William Monk Mysteries: The First Three Novels Book

Updating as I finished the last book:

I have mixed feelings about reading an Anne Perry mystery. I usually do like to read a couple of her Christmas mystery series over the holidays. I have enjoyed them because while they do often point to something deeper, they are not overly sentimental or saccharine sweet the way most holiday literature is. Sometimes she leaves unfinished threads and not every character ends happily ever after.

But authoress Anne Perry herself was a murderer in her youth. I have the moral issues of not wanting her to profit from her crime and of not wanting to encourage her to continue to think along the dark themes of murder and death as she writes. Sometimes even her "good" characters have caused or allowed a death for reasons I do not find justifiable. I realize I might differ with most other people there. While I'm not a complete pacifist, I do think that many more problems in the world can be solved without violence than people attempt or realize. I am nearly a pacifist.

My older teens told me, not about this book, but literature in general, that if the villains don't feel justified in their own minds for their actions, then it's more of a two-dimensional caricature of a villain, and not a very good book. They do have a point. But sometimes it is troubling in these books that none of the characters can point out that murder is wrong, or else they think it's okay under certain circumstances.

In at least one Christmas book, a lady tried to atone for her actions and seemed to think she had, but no amount of goodness or good service or compassion can really replace a life that is lost. As long as the person is still dead, the issue has not been as easily "fixed" as Anne Perry would suggest. Lives lost are valued more than that. They are irreplaceable by anything. Yes, attempting restitution is a good thing, but there is no restitution worth the life of another.

In both having her "good" characters sometimes murder, and in thinking one can atone for such a thing, Anne Perry does not seem to fully understand the value of human life. She is not alone in that in the mystery genre, however.

There is forgiveness, of course, but that is a different issue than atonement. Forgiveness is forgiving a wrong, not trying to fix it. Certainly murder can be forgiven. I remember hearing of an Amish community that forgave a murderer who had shot their children, and the Charleston church had also forgiven its shooter. Anne Perry also tends to have themes of forgiveness, reconciliation, and understanding for the murderer, and those are more interesting to me. Forgiveness can't be "earned," but it can be given.

So, I suppose I have found a middle ground in enjoying Anne Perry books and encouraging her darker thoughts by purchasing them. Her books are not really as dark as much of the mystery genre except that some of it is rooted in her real-life experience. It is not play-pretend. There is something real underneath. I tend to get them out of the library.

I don't understand, then, why we own this book. I don't know, but I suspect that we got it before I realized that there was anything real "underneath" these stories. Not that these characters are real, or the Victorian settings she placed them, but the thoughts and motives cannot help but be tied to her experiences. Actually, in this book, "The Face of a Stranger," the murder was similar to the one the author Anne Perry herself committed in that it was repeated blunt force trauma. That made William Monk envisioning the scene a little more chilling.

If I got this book so long ago before I knew that about her, then, I don't understand why I never read it before now. Perhaps I got it, but then was so disheartened by Anne Perry's past that I didn't read it. I know that I got it because I enjoyed her Christmas series and wanted to see the original series that had spawned the Christmas one.

Book 1:
Now, as for this particular book, 'The Face of a Stranger:" I enjoyed it completely. I loved the premise. A man had amnesia. At first he thought he was a criminal, but then discovered he was a detective. In order to keep his job, he tried not to let anyone know his difficulty, but investigated his case as well as his own identity, trying to find out who he was, and what sort of person he was and trying to recover his memory. It was well done, both the picture of him trying to solve the cases without the earlier particulars and without giving anything away, and the picture of him trying to understand himself and what sort of person he had been.

I figured out whose the cane was. I had not figured out whodunit.

This detective, William Monk, had nothing to do with the TV series detective Adrian Monk. They were completely different series with different writers. There's not much commonality in the detectives' characters, either.

I usually do not re-read mysteries. Once I know whodunit, they lose their appeal to me and so mysteries are unlikely candidates for five stars from me. But this one I could actually envision re-reading sometime, mostly because of the introspection. How do others perceive us? Is that what we want to be known for?

So, of my 5 star criterion, I enjoyed it, I'd reread it, and I would recommend it, with the caveat about the author.

Book 2:
I got this book, #2 of 3, in a single bound volume of the beginning of the William Monk series. Again, Monk's amnesia about his own life, while trying to solve a crime was interesting. It wasn't as much of a focus as it was in the first book. I still enjoyed the read, although, perhaps I prefer the first book.

