Acceptable Loss: A William Monk Novel
Anne Perry
Language: English
Pages: 336
ISBN: 0345510615
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Anne Perry’s seventeenth William Monk novel, now in paperback, is a mesmerizing masterpiece of innocence and evil on London’s docks, a welcome addition to this successful and beloved series.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
On a London riverbank, when the body of small-time crook Mickey Parfitt washes up with the tide, no one grieves. But William Monk, commander of the River Police, is puzzled by the murder weapon: an elegant scarf whose original owner was obviously a man of substance. Dockside informers lead Monk to a floating palace of corruption on the Thames managed by Parfitt, where a band of half-starved boys is held captive for men willing to pay a high price for midnight pleasures. Though Monk and his fearless wife, Hester, would gladly reward Parfitt’s killer, duty leads them in another direction—to an unresolved crime, to a deadly confrontation with some of the empire’s most respected men, and ultimately to a courtroom showdown with Monk’s old friend, Oliver Rathbone, in a trial of nearly unbearable tension and suspense.
“Masterful storytelling . . . [the] best in the series to date.”—The Star-Ledger
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York. BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming title A Sunless Sea by Anne Perry. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition. eISBN: 978-0-345-53030-1 Cover design: Kathleen DiGrado Cover painting: John Macvicar Anderson, A View of Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, 1870 (© Christopher Wood Gallery, London/Bridgeman Art Library)
the room. “Don’t surprise me when nobody’s dead,” he replied. Monk found himself irritated. It was a perfectly reasonable answer, and yet it sidestepped the real question. Was that intentional? “How long did you look for him last night when you went back to the boat and discovered he had gone?” he persisted. “Till I couldn’t find ’im,” ’Orrie said patiently. “Dunno ’ow long it were. In’t no use looking after that.” Monk thought he saw ’Orrie smile, but decided to pretend he hadn’t. “Were you
small steps, both of them being careful, afraid of hurt. The whole arrangement had begun tentatively on all sides, but over the year it had become comfortable. “What is it?” Hester repeated more urgently. “We found the body of a woman on Limehouse Pier at dawn yesterday,” Monk replied, putting his folded papers on his chair and then sitting on them. “Badly mutilated. Hoped we’d keep the worst of it out of the papers, but we haven’t. They’re making a meal of it.” Her face tightened a little
ter wonder if ’e were fencin’ stuff, so I made the chance to go out an’ look, but I didn’t see a thing.” “Lot of people coming and going?” Monk asked. “Yeah. That’s part o’ why I thought ’e were fencin’ stuff.” “What sort of people?” Monk found himself tense, waiting. He did not look at Orme, but he could feel Orme stiffen also. “No women,” the sergeant replied, shaking his head. “So if that’s what ye’re thinking, ye’re wrong. If it was that simple, I’d ’ave stopped ’im meself. Always men,
you catch whoever did do it. But it weren’t me.” She believed him. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “Tomorrow I’ll ask Claudine if she remembers writing this, and what she did with it.” “Don’t you let her feel you think as she done it!” he warned. “It’d hurt her something terrible, and she don’t deserve that.” In spite of herself, Hester smiled. She could remember very clearly how Claudine and Squeaky had hated each other in the beginning. She had thought him obscene, both physically and