Rating: 
Summary: Seven Dials Deserves Seven Stars!
Review: A new Pitt & Charlotte book is always a cause for celebration, and this one is no exception. Pitt finds himself faced with a murder case that could have major national and international repercussions, while Charlotte and her maid, the intrepid Gracie, look into the disappearance of Gracie's friend's brother, a valet. Gracie is a wonderful character, and her relationship with Inspector Tellman takes a step forward. Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould plays a major role in both investigations and, as always, is a truly memorable character. While Pitt's investigation takes him to the exotic Alexandria, Egypt, Charlotte's carries her to one of London's worst slums. Of course both cases will dovetail into a most satisfying solution. I must confess that I had suspected something slightly different from the actual solution, but Anne Perry's was far superior to mine! I wish Emily Radley, Charlotte's sister, could have played a bigger role, but maybe next time!
Rating:
Summary: another fascinating Victorian mystery
Review: After exposing the workings of the Inner Circle, Thomas Pitt was fired as superintendent of Bow Street. For his and his family's sake he went to work for Special Branch, a top secret agency charged with keeping Great Britain safe from its' enemies. His latest case involves an Egyptian woman, Ayesha Zakhari, the mistress of cabinet minister Saville Ryerson.The police believe that Ayesha shot and killed minor diplomat Edwin Lovatt, her lover when he was stationed in Egypt over a decade ago. Ryerson and Ayesha were disposing the body when the police caught them. The government doesn't want Ryerson implicated in a scandal and he doesn't want his mistress who he loves very much to hang for murder. Pitt's boss sends him to Egypt in the hope of discovering more about the players and if anyone else had a reason to kill Lovatt. Anne Perry has written another fascinating Victorian mystery and this one is better than most (and that is saying something) because the reader receives an intriguing look at Egypt through the filtered eyes of a veteran foreign police officer. The audience also gain the perspective of how many Egyptians feel towards their British masters. History aside, in SEVEN DIALS, the hero's wife is working on a missing person case that has to do with Pitt's homicide investigation. Watching these two cases intersect is mesmerizing and realistic if one has faith in coincidence. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: A competent Victorian mystery with an Egyptian twist
Review: Anne Perry, the author of two series of murder mysteries involving different detectives, knows how to convey the atmosphere of Victorian London. In this case, investigator Thomas Pitt's murder investigation reaches beyond England to colonial Egypt, intriguingly described. Most of the story moves at a moderate pace that adds to its believability, though action junkies may be disappointed. The servants' very different use of the English language may illustrate the sharp social class divisions of Victorian England, but their statements are not easy to read.
Rating:
Summary: A competent Victorian mystery with an Egyptian twist
Review: Anne Perry, the author of two series of murder mysteries involving different detectives, knows how to convey the atmosphere of Victorian London. In this case, investigator Thomas Pitt's murder investigation reaches beyond England to colonial Egypt, intriguingly described. Most of the story moves at a moderate pace that adds to its believability, though action junkies may be disappointed. The servants' very different use of the English language may illustrate the sharp social class divisions of Victorian England, but their statements are not easy to read.
Rating:
Summary: Seven Dials by Anne Perry
Review: Excellent! Anne Perry has to be one of the finest mystery writers, her feel for the characters and the era in which the stories are set helps the reader really get into the mystery. Keep on writing, Anne!
Rating:
Summary: Seven Dials by Anne Perry
Review: Excellent! Anne Perry has to be one of the finest mystery writers, her feel for the characters and the era in which the stories are set helps the reader really get into the mystery. Keep on writing, Anne!
