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A review by we_are_all_mad_here26
Bethlehem Road by Anne Perry
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.
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.
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.