For superintendent Thomas Pitt, the sight of the dead man riding the morning tide of the Thames is unforgettable. He lies in a battered punt drifting through the morning mist, his arms and legs chained to the boat’s sides. He is clad in a torn green gown and flowers bestrew his battered body.

Pitt’s determined search for answers to the victim’s identity leads him deep into London’s bohemia to the theatre where beautiful Cecily Antrim is outraging society with her bold portrayal of a modern woman—and into studios where masters of light and shadow are experimenting with the fascinating new art of photography. But only Pitt’s most relentless pursuit enables him to identify the wildfire passions raging through this tragedy of good and evil, to hunt down the guilty and protect the innocent.

Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction

Perry delivers another Dickensian novel enriched by the color of the matchless Victorian era in magnificent London. “Boy, has London changed!” Complaints about the Britishisms kept this one from a higher score.

Publish Date : 2001