Anne Perry

"Dark Assassin" By Anne Perry Ballantine: 2006

I have noticed that I have been writing less and less about the author's background and more and more about the work itself on this blog. In this case, however, the author's background is fascinating and may be already known to many readers and that is Perry was convicted of murder as a teenager. She and a friend murdered the mother of her friend because she wanted to separate them. Perry's parents were separating and both girls wanted to live with Perry's father. They were tried and convicted and served five years in prison and neither saw each other again. For more detail, the reader can look up the case on the Internet. A movie was made regarding the case and a documentary is being prepared on it as well. Perry and her friend had a rich fantasy life and created many stories. With that background and the background of being tried for murder and convicted, Perry has turned out to be a very good writer of mystery novels.

This is not the first novel I have read of this author, but I tend to read widely in this area and lean away from period murder mysteries with the possible exception of Sherlock Holmes. In this case although I did not have much choice in the book since I am still in Korea and can only read what is available, I am very glad I purchased this book for it is an excellent book about a period of time in London when the London Sewerage System was created.

The London Sewerage System is part of the water infrastructure system serving the city of London and was developed during the late 19 century at the time of this novel was set. It was made clear that the River Thames was an open sewer with terrible health problems such as cholera epidemics. There was what was called "The Great Stink" of 1858 that was so bad that Parliament finally agreed to fund the creation of a modern sewerage system. It is the construction of this sewer system that is central to the plot of this novel.

Many cities have interesting underground cities such as Edinburgh,Scotland and Portland, Oregon but I had no idea that there was such an underground of rivers and streams and of people who lived underground and many who lived their whole lives under London. I also had no idea that this sewer system was part of other novels and books such as Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" in 1996. The BBC also featured it as one of the "Seven Wonders of the Industrial World".

The book starts with William Monk who has recently been appointed superintendent in the River Police in a boat patrolling the Thames. They look up and see a couple on the Waterloo Bridge in a deep discussion and suddenly both fall into the river, the woman falling backwards. They rush to where they are but the river is so dank and filthy that they are dead before they can fish them out. Is it an accident or suicide and the man simply an accident? Monk starts to investigate and finds more questions than answers.

The investigation and relationships of the people involved is almost second to the building of the sewer and what makes this novel so remarkable is the way Perry handles the descriptions of the underground, the people building the tunnels and the police trying to make sense of what is happening both underground and on top. The reader can feel the muck under the shoes and boots of the people walking the tunnels and can hear the machinery as they dig the deep tunnels where the sewer pipes will go and where the bricks will be laid.

I went to London in 2002 and used the tube or underground subway often to get around London. It was deep and I would take several escalators and stairways to get to the train platforms. It may not have been the sewer, but I could see how London had such a underground. One time before going to my rooms, I ate a small dinner at a restaurant and the place started to shake really hard. I was concerned as I did not think England had earthquakes. I looked around and no one seemed to notice. Everyone was eating. Then I realized that the tube was right beneath me. This sort of shaking was happening when the building of the sewer was occuring and when there was cave-ins.

What happens to people who are injured in the building of the sewer? What was happening to people who lived near the river? How did people ignore the plight of those who got sick on the filth of what was floating in the river? Perry did her homework. She even had a court scene that was well done or seemed plausible.

At the end, things are tied in a believable ending although it seemed a bit drawn out. Still, it was done well. I learned a lot from that period and about London during that time. I also appreciated the richness of the relationships of the characters. It is an evolving book and one that I want to pick up again with another adventure and title.