I do like that in Anne Perry's books not everything ends neatly, not all "innocent" characters are spared, not all have happy endings. I also liked the calmness of Hester and Monk's quiet evenings spent discussing the issues over hot chocolate. I also liked that there were follow-up stories continuing with the case from the first book, rather than pretending like the older case did not exist.

Hester's experiences as a nurse on the battlefield reminded me of Lynn Austen's "Fire By Night," and those readers interested in that particular aspect might enjoy that read as well.

It seemed too odd for both main characters to be fired from separate positions over their outspoken opinions.

I did not figure out the situations.

One other reviewer commented that records could be retrieved too easily from the War Office.

Another reviewer said that these were not children's books because of the rapes involved (though not graphically described) and because of the inequitable morality of the Victorian times. I'd agree with that assessment - and yes, the morality of the times was unfair.

SPOILER - It seemed too unlikely to me that the medical doctor could have confused the imprints of two such different weapons, although the science probably wasn't as precise in Victorian England.

Favorite quotes:

"With loss very often comes hatred. We need someone to blame when we cannot cope with the pain except through anger, which is so much easier, at least to begin with." It's a reminder to be compassionate even with caustic people.

"I find it [charm] unworthy of trust, a spurious quality, all show and no substance, glitter without warmth."

"Monk respected him for his ability to admit both haste and discourtesy. It was more than he had expected, and something he would have found hard himself."

"And I like their humor. They know how to laugh at themselves and each other -they like to laugh, they don't see any sin in it, or any danger to their dignity."

"I am so sorry. I hope you will be able to help, even if it is only with comfort and good advice. Sometimes that is all we have for each other - don't you think?"

"And how do they forgive us for having expected too much of them, instead of looking to see what they really were, and loving that?"

Book 3:
I have to agree with other reviewers that this 3rd book in the William Monk mysteries was not as engrossing as the prior two. it was about a hundred pages longer, but for much of that, the main characters just kept spinning in circles, asking the same suspects the same questions and getting the same results. That's probably truer to real-life investigations, but it's harder to read. I was about to lose interest ...

... but then the story did pick up speed, the drama escalated, and I finished the book in a dash. I still prefer the first one of this series, "The Face of a Stranger." I think that "Defend and Betray" could have been just as engrossing if it had been more savagely edited.

I figured out the motivations for the characters in "Defend and Betray" much quicker than the main characters did, but perhaps that was because they were staying true to their characterizations within the Victorian Era.

I found it hard to believe that the child characters could behave so well in the trial. Not that they completely kept their emotions under control, but that I would've expected more confusion and emotion, maybe more resistance to cooperate than what was portrayed. Of course, that, too, may be due to their Victorian Era characterizations, when more was expected of children in that regard.

Adult themes. Not a book for children, although nothing was graphic. Also not one I'd want to re-read.

Like some of the rest of Anne Perry's series, this book doesn't show as much value for human life as I would like. In particular, one of the main characters, Hester, brain-storms reasons that she might commit murder, and most of them are not justification enough. (Self-defense is, but then that is not murder.) The murderer's true reasoning in this book is also compelling enough within the social structure of the times.

SPOILER - I am not sure that the murderer could have used the halberd with enough force. It takes more force to use such a weapon, even if it's sharp, because it has more surface area to penetrate than, say, a sword or knife point (assuming one is thrusting and isn't just slashing with the whole blade.) But to go entirely through a person and then into the floor ... I have my doubts, but then I'd prefer not to find out how plausible that is.

Favorite Quotes:

"He was delighted to find Hester intelligent, not given to fainting or taking offense where it was not intended, not seeking compliments at every fit and turn, never giggling, and best of all, quite interested in military tactics, a blessing he could still hardly believe."

"The very worst that could happen would be embarrassment. She ought to be able to cope with that." A good reminder that there are far worse things than embarrassment to cope with.

"I mean, he was a terrible bore at times, but most men are. They think all the wrong things are important."

"My dear, it is a mistake to imagine we are all reasonable all of the time.... I think most tragedies happen when people have had too little time to think or weigh one course against another, or perhaps even to assess the real situation."

"A new idea is still the most dangerous thing in the world. A new idea about something close to ourselves, coming quite suddenly and without warning, can make us so disconcerted, so frightened at the idea of all our beliefs about ourselves and those around us crumbling about our ears that we reach to strike at the one who has introduced this explosion into our lives - to deny it, violently if need be."

"Disillusion is one of the most difficult of all emotions to wear gracefully, and with any honor. I am afraid we will not find many who will do it."

"When we are happy to turn from evil because it is ugly, and causes us distress, then we condone it and become party to its continuance. Little by little, we become as guilty of it as those who commit the act - because we have told them by our silence that it is acceptable."