I didn't care for Monk or Hester. I was with Hester when she basically sacrificed her own job and future to save a kid's life, but she was just too arrogant and judgmental for my taste after that. The mystery itself turned out to be really stupid.

Getting to know William Monk as he gets to know himself seems to be a real treat. Monk, along with Sergeant Evan and Hester Latterly, both of whom I liked from the previous book, [b:The Face of a Stranger|583883|The Face of a Stranger (William Monk, #1)|Anne Perry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320469225l/583883._SY75_.jpg|6440293], come together nicely by Perry's finessing to solve the crime and subsequent mystery in A Dangerous Mourning. Letting go of the constant reminders of Monk's amnesia-addled mind happens early on, and Perry tapers it off into just sporadic mentions that are really very reasonable — especially compared with the persistent nudging from the first installment.

Perry has a wonderful way of melding the formal voice for Victorian England with her own contemporary audience — it's smooth and she knows her characters and her settings well. The harsh line of class distinction is a feature in A Dangerous Mourning as is a more blunt view of a married woman's place — not just the viewpoint of a single, unmarried or widowed woman as we saw in the previous book. I love the interwoven feminist threads that are strong and sturdy through not only the character of Hester Latterly, but many other women Perry has interspersed — either through their personal opinions or through our modern lens and their resigned positions.

Personally I think I would have liked to have had a little more of Monk doing some actual detecting here, but the circumstances of the case required more of Hester Latterly's skills and I was quite happy to have her enter Monk's professional radar so early on in the series. I was suspicious it would take longer, but glad to see Perry wasted no unnecessary time getting Latterly involved on a more equal footing — if not to Monk's level, at least to Sergeant Evan's.

Audiobook, as narrated by [a:Davina Porter|500666|Davina Porter|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1276540528p2/500666.jpg]: While I continue to love Porter's voice and fantastic performance — she strikes all the right notes here too — I find that perhaps this series isn't quite suited in audiobook for me. (Or maybe it's my mindset right now. Who can tell?) But some of the names, especially for the upperclass citizens Perry has used thus far (Callandra, Fenella, Octavia, Araminta), can get a little confusing just heard in my ear and not seen with my eyes. That being said, I would not hesitate to listen to another audiobook narrated by the great Davina Porter.

Well done with the twist. The audio book seemed to have some of the sections out of order.

Anne Perry writes some of the best mysteries I have ever read. There are twists I just do not see coming.

One of the things Anne Perry captures so well, from which most authors of Victoriana excuse themselves, is the stifling impotence that was a reality of daily existence for most groups in Victorian England. Unless one inhabited a very particular group of wealthy men - first sons, mind you - one could find oneself utterly at the mercy of someone in no way superior, except in rank. It's galling to the modern mind, and a discomfort sometimes important to experience, especially when the experience is vicarious.

Wow, what a clever mystery

Once again we get a vivid picture of England at the time, and once again, little bread crumbs of memory are placed that will eventually lead us (and Monk) to rediscovering who he was before the accident that robbed him of his memory. The characters of Hester Latterly and Oliver Rathbone are becoming more distinct. I wish I could say the same about Sgt. Evan. He's a good sort, and I would like to know him better.

I did expect that the key to the crime would lie in the past. The title gives that away, because there is only one person in mourning before the crime is committed. What actually happened, and why, and who covered it up, were all revelations to me.

I quite liked the way the relationship between Hester and William evolved, but I was a bit disappointed by the crime itself. It feels as if Anne Perry wanted to put so many details, to write so many pages, that she became lost at some point — and I was, too. However, it won't prevent me from reading the next book in the series! But more for the characters than for the plot.

After quickly reading all of Victoria Thompson's gaslight series I was looking for a similar author. Anne Perry was suggested and I started with her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. I was finding the characters a bit predictable and flat. So I decided to try her Monk series. I am so glad I did! Great cast of characters and the mysteries are very smart. I really enjoyed the second one and look forward to the next one. Learning a bit about the Crimean war along the way.