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: Find yourself stepping carefully through the sultry, baked-mud streets of Victorian Alexandria, the heady smells of spices and camels and wool rugs swirling around you, as you follow Pitt through a completely unexpected adventure in Egypt. The British have control of the country and the precious Suez Canal, but only just. The undercurrents of hatred, violence, and revolution boil to the surface, enveloping Pitt and landing him in an Egyptian jail with unlikely cellmates. The roiling flames chase Pitt back to London where he, Charlotte, and Narraway try to piece together who killed a former soldier and, more importantly, why. Was it to undermine the cotton industry, stolen from Egypt to flourish in Britain? Was it to bring down an important government official? Was it to pay back debts long owed? Or was it because of a secret so insidious that it could bring a bloody end to both the British rule of Egypt and the irreplaceable British trade routes through the Suez? As international intrigue threatens the government, an intrigue of a different sort envelops Gracie and Tellman. From the beginning through the last breathless page, the heart-stopping action and heart-rending emotion doesn't stop. The plot twists come unexpectedly, skillfully crafted by an author who never ceases to please. You'll not want to put this one down!
Rating:
Summary: Terrific book!
Review: I am an Anne Perry fan and have all of her books in my library. This is one of the best!
Rating:
Summary: Didn't Want it to End
Review: I can't find a negative thing to say about Perry's stories. I just think she has the greatest way with words and the things her characters say without saying anything, by just a scowl, or smothered smile are so eloquent. I don't know if she means to continue with Charlotte and Thomas or Mr Monk now that she is starting a new series, but I will miss them for sure. This was a great story and even with the obvious it's not the whole story. Sometimes I wonder who really solves these crimes Thomas or Charlotte. Don't mis this new chapter in their lives.
Rating:
Summary: one of her best
Review: I think by this point in time it might be more appropriate to call Anne Perry's stunning Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Victorian mysteries a saga rather than a series. Her masterful exploration of the minutiae of 19th century manners and mores not only reminds me of Galsworthy or Trollope, but her overall vision of Pitt's world has evolved into something almost epic in scope. "Seven Dials" is an especially fascinating extension of her steadily intensifying image (most recently "Whitechapel Conspiracy and "Southhampton Row") of Thomas Pitt as Hero, struggling desperately and essentially alone to defend Queen and Empire against sinister political forces which seek to destroy them. This latest, enormously complex novel begins shortly after Pitt's recent forced reassignment to the Special Branch when he is dragged from his bed at dawn and ordered to report to Victor Narraway, head of Her Majesty's Secret Service, for briefing. Edwin Lovat, a junior diplomat, has been shot to death late at night in the garden at luxurious Eden Lodge; the owner of the weapon, its Egyptian tenant...beautiful, enigmatic Ayesha Zakhari...has been caught in the act of trying to dispose of the body, and her current paramour, senior cabinet minister Saville Ryerson, has inexplicably arrived on the scene within minutes of her apprehension. Pitt's charge is to investigate the matter but protect Ryerson if at all possible since even a whiff of scandal could jeopardize on-going negotiations in a potentially explosive labor situation in Ryerson's Manchester district (dependent on Eqyptian cotton for its weaving industry) and might be disasterous to already fragile Anglo-Egyptian relationships. Ryerson swears his lady is innocent; the lady refuses to say anything, and Pitt's search for the truth eventually leads him to Egypt where he uncovers horrifying evidence of a terrible atrocity linking past and present in a deadly conspiracy that, if revealed, could shake the British Empire. Meanwhile, Charlotte and her faithful servant, Gracie, undertake an investigation of their own: an apparently small matter of Gracie's friend Tilda's missing brother. Only Anne Perry...echoing Charles Dickens...could manipulate such diverse events so adroitly that a relatively minor subplot leads surely but inevitably to its utterly logical interconnection with the main thread of the story thereby solving both mysteries and providing a shattering conclusion to this gripping adventure. As always, Anne Perry's superb plotting and vivid characterizations kept me glued to my seat until I was able to satisfy myself that, once again, the Pitts and their friends had emerged triumphant against danger and misfortune and justice had effectively been served. I was especially pleased by Ms. Perry's delightful resolution of one plotting element...something that has been hanging fire for several books now...that brought a smile to my face as I watched it unfold.
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