Reviews

Bethlehem Road by Anne Perry

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Tenth in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mystery series set in the late 19th century in London revolving around Thomas' career as a policeman and the help provided him by Charlotte.

The Story
Some madman, or woman, is murdering Members of Parliament only moments after they leave a late sitting in Parliament and no one has seen a thing. Thomas and his superior, Micah Drummond [at last! A good boss for Thomas!!], are completely baffled. It takes a great deal of tedious footwork and questioning. Always taking a different angle, a different approach before the key clue is discovered.

My Take
A horrifying look at the lack of women's rights in the late 19th century in England. I really don't care what excuses the Establishment came up with as to why women couldn't think for themselves. When Florence Ivory unleashes her tirade at Charlotte…I just wanted to cry. It's all well and good to make laws forcing women to be beholden to their husbands or fathers for every single object, thought, or happiness. It's quite another to expect that every one of those husbands or fathers would be concerned with actually considering their true welfare. Too many people, men or women, are tempted by absolute power.

I couldn't help but wonder at the women who so vociferously protested that women were not competent at holding opinions how they dared, or even could, come up with an opinion. Since they were not competent enough to do so…

It took a while to figure out the identity of the culprit but I never would have guessed at such a second-hand distance! I just love Perry's C&T Pitt series, she has such an excellent eye for the time period. And makes me so grateful to be living in today's world!

The Cover
The cover is certainly symbolic with its top hat on its side, the ends of a white silk scarf spilling from it topped with a primrose on a railing at Westminster Bridge. The title itself is a clue.

katmarhan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

As usual, the mystery is not quite what it seemed, and the end wraps things up rather abruptly. A strong focus on the limited rights of women during this time.

d_audy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

terrik_409's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

leari's review against another edition

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mysterious

4.0

we_are_all_mad_here26's review

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2.0

This one could have been much better. Say, for example, if it had made any sense at all. The rest of this review is filled with spoilers, starting now.

Spoiler

First of all, very early in the book, Charlotte attends an assembly on the topic of women's rights. On the way out she witnesses an argument between one of the female attendees and her husband. Her husband is later one of the victims. But the argument that Charlotte witnessed has nothing to do with anything and in fact is never mentioned again. I had to check back to make sure I wasn't misremembering a passage from some other book.

After the second murder, Pitt and others are worried it might be "some lunatic" doing all the killing. If it is, Pitt remarks, then they'd be "reduced to doubling police on duty and hoping to catch him in the act." The first and second murder took place at the exact same time of night and in the exact same location - why wouldn't they set some guys up to watch and catch the killer in the act???

So, so much repetition in this one. "Maybe the first murder was a mistake, they really only meant to kill the second guy." "Maybe they meant to kill the first guy and the next two were just to throw us off the trail." "Maybe it's a lunatic with no reason whatsoever." Ad infinitum.

The weirdly explicit facial descriptions have arrived. "There was strength in her face, not beauty, but a balance of bone and a width to her mouth which was pleasing, and which would grow more so with time." Never have I ever been able to create even a vague mental picture of Anne Perry's characters based on her describing them to me in this kind of detail.

Pitt is such a nice character but really a horrible, horrible detective. He leaps wildly to (wrong) conclusions, he forgets to ask critical questions, he shares details of the case with the actual bad person without knowing it.

Charlotte's last act in this one was idiotic.

And finally, I still don't even know what the resolution was meant to be. Was it Elsie Draper all along (thus leaving me totally unsatisfied, being that the killer is someone we've never even heard of) - or was it Garnet Royce, and he arranged the final scene to let the blame fall on Elsie forever and ever, leaving him free? And furthermore if it was Garnet, what was his motive for killing the three guys? And even worse - if it was Elsie - we know her motive, and that was OOPS I KILLED THREE PEOPLE BY ACCIDENT BEFORE I FINALLY KILLED THE RIGHT ONE.

Ugh. Very maddening. Here's hoping #11 will be back to normal, meaning my complaints are many but mostly good-natured.

shoelessmama's review

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3.0

More satisfying than I thought it would be from the slightly boring first half. Interesting commentary on the women's suffrage movement through the eyes of fictional contemporary women was believable and of interest.

ashleybee's review

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2.0

This one didn't hold my attention at all. I found myself skimming. As other reviewers have stated, it seemed a little too much like a platform for women's rights. While I in no way think that it isn't a valid topic especially for the time, it just felt so forced.