be introduced.

There were three other people in the room. One was a man in his mid forties, his dark hair thinning a little. Hester
noticed first his wide smile and spontaneous handshake. He had a natural confidence, as if he were sure enough of
himself and his beliefs he had no need to thrust them upon anyone else. He was happy to listen to others. It was a
quality she could not help but like. His name was Robert Casbolt, and he was introduced not only as Alberton's business
partner and friend since youth, but also Judith's cousin.

The other man present was American. As one could hardly help being aware, that country had in the last few months
slipped tragically into a state of civil war. There had not as yet been anything more serious than a few ugly
skirmishes, but open violence seemed increasingly probable with every fresh bulletin that arrived across the Atlantic.
War seemed more and more likely.

"Mr. Breeland is from the Union," Alberton said courteously, but there was no warmth in his voice.

Hester looked at Breeland as she acknowledged the introduction. He appeared to be in his early thirties, tall and very
straight, with square shoulders and the upright stance of a soldier. His features were regular, his expression polite
but severely controlled, as if he felt he must be constantly on guard against any slip or relaxation of awareness.

The last person was the Albertons' daughter, Merrit. She was about sixteen, with all the charm, the passion and
vulnerability of her years. She was fairer than her mother, and had not the beauty, but she had a similar strength of
will in her face, and less ability to hide her emotions. She allowed herself to be introduced politely enough, but she
did not make any attempt to pretend more than courtesy.

The preliminary conversation was on matters as simple as the weather, the increase in traffic on the streets and the
crowds drawn by a nearby exhibition.

Hester wondered why Callandra had thought she and Monk might find these people congenial, but perhaps she was merely
fond of them, and had discovered in them a kindness.

Breeland and Merrit moved a little apart, talking earnestly. Monk, Casbolt and Judith Alberton discussed the latest
play, and Hester fell into conversation with Daniel Alberton.

"Lady Callandra told me you spent nearly two years out in the Crimea," he said with great interest. He smiled
apologetically. "I am not going to ask you the usual questions about Miss Nightingale. You must find that tedious by
now."

"She was a very remarkable person," Hester said. "I could not criticise anyone for seeking to know more about her."

His smile widened. "You must have said that so many times. You were prepared for it!"

She found herself relaxing. He was unexpectedly pleasant to converse with; frankness was always so much easier than
continued courtesy. "Yes, I admit I was. It is ..."

"Unoriginal," he finished for her.

"Yes."

"Perhaps what I wanted to say was unoriginal also, but I shall say it anyway, because I do want to know." He frowned
very slightly, drawing his brows together. His eyes were clear blue. "You must have exercised a great deal of courage
out there, both physical and moral, especially when you were actually close to the battlefield. You must have made
decisions which altered other peoples lives, perhaps saved them, or lost...

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Verlag
Fawcett Books
Erscheinungsdatum
2001
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0449005925
ISBN 13 
9780449005927
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
356
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar

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